ECPM and KMMK-G to UN: Only in July, 25 Kurdish prisoners were executed
22:49 - 13 September 2018
In a joint statement read in the 39th Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council on September 12, 2018, the Together against the Death Penalty (ECPM) and the Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran-Geneva (KMMK-G) reported on arbitrary detention and disappearances of the bodies of Kurdish political prisoners in Iran.
The session was held in the presence of the UN’s Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances and the Working Group on arbitrary detention.
Mentioning a report by the late Special Rapporteur for Iran Madam Jahangir, the statement reads: “the Kurdish community remains one of the most suppressed groups in Iran, with individuals persecuted, arrested, and sentenced to death because of their ethnic affiliations.”
According to the ECPM and the KMMK-G, only in July, 25 Kurdish prisoners were executed. “Since beginning of 2018, more than 400 Kurdish citizens were detained and over 140 of them were charged with fabricated security-related crimes. Only in July, 25 Kurdish prisoners were executed, mostly for the crime of Moharebe, an imaginary crime against God.”
“Last week, three Kurdish political prisoners, Mr Zanyar and Loghman Moradi and Mr. Ramin Hossein panahi, were executed despite the serious concerns raised by UN Special Rapporteur for Iran that these prisoners were not afforded fair trials, and were subjected to torture,” the joint statement reads regarding to the execution of three Kurdish political prisoners last week.
“The disappearance of the bodies of Kurdish and other political prisoners is a common practice in Iran. The government of Iran refuses to return the bodies of the recent executed Kurdish citizens to their families. The arbitrary detention and disappearances of the bodies of executed Kurdish citizens is not only breaching Iran’s international and national obligations but it also constitutes a source of grievances and mental torture for the family of victims,” it continues.
The ECPM and the KMMK-G call upon the new High Commissioner Madam Bachelet, the working group on arbitrary detention and disappearances and the council “to press Iran to meet its international obligations and return back the bodies of Kurdish political prisoners to their families.”
The session was held in the presence of the UN’s Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances and the Working Group on arbitrary detention.
Mentioning a report by the late Special Rapporteur for Iran Madam Jahangir, the statement reads: “the Kurdish community remains one of the most suppressed groups in Iran, with individuals persecuted, arrested, and sentenced to death because of their ethnic affiliations.”
According to the ECPM and the KMMK-G, only in July, 25 Kurdish prisoners were executed. “Since beginning of 2018, more than 400 Kurdish citizens were detained and over 140 of them were charged with fabricated security-related crimes. Only in July, 25 Kurdish prisoners were executed, mostly for the crime of Moharebe, an imaginary crime against God.”
“Last week, three Kurdish political prisoners, Mr Zanyar and Loghman Moradi and Mr. Ramin Hossein panahi, were executed despite the serious concerns raised by UN Special Rapporteur for Iran that these prisoners were not afforded fair trials, and were subjected to torture,” the joint statement reads regarding to the execution of three Kurdish political prisoners last week.
“The disappearance of the bodies of Kurdish and other political prisoners is a common practice in Iran. The government of Iran refuses to return the bodies of the recent executed Kurdish citizens to their families. The arbitrary detention and disappearances of the bodies of executed Kurdish citizens is not only breaching Iran’s international and national obligations but it also constitutes a source of grievances and mental torture for the family of victims,” it continues.
The ECPM and the KMMK-G call upon the new High Commissioner Madam Bachelet, the working group on arbitrary detention and disappearances and the council “to press Iran to meet its international obligations and return back the bodies of Kurdish political prisoners to their families.”
