At the invitation of the “Group of Human Rights Activists in Iran” a gathering was held yesterday in front of the Sanandaj judiciary building to protest execution verdicts of Farzad Kamangar, Farhad Vakili and Ali Heidarian. A large number of citizens and relatives of prisoners attended the gathering.
The gathering began at 10 o’clock in the morning and was attended by about 500 people, most of whom are relatives of political prisoners.
Protestors were carrying pictures of Farzad Kamangar and other prisoners, as well as placards protesting the death penalty in general, calling for the repeal of the penalty.
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi, member of the executive committee o the Kurdistan Defenders of human Rights, who attended the gathering, told Rooz about the gathering: “Participants attended from various Kurdish cities and other Iranian cities. They were holding pictures of Farzad Kamangar and other political Kurdish prisoners, as well as placards protesting the death verdict of Farzad Kamangar, Farhad Vakili and Ali Heidarian. A number of women who were related to the convicted individuals were carrying Korans.”
Responding to a question about the treatment of protestors by the police, Kermanshahi said, “Police had a visible presence in the area, but fortunately there was confrontation between the police and protestors during the event. However, the police officer in charge at the gathering insisted that it must end as soon as possible, and even called on protestors several times to designate representatives to convey their requests and leave the area, but every time protestors announced that their demands are clear and appear on their placards, as well as a statement they will release at the conclusion of their gathering. One time Farzad Kamangar’s mother, who was holding a Koran, and another time the 8 or 9 year old child of Farhad Vakili, who had a placard reading, ‘Do not Execute my Father,’ were introduce to police officers as symbolic representatives of the crowd.”
Noting that the gathering ended without an incident, Kermanshahi added, “Finally, with the insistence of police officer, the protestors, in order to prevent any event or possible confrontation and show their goodwill and commitment to law ended their protest after one of Farzad Kamangar’s colleagues read a final declaration; meanwhile, the number of protestors was increasing with each passing moment.”
The protestors’ declaration reads, “We have gathered here in a peaceful and fully lawful gathering to tell the judiciary, as representatives of the Iranian people, that our feelings have been hurt by the prospect of execution of Farzad Kamangar, as an experienced teacher and civil and cultural activists. We demand full implementation of domestic and international law. Thousands of letters and dozens of requests by domestic and human rights organizations addressed to the judiciary, especially Mr. Shahroudi, points to his [Farzad Kamangar’s] good reputation and the inappropriateness of death sentence for him. Farzad’s students are certainly awaiting his return.”
Kaveh Kermanshahi
Roozonline
What we have said here is only a brief listing of academic violations and denial of right to education in Iranian universities today. Students are determined to continue their legal and rightful struggle to promote independence of universities and uphold academic freedoms, although many are sacrificed down this path.
Iran is a state party to both the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (without reservation) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which prohibit the execution of persons under the age of 18 at the time of their offense. In ratifying the CRC, Iran declared an extremely broad reservation, “not to apply any provisions or articles of the Convention that are incompatible with Islamic Laws.”
one must not forget that one aspect of “security” cases is the image that they carry for the groups that advance such issues. Therefore, before fake charges take to the news-media and become public, those who have had a hand in arresting the students must be weakened. Otherwise, after the severe charges are made public, repeated and are tied to the image of the actors, even the intervention of the head of the judiciary (as history demonstrates) cannot be of much help to the detainees.
How can we tell the judiciary officials of Iran that according to law juveniles can stay alive and continue to live with appropriate and suitable punishment? How must one make this request from the judiciary a public and wide-spread demand and point out that killing a juvenile who has not wholeheartedly committed an act does not solve any of the real problems facing the country?
Thousands of university students in an Iranian city have held a protest against the attempted sexual harassment of a female colleague by a top university official, the press reported on Monday. About 3,000 students at the university in the northwestern city of Zanjan staged the sit-in protest over the weekend at a sports hall on campus, the reports said.
