Vol. 74/No. 21      May 31, 2010

Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heidarian, Farhad Vakili, and Shirin Alamhouli, all Kurds, were put to death by hanging in Tehran May 9 with no notice to their families or attorneys. Alamhouli was the one woman among the four. They had been convicted of carrying out “terrorist attacks” as members of the Free Life Party of Kurdistan, an armed group that calls for Kurdish self-governance within Iran. Each had also been found guilty of being a mohareb, or enemy of God, which is a capital crime in Iran.

Like Kurds in neighboring Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, Iranian Kurds face discrimination in jobs, education, housing, language, and culture.

Kamangar had been a schoolteacher. In his hometown of Kamyaran students boycotted classes and workers stayed home from work. Student strikes in other Kurdish areas were also reported.

The city of Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan Province, was “deserted” in the words of one person there who spoke to the New York Times but did not want his name used. “People have stayed home and the entire bazaar is closed,” he said. Photos published by several news Web sites seemed to confirm this. Shops were also closed in Bukan, Oshnavieh, Mahabad, and Marivan.

Mehdi Eslamian, who the government said belonged to a group favoring restoration of the monarchy, was the fifth person executed May 9. He had also been convicted of being a mohareb and of involvement in the bombing of a mosque.

The hangings were widely viewed as a warning to all opponents of government policy in advance of possible protests June 12, the anniversary of last year’s presidential elections. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in the wake of the elections after the government declared incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner. Mir Hossein Mousavi, who ran against Ahmadinejad, issued a statement opposing the May 9 executions on his Web site. He said the five did not receive fair trials.

In the face of these protests the Iranian government refused to release the bodies of the five to their families, fearing more demonstrations. The families were not allowed to be present for the burials.  
 
 
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