10 August 2005 KDPIKDPI Secretary General letter to Mr. Koffi Annan, Secretary General of United Nations Koy Sanjaq – Kurdistan August 8, 2005 Your Excellency, Mr. Koffi A. Annan, Secretary General of United Nations We would like to draw your attention to the recent peaceful demonstrations by Kurds in Iran within the last few weeks on the anniversary of our late leader Dr. Abdulrahman Ghassemelou’s assassination, and to protest against the election of Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran assassinated Ghassemelou on 13th July 1989 in Vienna, and there are strong indications that Ahmadi Nejad had a vital role in our leader’s assassination.
Unfortunately, the security guards of Islamic Republic of Iran, who use oppressive means against Kurds and spill blood in Kurdish cities, violently cracked-down on the peaceful demonstrations of Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan. Dozens of protesters have been killed due to the excessive force of the various security forces against demonstrators. Listed below are the names of some of the victims who have been killed by armed forces during the last few weeks:
1. Sayed Kamal Asfaram, 2. Omar Amini, 3. Bayzid Mairoufi, 4. Mrs. Jamileh Khezri, 5. Mrs. Hakimeh Sour, 6. Loghman Nasrollahi, 7. Mohammad Shariati, 8. Ababs Ramazani, 9. Hosein Ramazani, 10. Farzad Mohammadi, 11. Shadman Mohammadi, 12. Hossein Abdi.
Furthermore, over 300 people have been injured so far, and several hundred have also been arrested, who have been relocated to unknown detention centers, and may indeed have been tortured or ill-treated. So far, four bodies have been handed back to their families in the city of Mahabad, with clear indications that they had been tortured.
Currently, all the Kurdish provinces - West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah and Ilam - are under martial law. The security forces do not hesitate to use live ammunition on the civilian population. Medical staffs are not allowed to treat the injured people, who are mostly kept in custody for interrogation. As a result, most people are too frightened to take their wounded family members to hospitals for treatment. Usually, the families, for fear of further persecution and maltreatment, do not claim the bodies back from the authorities. Gatherings of more than two are also prohibited in public places. The people of Kurdistan are not allowed to travel, not even to visit family or friends. The security of life and Kurds’ properties are also under threat on daily basis.
The Kurdish people are disappointed to see the disregard of international community to the human rights violations against them. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been condemned over 20 times by the UN Commission on Human Rights, yet there are no improvements in the government’s treatment of Kurds and other minorities. The recent cruelties against the peaceful demonstrations in the Kurdish cities is further material evidence of this regime’s brutality against Kurds.
The Kurds, under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, have long struggled for freedom, democracy and the safeguarding of the rights of different ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, within a democratic and decentralized framework. It is rather unfortunate that the struggle of all the Iranian people are forgotten and allowed to be victims of the state.
Regarding the recent events in Iranian Kurdistan, we urge the United Nations to take these immediate actions:
- A UN delegation of Human Rights commission to visit Iran and Kurdistan to investigate recent events in Kurdistan
- The release of all the people detained by the Islamic Republic of Iran during the recent protests
- The injured people to be given treatment without any fear of detention or torture
- An independent inquiry to be launched, led by the UN, to investigate the recent killings and crackdown of peaceful protesters
For the sake of protecting the civilian Kurdish population and to bring stability to the region, these are the least actions we expect the United Nations and its human rights body to take.
We look forward to seeing the United Nations’ urgent actions.
Yours sincerely,
Mustafa Hejri Secretary
General Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
c.c.: United Nations Commission on Human Rights
KDPI Secretary General letter to the leaders of the European Community
We would like to attract your attention to the current peaceful protests by civilian Kurds in Iran, and the atrocities of the Islamic Republic against them. The people of the City of Mahabad closed their shops and did not attend offices, instead organizing a peaceful demonstration to mark the 16th anniversary of the assassination of their leader, late Dr. Abdulrahman Ghasmelou. The protest was also against the election of Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad as the president of the Islamic Republic and to condemn the brutal killing of a young Kurd, Shwane Asfaram, on the 9th of July, 2005, who was ill treated, pulled behind a car and killed under torture.
Dr Ghasmelou was assassinated by the Islamic Republic of Iran on 13th July 1989 in Vienna, and it is believed that Ahmadi Nejad had a vital role in his assassination. In fact, it was reported that he was present at the scene of the assassination. Dr Ghasmelou was invited by the Iranian authorities to negotiate and find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue in Iran.
In these protests, the Islamic security guards opened fire on peaceful demonstrations, which left numerous dead, and a substantial number of demonstrators were detained and later mistreated and tortured in detention. At least four of the detainees were killed under torture, whose bodies were handed over to their families.
Over the last four weeks the cities of Kurdistan have been heavily suppressed, and at least 20 people have been killed so far and dozens injured by the security forces. The condition of some of the wounded people is critical. Hundreds of Kurds have been arrested and are facing humiliation and torture. In addition, the population suffered financially, as the businesses were closed. Now, essential supplies are very limited.
The Kurdish people expected the civilized European democratic countries to take effective action against the atrocities of the Islamic Republic, who suppressed the peaceful demonstration and violated their basic human rights.
We believe that the silent policy of the European countries on the crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Kurdish people and other Iranian ethnic groups contradicts the very principles of democracy and human rights that the EU promotes and adheres to.
We therefore urge you in parallel of nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic to pay attention to the following appeals:
- An independent delegation to be sent to Iran to visit Iran and Kurdistan of Iran to investigate the recent events in Kurdistan
- The regime of Iran to be condemned for her crimes against the Kurdish people during recent weeks.
- The regime of Iran to be pressured in order to release all the arrested people during the last weeks in Kurdistan and their economic losses to be recovered
- An inquiry by Iran into the current events leading to killers and torturers of current events in Kurdistan under observation of the EC.
Yours sincerely,
Mustafa Hejri
Secretary General Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
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