May 17, 2010
HRANA – Judge Mogheyseh of the 28th Branch of the Revolutionary Court sentenced Amir Khosrow Dalirsani, a national-religious activist (Iranian National Front supporter) and member of the Committee Against Arbitrary Arrests, to four years in prison.
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Author: admin-hr
Four Executions in Kermanshah, One in Public
HRANA News Agency – Three prisoners convicted of drug trafficking and one convicted of rape, were executed in Kermanshah on Monday, December 3, 2012.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), quoted from ISNA, Three prisoners (two men and one woman) convicted of drug trafficking were hanged in Kermanshah prison and one convicted of rape, kidnapping and Blasphemy were executed publicly in Azadi sq. in Kermanshah on Monday, December 3, 2012.
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Abolfazl Abedini exiled back to Ahvaz after testifying about Sattar Beheshti
HRANA News Agency – Journalist Abolfazl Abedini has been exiled back to Ahvaz after testifying about the torture of Sattar Beheshti.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Abedini has been exited from Ward 350 evin to be exiled to Ahvaz prison after testifying about the torture of Sattar Beheshti. Abedini has said he will begin hunger strike in protest of his exile.
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Anisa Fanai’an, Iranian Baha’i citizen was sentenced to prison
HRANA News Agency – Iranian Baha’i citizen Anisa Fanai’an was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Anisa Fanai’an is Baha’i citizen of Semnan. She was sentenced to four years and four months prison in primary court with charges of propaganda against the regime and being member of a Baha’i group. But it was reduced to 22 months in the appeals court.
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No News of Three Kurds Arrested in Maku
HRANA News Agency – Three citizens have been arrested by the security forces in the city of Maku, West Azerbaijan Province.
According to a report by Mukrian News Agency, Khosro Jafari, Naser Jafari and Ibrahim Kachlani were arrested more than one month ago.Iranian judiciary has not announced a reason for these arrests thus far.However, it has been reported that these three individuals have been charged with helping one of the opposition groups.
Mothers of Park Laleh Stand By Mourning Families
His smile was as wide as his face
His eyes filled with tears
The father telling the tale of his son
With dignity and pride
Remembering Mohammad, Amir, Mohsen and Romin
Recounting the tragic tale of Kahrizak
A while ago, Mothers of Park Laleh visited Mohammad Kamrani’s family to comfort them.This is the tale of Mohammad’s plight recounted by the Mothers of Park Laleh as they heard it from his father during their visit:
Mothers of Park Laleh – Father, Mother and children came to greet us.Nostalgia filled the air as we entered.The restlessness from the pain endured for two years hung in the surroundings.The patient mother with eyes full of sorrow gazed in silent pain.The father, though, with a knot in his throat, bursting into tears now and then to allow himself some relief, talked about what his son had endured in those few days.
Someone evil-hearted from the lot of the wicked and wretched souls whose eagerness to please their superiors surpasses expectations arrested Mohammad on the afternoon of July 9, 2009, a day forever to remain in infamy.At that very first moment of arrest, this man slapped Mohammad so hard that his glasses were knocked off his face and thrown a few meters away.
Meanwhile the eighteen year old Mohammad was totally in the dark about what was conspiring since he had merely gone to see his teacher to discuss a problem before taking the upcoming college entrance exam.In spite of the explanations provided by Mohammad, the hired-gun paid no attention, and before long, Mohammad together with other detainees was transferred to a horrific place of death and torture known as Kahrizak Prison.This is the same detention center where the damned judge and the murderous commander with all others tasked to carry out the brutal repression after 2009 presidential elections were pompously roaming so that for services rendered, they would rise up the ranks to reach higher on the totem pole.This is the same killing fields still hunting those who escaped it while making other survivals wish to have died there themselves.
During the days when Mohammad and others were enduring the lethal heat, shameless physical and psychological tortures and unbearable hunger and thirst in Kahrizak Prison, Mohammad’s strong and athletic body was damaged to the degree that in spite of his youth and good health, it could bear no more.
Soon, because of repeated inquires and appeals made by Mohammad’s family and friends, Iranian officials decided to release him.The news of his release was then delivered to the family:He would be set free on the afternoon of July 11, 2009.Subsequently, Mohammad’s family gathered in front of Evin Prison, waiting there behind the gate impatiently.However, before long, relatives contacted Mr. Kamrani to tell him that Mohammad was in Kahrizak Prison, and the father had to go there alone.While Mr. Kamrani was heading towards Kahrizak, he received another phone call beckoning him to Loghman Hospital.At that precise moment, the father’s heart skipped a beat.Something had gone awfully wrong.
