11 years since execution, watchdog demands information on Kurdish activists' resting place

09-05-2021
Anis Ari
A+ A-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A human rights watchdog demanded Iranian authorities reveal the final resting place of Kurdish activists executed eleven years ago.

"Kurdistan Human Rights Network condemns their executions and calls on the authorities in Tehran to disclose the fate or location of their burial to their families. It has been eleven years that the families are under psychological torture and they do not know where their loved ones are buried and the authorities must disclose their fate," Rebin Rahmani, the founder of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) told Rudaw.

"Eleven years have passed since the execution of these five political prisoners, the judicial and security officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have refrained from providing any information about the location of their burial," he added.

One of the people killed was Farzad Kamangar, a teacher and civil rights activist from Kamyaran in Kurdistan province. He was arrested in May 2006 for allegedly collaborating with Kurdish opposition groups in Iran and "moharebeh," or enmity against God.

Kamangar denied the charges, and he and his fellow detainees were subjected to torture.

He was executed with four others on May 9, 2010 in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. 

Contrary to Iranian law, the family members and lawyers were not contacted before the execution took place and, under the guise of civil unrest, the bodies were never returned nor were the locations of the burial sites revealed.

His mother still holds hope that one day she will be able to mourn her son at his grave.

According to a 2021 Amnesty International report, Iran subjugates many of its detainees to enforced disappearances, holding them in undisclosed locations and hiding their fates and whereabouts from their families. Iran is also one of the world's top executioners.  
 

Comments

Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.

To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.

We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.

Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.

Post a comment

Required
Required
 

The Latest

Undated picture of Mobarakeh Steel Company in Isfahan

Middle East’s largest steel producer in Iran shut down as US strikes damage key facilities

The Middle East’s largest steel producer in Iran has halted operations after sustaining heavy damage in US-Israeli airstrikes over the past few days, dealing a major blow to the country’s industrial sector.