It is important to underline that the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government and the two ruling political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan are free to have a bilateral relationship with Iran that serves their interests and does not hurt the interests of Kurdish movement in Iranian Kurdistan without any political or moral judgment from our party.

Regarding the decision to commemorate Ayatollah Khomeini in the Qazi Muhammed Conference Centre, I personally understand that this decision has angered many people, especially after the outrage it created last year. People that I have spoken to would have preferred that the two ruling parties in Iraqi Kurdistan would have chosen another venue to host the event.

For people that feel that it is not suitable to host such an event in the mentioned conference centre, I would recommend that you contact the KRG and express your opinion.

The PDKI writes in a statement that Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alemholi, Ferhad Wekili and Ali Heiderians only crime was that they were Kurds who did not give up their determination to struggle for the rights of their nation. They were four amongst thousands of individuals whose hearts were filled with a desire for freedom who have lost their lives in the prisons of the Islamic Republic.

There are still thousands of freedom-seeking activists that face torture and death in the prisons of the Islamic republic. If people only act as witnesses to the killings and oppression of our people without doing anything about all of the injustice, violence and oppression facing our nation, the regime will be able to continue to oppress our people with impunity.

That is why we are calling upon the Kurdish people to show their contempt with the Islamic Republics execution of these four youths by staging a general strike in Kurdistan. […] In this way we can show the families of the martyrs that their freedom-loving children are all sons and daughters of the Kurdish nation and at the same time show our contempt with the Islamic Republic.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has once again shown its enmity against the Kurdish people. In fear of losing their power the regime continues to suppress, torture, imprison and execute Kurdish and Iranian citizens.

The Islamic Republic of Iran announced that they had executed five political prisoners by the names of Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heiderian, Ferhad Wekili, Shirin Alemholi and Mehdi Islamian, on Sunday, the 9th of May 2010.

We, the undersigned political parties, condemn the execution of these brave freedom activists and express our sincerer condolences to these individuals’ friends and families. We also urge human rights organizations and political organizations all around the world not to be quiet about this tragic incidence and to condemn this brutal act.

The Kurdish people will not bow down to the oppression of the Islamic Republic and we will continue with our struggle until we fulfil the goals and hopes of our martyrs, which is to bring about an end to the Islamic Republic and to attain freedom for all of Iran’s different nationalities.

The regime has ones again proven to the Kurdish people that they can never trust the regime, because the regime will take every opportunity given to it to execute our Kurdish youth.

The Islamic Republic has also proven that there is no other way to obtain freedom without the overthrow of this murderous regime.

Long live the Kurdish peoples freedom fighters!

Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Komala – Revolutionary Toilers of Kurdistan
Organization of Struggle for Iranian Kurdistan

The human rights organization HRNA reports that four of the 22 Kurdish political prisoners on death row were executed this morning. The names of the executed Kurdish political prisoners are: Farzad Kamangar, Ali Haiderian, Farhad Wekili and Shirin Alemholi (woman).

It is worth underlining that in at least three of the four cases an appeal court had not yet issued its final sentence, making the executions illegal even according to the Islamic Republics own laws.

Yesterday a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard by the name of Hama Rasoul was found dead in the Kurdish city of Piranshar.

A couple of days ago an unknown group of armed men killed an officer of the Revolutionary Guard by the name of Shefei and two Iranian IRGC soldiers on a bridge in the city of Mariwan.

Two more Revolutionary Guard soldiers were killed in the Kurdish city of Bokan by an unknown group of armed men after that the Revolutionary Guard had harassed the local population.

In another incident two soldiers and a commander of the Revolutionary Guard were killed in the Kurdish city of Saghez. The names of the soldiers are MehbetAllah Shefei (Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Bsami branch in Saghez), Ahmed Abbasi and Moibin Rahmeti.

On the 30th of March 1947 the President of the Kurdistan Republic, Qazi Muhammed, was hanged in public in the capital of the Republic. To pay tribute to Qazi Muhammed and the countless martyrs that followed in his path, the 30th of March has become the official Martyrs Day in Iranian Kurdistan.

To commemorate this day a ceremony was held in one of our party’s bases in Kurdistan, pictures:

Link to pictures from Newroz, Kurdish new year, celebration in the city of Mehabad.Link to article

Members of Iran’s ethnic minority groups from the Ahwaz, Kurdistan, Khuzestan, Baluchistan and Turkmenistan regions also face increasing intimidation. Large numbers have been detained on charges of endangering national security. The days after the election result saw a series of mass executions in Iran’s border regions, viewed by many as a warning sign to the local populations. On 11 November, Ehsan Fattahian was executed after a ten-year sentence to be served in exile was increased to a death sentence by a higher court. We expressed concern at reports that Fattahian was tortured during detention, as well as irregularities during his trial. Many members of minority groups remain on death row accused of terrorism, treason, or acting against national security.

I came across this video showing how members of Iran’s Basij militia tortures Arab youths in Ahwaz:

This is an older video showing how Revolutionary Guard soldiers abuse a young man detained for having long hair:

VOA-Persian visited one of our bases and spoke to a couple of our female Peshmergas, Audio in Persian.