Scheduled Iranian execution delayed

TEHRAN, May 2 (UPI) — Iran has delayed the hanging of a Kurdish activist but he “might be executed at any time,” his attorney said.

Sherko Moarefi, a political activist, was scheduled to be hanged Sunday but his execution was stayed for a possible judicial review, Khalil Bahramian, one of Moarefi’s lawyers in Iran, told Britain’s Guardian.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on Iran to change Moarefi’s sentence.

“Sherko is innocent. Enmity with God is a charge for those who have taken up arms against the regime but Moarefi has been a peaceful activist,” Bahramian said. Read more

Iran: Halt Execution of Kurdish Activist

The Iranian Judiciary should immediately halt any planned execution of Sherko (Bahman) Moarefi and rescind his death sentence, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch believes that Moarefi, currently being held at Saqez prison in Kurdistan province, may be at imminent risk of execution.

Unconfirmed reports suggest the authorities have set May 1, 2011, as the date for Moarefi’s execution, following a death sentence imposed in 2009 for belonging to a banned Kurdish separatist group, but his lawyers have been unable to get official word of the date. On April 28, Moarefi began a hunger strike in Saqez prison in order to protest his “vague and unclear” legal status, according to several Iranian human rights groups. Read more

Time to raise voices against executions in Iran

According to Amnesty International reports, 400 people were executed in 2010. Among those executed there as well women, men, children and adolescents. Executions have increased significantly in recent times because of rebellions against the totalitarian regimes in North Africa and Arab countries. The repression against the civilian population has reached an unacceptable level.

Arrests, torture, rapes, kidnappings and killings have become part of everyday life. Particularly affected is the Kurdish population that has become an easy target for the state. We monitor the evolution of Iran and western Kurdistan with great concern. Read more

Don’t execute them

“Our children belong to the young generation of this land, and they are its most valuable asset. Don’t execute them.”
Shirkoo Moarefi is one of 21 Kurdish political prisoners currently awaiting execution in Iran. On two separate occasions his family asked the Islamic Republic leader [Ali Khamenei] to use his powers to overturn their son’s death sentence. In spite of the pleas and the efforts [that were also] made by his lawyer, Shirkoo still sits on death row and may be executed at any moment. Read more

Urgent risk to Shirko Maarefi – petition

25 Mar 2011

Bahman (Shirko) Maarefi was arrested by agents of the Iranian Islamic Regime on November 1st, 2007. He was in danger of execution in Saghez in 2009, and has been declared an “enemy of God” or Mohareb. He has been subjected to severe torture during his detainment. He has received a formal sentence of execution by hanging during this year’s Nowruz holiday (last week) in the Saghez court. His family is requesting that you keep him in the public eye in an effort to dissuade the Iranian government from carrying out this execution. They are requesting international pressure. Do whatever you can. Let’s work together to save a life. Contact human rights organizations and get his name out there, let them know this is critical.

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/32085/sign.html

Previous reports:

http://supportkurds.org/reports/kurds-in-iran-under-sentence-of-death-may-2010

http://supportkurds.org/news/twelve-kurdish-prisoners-in-iran-face-death-for-political-reasons

http://supportkurds.org/news/844/

Newroz Piroz Be!

A long time ago in between the two great rivers Euphrates and Tigris there was a land called Mesopotamia. Above a small town and tucked into the side of the Zagros Mountains, there was an enormous stone castle with tall turrets and dark high walls. The castle was cut out of the mountain rock. The castle gates were made from the wood of the cedar tree and carved into the shapes of winged warriors.

Deep inside the castle lived a cruel Assyrian king called Dehak. His armies terrorised all the people of the land. Read more

Free Our Imprisoned Iranian Sisters

Iranian women are exposed to a variety of discriminations with charges ranging from gender-related and ethnic issues over religious and political beliefs to the defense of their own rights and those of underprivileged groups within the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On the occasion of the 100th International Women’s Day we publish a list of imprisoned Iranian women to expose the extent of this discrimination. As to the prisoners of conscience the two most vulnerable groups are the religious minorities of Baha’i and Christians, both persecuted relentlessly as they pose a serious challenge to the autocratic Islamist system. With regards to ethnic discriminations members of the Kurd and Baluchi minorities are most endangered. Read more

Supporters of Kurd sentenced to death being held

Two Iranian Kurdish men, who were arrested while celebrating the postponement of a fellow activist’s execution in December, remain in detention. They are both prisoners of conscience. Habibollah Latifi is still at risk of execution, but no new date for his execution has been scheduled.

The execution of Habibollah Latifi, an industrial engineering student at Ilam University, was not carried out on 26 December 2010, as scheduled. While he remains at risk of execution, no date is known to have been set for his execution. Amnesty International will carefully monitor developments in his case.

Following the postponement of the execution, family members and activists gathered at the Latifi household. The house was raided and around 24 people were arrested, including Habibollah Latifi’s relatives .Most have now been released but civil society activist, journalist and poet, Sa’id Sa’edi and Yahya Qavami continue to be held. On 5 February 2011, their detention was reportedly extended by one month. Read more

Kurdish rights on UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day

Tens of thousands of Kurds held a huge demonstration to mark UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day in Diyarbakir. Kurds also demonstrated in other cities across the region including Hakkari and Van. Marches were held in Europe as well.

Taking the lead in yesterday’s demonstration was the organisation Tevgera Ziman û Perwerdahiya Kurdî (TZPKurdî, Kurdish Language and Education Movement in English). The head of the BDP’s (Democratic Society Party) local organisation M. Ali Ayd?n, KURDI-DER’s director Burhan Zorooglu and BDP deputy Hamit Geylani were the key speakers and addressed the placard-carrying crowd of thousands. Read more

Luqman Muradi transferred to undisclosed location in Iran

The family members of Luqman Muradi (left in the photo, with Zanyar Muradi right) the Kurdish Iranian citizen on death row, have been left in the dark since ten days ago when prison guards transferred Loghman from Rajai Shahr ‘Gohardasht’ prison to an undisclosed location.

His father Esman Muradi told the International Campaign for Abolishing the Death Penalty in Iran, “After Luqman’s cellmate informed us of his transfer to an unknown location, we travelled to Tehran for a follow up on his condition and detention location. Prison authorities have informed us about his visitation ban. All my efforts have so far proven fruitless.” Read more

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