Arriving at the hospital, Mr. Kamrani found his son unconscious and chained to a bed.Embracing Mohammad, the father felt as if he was set ablaze by his son’s burning fever.Seeing their son under such circumstances, the family protested and demanded Mohammad to be transferred to another hospital.During the transfer, the executioners shamelessly wanted Mohammad’s father to confirm that his son was delivered to the family safe and sound, but the family members stood firm and refused to comply with the request.
At the next hospital, physicians and nurses were deeply dismayed at the sight of Mohammad’s tormented body and plight.Although they knew that only a miracle could save Mohammad’s life, hospital staff promised to do all they could and true to their word, they tried wholeheartedly.Alas, their efforts were futile given that the extent of Mohammad’s injuries, the thirst he had endured and the infections had caused both of his kidneys to fail.
In the early morning of July 14, 2009, the news of Mohammad’s death reached his family.For what crime did they wither a blossom not yet fully flourished?
Since then, it has been two years during which the Kamranis have gone from one judiciary to another in search of answers.Mohammad’s father further described, “When I heard that Mohammad was arrested, I searched everywhere.No one gave me any answers, and sometimes they were even rude.However, after Mohammad’s death and my written grievance, everyone was sympathetic just because they had received an order from their superiors to investigate and identify those responsible for this crime.”
Mr. Kamrani played an important role in revealing the crimes that occurred in Kahrizak Prison.Because he and the families of other victims didn’t give up, the tale of Kahrizak has not been forgotten, and the need for further investigations has remained at the forefront.
Mohammad’s father has announced, “Mr. Ruhoalamini and I are determined to get to the bottom of this case.I have given up everything and live only for the day when my son’s killer will be punished.”
Mothers of Park Laleh can’t help but wonder how the damned, conscienceless judge can claim himself to be cleared of all charges.Maybe he is right since the case has been investigated only superficially.What is obviously evident is the fact that some of the individuals responsible for these crimes are merely shuffled around from one position to another while others are promoted and given such a sensitive and important post as to fight against currency smuggling.
Through it all, Mohammad’s family continues to worry about everyone who was locked up behind bars in Kahrizak Prison during those horrific, painful days.The family understands the victims’ sense of loneliness and sympathizes with their unbearable torment and sorrow.Isn’t it our duty as human beings to understand them, honor them and ease their burden by sharing their pain?
Sympathizing with the Kamranis and other victims of Kahrizak Prison, Mothers of Park Laleh announce their commitment not to allow the blood of those lost and the right of those tortured to be trampled.Mothers of Park Laleh once again insist on their demands to prosecute the perpetrators of hangings, mass executions, religious and ethnic cleansings, arrests, tortures, rapes, assassinations, house raids, university dormitory attacks and all other crimes that have occurred since the 80’s till today.Additionally, Mothers of Park Laleh demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
Three Kurdish Prisoners in Limbo for Fifteen Months
HRANA News Agency – Three political prisoners from the city of Sanandaj have been locked up in Rajai-Shahr Prison in Karaj for fifteen months without any formal charges.In this state of limbo, their future and fate remain uncertain.
According to a report by Mukrian News Agency, Arman Bahmani, Ramin Karami and Fakhrudin Azizi were arrested about fifteen months ago by Iranian security forces and transferred to Karaj’s Rajai-Shahr Prison.These three Kurdish citizens are originally from the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province.
During the initial interrogarations, these three political prisoners were accused of cooperating with religious groups and organizations.However, no formal charges have been filed thus far.
Tehran University PHD Student Sentenced to Prison
HRANA News Agency – Avat Rezania, a student in Tehran University’s doctorate program in Communication Studies, have been sentenced to prison and fined by Judge Farati in the Revolutionary Court, Branch 2.
According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), On Monday, May 9, 2011, in a news conference, Iranian Judiciary spokesman released the news of verdicts issued against those who had attacked Tehran University dormitories. Immediately following the news conference, Avat Rezania, a Kurdish student in Tehran University, was convicted of offenses against public order and sentenced to three months suspended prison term and also 74 lashes which may be substituted by $3,000 fine. The ruling is preliminary and may be appealed and overturned within 21 days.
Avat Rezania was previously a Sociology professor in Sanandaj Azad University but was banned from teaching by the Ministry of Intelligence.
May 9th: A Day to Reject Violence and Defend the Right to Live
HRANA News Agency – Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan has issued a statement on the occasion of Teacher’s Week in Iran.In this statement, Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan recounts the problems facing the union and the weaknesses of our country’s education system and demands the release of its imprisoned members.To commemorate May 9th and the shocking execution of Farzad Kamangar, Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan has named May 9th to be a day to reject violence and defend the right to live.Farzad Kamangar was a union member and also a human rights activist who was executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran on May 9, 2010.
