February 4, 2010
Iranian Kurdistan, —
Another wave in the arrest and imprisonment of
Kurdish people in Iran has begun. In recent days, a
large number of activists in fields ranging from
environmental science, literature, art, business,
labor rights advocacy and academia to politics have
been detained, and most of them have been given
long-term prison sentences, Iran Human Rights Voice
reported.
Also, during this time, news regarding the torture
of Kurdish students in Tehran University has been
distributed and pressure has been mounting on the
family members of the political activists.
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The widening suppression of
the Kurdish people comes at a time when
pressures are increasing all across Iran, but
despite current conditions throughout Iran,
which, as in Kurdistan, are moving ever faster
toward militarization, the suppression is being
imposed by the government with greater impunity
in Kurdistan.
Kurdistan had turned into a massive military
base. Why is suppression in Kurdistan greater in
comparison with that being imposed on other
parts of the country? To get the answer, it is
sufficient to consider the demands of the people
who have been detained by the government in the
past month. Those who have been arrested in the
past month alone come from different social
echelons,www.ekurd.netwhich
prove the fact that struggle in Kurdistan is a
mass struggle and was unlikely to have been
pre-arranged. The Islamic Republic is fearful of
any mass movement, and by sowing disunity and
division in its tactics, it tries to suppress
any form of mass movement.
Considering the fact that the demands by Kurdish
people extend to overall national rights, in
addition to freedom, democracy and social
justice, and considering such demands are in
exact contradiction to the regime’s doctrine,
and considering the fact that the the movement
in Kurdistan is organized, radicalized, planned
and more experienced, and also considering the
number of political activists across Iran,
Kurdistan has managed to maintain an active role
in these areas over the long term, forcing the
Islamic Republic to increase and intensify its
grip in an effort to suppress people all across
Iran.
Also, people in Kurdistan are suffering from
religious discrimination, and the Islamic
Republic, by favoring Shiism, has added to
religious and ethnic discrimination and tension
in this area. In Iran, religious minorities are
denied leadership roles, the presidency and
appointment to the judiciary, and after thirty
years there has not been a Sunni, let alone a
Kurd, to hold a ministry position or a
governorship.
Most of the people who have been detained in the
past month and sentenced to imprisonment have
been sentenced without evidence, and the arrests
are meant to intimidate the general population.
So far, revolutionary courts have accused 21
people of Moharebeh (waging war) and have
sentenced them to death. Border guards and
military forces are continually harassing
merchants in the border areas of Kurdistan,www.ekurd.netand
in the city of Mahabad, Mamosta Abdulrahman
Shahi and Molla Ahmad Sanandaji, along with a
number of other clerics and Sunni activists,
have been detained.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
ihrv org | Iran Human
Rights Voice
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