Iranian Kurdistan: Activists Publicly Executed in Urmia
Last Friday [20 May 2016], the Iranian authorities executed five human rights activists in the region of Urmia. They were accused of conspiring against the Islamic Republic and hanged in front of hundreds of people, including their families, who were obliged by the authorities the watch the execution. The five Kurdish men used to investigate and document violations perpetrated by Iranian security against Kurdish civilians in Urmia.
Photo courtesy of AraNews.
Below is the report published by AraNews:
Authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran executed five Kurdish rights activists in the northwestern Urmia city, officials and local activists confirmed on Friday.
The Kurdish rights activists Naji Kiwan, Ali Kurdian, Haidar Ramini, Nadir Muhamadi and Ruhman Rashidi were arrested on Wednesday on charges of “conspiring against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
They were publicly hanged to death in central Urmia in front of hundreds of people, including their families who have been obliged by the Iranian authorities to witness the execution.
“The victims were human rights activists who used to document violations by Iranian security forces against civilians in the Kurdish city of Urmia,” member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran Dara Natiq told ARA News.
“By executing those activists, the Iranian government tries to prevent any reporting about its violations against human rights,” he said.
The Kurdish official added that Iran is executing an average of seven civilians and activists every week.
“Public executions have become a common scene in the main cities of Iran, mainly conducted on baseless charges,” Natiq told ARA News. “The Kurdish people have been for long suppressed and persecuted by the Iranian Islamic government. However, our activists will keep documenting those violations with a hope that the international community would ever take action and stop such barbaric acts by this tyrannical government.”