The union also has requested teachers all over the country to light a candle on May 9th and teach their students lessons to reject violence and defend the right to live.The full text of this statement is as follows:
In the Name of God, Creator of Life and Wisdom
Blessed Be Teacher’s Day
It was exactly this time.We were all energized, bustling around with our hearts full of joy because our day was approaching.With the words “Teacher’s Day” on our lips, we wrote a statement and gathered at Abidar1 to recount many years of pain.Long ago, Samad Behrangi wrote about the same pain while delving and probing into educational issues, and now that more than thirty years has passed after the revolution, we still struggle with the same set of problems.
They said that it was Teacher’s Week!?They held meetings and made much ado about nothing while getting on their soapboxes, blowing hot air and complimenting each other for making a difference in these youngsters’ lives.We stared and only watched; they didn’t allow us to say anything, but we thought how long they could keep up with all the prayer and praise.We were all worried about Rasoul’s children who were awaiting his return.What exactly had Rasoul Bodaghi and Hashem Khastar said?
At the foot of the mountain, we talked and said all there was to say without endangering senior management’s careers in the education system or threatening their bottom line.Far from the senior managers’ advice on the virtues of silence and away from the prying eyes of Herasat’s2 closed circuit cameras, we talked for hours about our pupils’ pain in the classroom.Without endangering national security, we talked about child labor.
We were happy since Farzad’s attorney had informed us that he was to return to us, and the villages of Kamyaran [Kurdistan Province, Iran] could embrace him.Repeatedly we mentioned Teacher’s Day while they proudly rubbed Teacher’s Week in our faces.It was exactly Teacher’s Week, and in front of our bewildered gazes, they took him away from us at dawn, and no one saw him again.Now, at night, he twinkles in Kurdistan’s grief-stricken sky.
Esteemed Educators
The year that we have put behind us was a year full of events and changes in Iran and the Middle East.It has been years that neo-conservatives have imposed their policies on people all around the world.The outcome of these policies has been privatization, unemployment, cancellation of subsidies, layoff of workers under the pretence of workforce adjustments, warmongering and militarism, weakening and dissolution of trade unions, reduction of education budgets, decreasing health insurance and social benefits, and in many countries, an increase in retirement age under the excuse of government cost-saving ideas.
The blatant attack on people’s basic rights in the Middle East became further apparent through the violence displayed by the police, security forces, and military governments.Threatening political rights became the means by which such countries utilized in order to impose this economic disaster on people.Nonetheless, declaring long periods of time as the state of emergency and the rule of terror didn’t deter the masses from trying to change the situation.As we have witnessed, a hung tsunami of change has washed over the Middle East and North Africa in the name of pursuing happiness and democratic rights.By making numerous sacrifices, those seeking freedom are achieving new victories every day, and dictatorships are vanishing each day.
Along with the spirit of twenty-first century human beings in quest of freedom, the members of Education International have not remained silent.The global federation of teachers’ trade unions has jumped into action to fight against new worldwide policies through which education is overshadowed by profit margins, and quality is sacrificed for the sake of quantity.This year, the World Congress of Education International will meet in South Africa in order to address the same issues.Obviously, the representatives of teachers’ unions throughout Iran will attend the World Congress, and with one voice together with all other teachers of the world, we will defend our democratic rights and also the right to education.
By placing profit at top of their agenda, recent governments in Iran have also imposed undue burden on the working class.The elimination of subsidies has made this policy apparent.In Iran, the right to form unions is not recognized.In other words, the majority of the society has been denied its legitimate right to negotiate and bargain with the government that plays the role of a major employer.Social insurances don’t have sufficient resources through which effective services can be offered to the community.Unemployment insurance hasn’t been designated for people over eighteen, and the nightmare of white signed contracts3 have become an integral and inseparable part of people’s daily lives.
Unfortunately, the implementation of removing subsidies has not accounted for any of these issues.Considering that minimum wage is not significantly different from last year, soaring prices and repeated sanctions imposed by the Security Council have driven a greater percentage of Iranian families below the poverty line.This means that a large number of school age children leave their classrooms behind as they head to the job market in search of work.Meanwhile, deviance and criminal behavior is on the rise.
