Washington Kurdish Institute
June 21, 2018
Though Kurds make up ten percent of Iran’s population, they make up nearly half of all political prisoners. According to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, published by the Human Rights Council in March 2017, nearly one fifth of executions in 2016 were of Kurdish prisoners, 21 of which were for “moharebeh,” or waging war against God and the state, and one of the executions was for being a member of a Kurdish political party. “Moharebeh,” which is ‘enmity against God’ or anyone who takes up arms against the state, also includes members or even supporters of a group or organization that has rebelled against the state, according to Article 186 of the Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
A Kurdish man, Ramin Hossein Panahi, 23 years old, was sentenced to death for being a member of the oppositional Komala party, after an unfair trial and amid serious allegations of torture, according to Amnesty International. Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said, “[d]uring the investigation period he was denied access to both his lawyer and his family, as well as to any details of the evidence against him. In a complete mockery of the judicial process, intelligence officials also repeatedly pressured him to make a televised ‘confession’ in exchange for the quashing of his death sentence.” Ramin refused this offer and was put in solitary confinement until recently, after outcries from the international community and human rights groups. He was scheduled to be executed May 2, but the sentence was suspended until after Ramadan.
“We are deeply disturbed by reports that Mr. Panahi has suffered human rights violations before and during his trial, including incommunicado detention, torture and ill-treatment, and denial of access to a lawyer and adequate medical care,” according to UN experts on the Human Rights Council: Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Dainius Puras, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; and Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
They also expressed concern that some of Mr. Panahi’s family “have been convicted in separate summary trials, and sentenced to long prison terms, in apparent reprisals for their efforts to obtain further information on his situation,” according to the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights’ website. Indeed, Afshin Hossein Panahi, Zobeyr Hossein Panai, and Ahmad Aminpanah were arrested and jailed for seeking information as to the whereabouts of Ramin. They too have been convicted on national security charges and were given prison sentences. Ahmad Aminpanah’s wife, the niece of Ramin, killed herself following extreme harassment by the Iranian security forces. Ramin is still on death row, set for execution, despite UN human rights experts’ statement that the charges against Ramin do not merit the death penalty.
It is not just Kurds of political opposition parties that are killed by the Iranian regime. Kolbars, porters who carry goods on their back between Iraqi and Iranian Kurdistan, have repeatedly been shot by Iranian border security forces. In 2016, 51 Kolbars were killed and 71 injured, according to the Human Rights Council’s Report. Several Kolbars a month continue to be killed, including four so far this June.
There is high unemployment in Iran, but it affects ethnic minorities like the Kurds and Baluchis especially. Often this cross-border smuggling is the only way to support the local economy in Kurdish communities in Iran because discriminatory economic policies against the Kurdistan region leave people with few options for work. Even though smuggling is illegal, there has been no judicial process in the executions of the Kolbars, even though border guards are only allowed to shoot those they believe are armed and dangerous and have already given an oral warning, and a warning shot in the air. Kolbars have been shot on sight, killing men and even their horses. As in the case of Ramin and other political prisoners, the families of killed Kolbars are harassed and threatened not to make complaints against the Iranian border guards, and some Kurds have been forced to pay for the bullets that killed their family member in order to reclaim loved one’s body.
As far as the status of human rights in Iran, the Special Rapporteur was “deeply concerned” by the “Kurdish community having been persecuted, arrested, and sentenced to death for their political affiliation or beliefs…
“As of 31 October, 2017, 1,828 Kurds have been detained by the authorities on charges related to various activities such as environmental activism, eating in public during the month of Ramadan, working as border couriers engaged in smuggling illicit goods, or for celebrating the results of the referendum held in neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan. Information received indicates that 114 of these detainees were charged with political or security-related crimes, often for engaging in civic activism or because of their membership in Kurdish political parties. Some face long prison sentences, lashes and/or heavy financial penalties. Among these prisoners, there are individuals who are workers, teachers, kulbars (border couriers), artists, and human rights activists. In 2017, information received indicates that at least 64 Kurdish prisoners were executed by the authorities, and at least 16 Kurdish political prisoners were reportedly subjected to torture or ill-treatment, with 31 going on hunger strikes to protest the circumstances surrounding their arrest and detention. 15 were denied basic rights such as visitation by their family members, and 15 others were deprived of adequate medical care.”
Mustafa Hijri, the Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) said, “Sunnis are persecuted but at the same time, Iranian regime’s pressure on Kurds who are Sunni are doubled because they are both Kurds and Sunni.”
It would seem that being Kurdish and a Kolbar being Kurdish and in an opposition party, being Kurdish and a human rights activist or even an artist, is too dangerous for Iran to allow. Being Kurdish while doing anything the regime dislikes raises the stakes on any criminal charges, so that being a Kurd and a discontent means you are more likely to see prison and execution in Iran.