Education in Iran
The atrocious story of education in Iran is a long, tragic tale piled up in the hearts of teachers throughout this land from Balochistan to Gilan, from Azerbaijan to Kurdistan, from Turkmen Sahra to Khuzestan, from Lorestan to Kermanshah, and from Ilam to Hormozgan.In the remotest corners of Iran, the sad story of education and forsaken enlightenment and intellectualism is a tale of deprived children, broken-down school buildings, substandard school books, archaic teaching methods, and under-appreciated, forgotten hardworking teachers, the same teachers who reflect the misery of their deprived pupils, the same teachers who despite poverty still lovingly keep the candle of knowledge burning in stormy nights.
Enduring imprisonment, exile, deportation and even flogging has become the reward for safeguarding thoughts and the praise for intellectuals.Governments come and go, and ministers hand over their responsibilities to their successors.Sometimes, they talk about changes and transforming structures, books and creating new positions or eliminating the old ones.However, it has been long since nothing substantial or worth remembering has occurred.After this useless period, we return again to the same old education system while no one is held responsible for wasting so many resources and so much energy.More importantly, no one is held accountable for the game played with a generation trapped in an education system that uses them as laboratory rats.
We believe that the problem is not only blocking teacher involvement but also is related to the decision making process which ignores teachers, the most important element in education.It must be acknowledged that creativity and vitality is nurtured in a democratic environment and in an atmosphere of respect for the dignity and basic rights of teachers.
When Mr. Haj Babaei was appointed as the education minister, teachers’ trade unions were delighted since after a long time, someone with positive tendencies and inclinations was chosen.During his term in the Parliament, Mr. Haj Babaei was willing to meet with the representatives of trade unions while ignoring government red tape and restrictions.Unfortunately, teachers were disappointed very soon as the process to eliminate critics sped up, and the pressure on trade unions increased.Meanwhile, there remains no place for teachers in the colossal ministry of education, and there are apparently no plans to transform the disappointing environment dominating over our schools into an atmosphere of informed, mutual participation and service.
Is it possible to envision a fundamental change in the quality of education without democratizing the education system?School curriculums change, and new school hours are implemented without the input of main players namely teachers.In the twenty-first century, teachers are treated as if they are subjects receiving sacred and holy commands from the above and are given orders that are binding and may not be questioned.As a result of a policy that considers “master’s word to be God’s word,” human energy is wasted, teachers are discouraged, and the education system is stagnant.Additionally, teachers witness the ineffectiveness of the education system every day but have no means by which they can inform the public or concerned parents.However, we feel a sense of responsibility to communicate the ongoing, pending disaster to our students’ parents in any which way possible.
Dear Colleagues
Congratulating Teacher’s Day to all of our colleagues throughout Iran and wishing them success in their work, Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan declares the following items to be their main demands:
1. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of our jailed colleagues, Rasoul Bodaghi, Hashem Khastar and Nabiollah Bastan and call for the dismissal of all pending cases against union activists in different courts.
2. We demand removing the ban on the publication Qalam Moalem [Teacher’s Pen] which is Iran’s only independent journal of educators.
3. As you are aware, May 9th is the anniversary on which Farzad Kamangar, a board member of Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan, lost his life.While honoring the humanitarian efforts of this noble and revered educator and with the slogan of “rejecting organized violence and defending the right to live,” Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan asks all educators to light a candle in their classrooms to commemorate this day.We request all teachers to designate their lectures on May 9th to be a lesson on rejecting violence in any shape or form.We shall teach the children that human beings regardless of their ethnicity, religion, language and social class are equal.We shall rise up to fight materialism and warmongering and consider seeking peace to be the highest human virtue.We shall replace animosity and hostility amongst nations with love and alliance.
At the end, Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan congratulates the International Workers’ Day, May 1st, to all workers and declares the union’s support for their demands.
Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan
Ordibehesht 1390 [April – May 2011]
Footnotes for the English Translation:
1.Abidar, a mountain east of Sanandaj, is a major recreational area in Iran’s Kurdistan Province.
2. Herasat is Iran’s semi-secret police tasked to monitor all educational institutes throughout the country.
3. “White signed contracts” are in effect white papers that workers in Iran sign allowing employers to determine all the terms of employment.
Firing of Awat Rezania, one of Sanandaj University’s Professors
HRANA – By request of Ministry of intelligence “Awat Rezania”, a professor in Azad University in Sanandaj was expelled from the University.
Students of Islamic Azad University of Sanandaj have told HRANA reporters that Awat Rezania, doctoral student in communication sciences at Tehran University, who also taught sociology in Islamic Azad University of Sanandaj, had been fired.
This professor who had been summoned to office of Ministry of Intelligence several times before and his court hearing was held on 10 Esfand 1389, due to disapproval of Ministry of Intelligence and via a formal letter by Azad University, has been fired.
In addition it is been told that his unpaid salary of several months he has been suspended.