Layoffs Spark Fasting Protests

Kurdish News Human Rights Watch :

Article 858
December 27, 2006
Sanandaj- Over one hundred former employees of Nasaji in Kurdistan went to the unemployment office and began a public fast after their insurance was cancelled. Most of the employees have ten to twenty years experience. They did receive some assistance from unemployment, which has ceased. The employees and their families are finding life increasingly difficult without wages, which is why they are protesting. No response has been given to them by unemployment or any government office. Last month seven hundred employees from different companies such as Nasaji, Shaho, Prees, hospitals, and road repairers in Kurdistan were laid off and then began a fast in front of the governors office, but they were forcibly dispersed.
Translated by Samrand Moradi

Prison for College Student

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 540
December 27, 2006
Sanandaj- Aso Saleh is the chief editor of the news publications Dang and Chia. He has been sentenced to six months in prison to be served over the next three years for the news he published on the 19th of Khordad (Iranian calendar) in Dang newspaper regarding the government.

Sentence Given for Kurdish Teacher and His Brother

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 539
December 27, 2006Gharwa- Kurooshi Ranjbar and his brother, Zahid Ranjbar, were sentenced in Court Office 2 in Sanandaj to one year in prison for political activities. The brothers have been jailed since the beginning of this past summer

Three Journalists in Court

Kurdish News Human Rights Watch :

December 24, 2006
ILna:Sanandaj- Ejlal Ghuami, Tonya Kabudvand, and Kawa Husseinpanahi are publishers and authors of Payam Mardom, which has been shut down by the Iranian Islamic Regime. These three journalists were in court on the eleventh of Dayma (Iranian calendar). They were jailed for producing commercials against the Regime and for spreading untruths. The court has pronounced them to be enemies of Islam. - Ejlal Ghuami is the political journalist, Ms Tonya. Kabudvand is the journalist for women’s issues, and Mr. Husseinpanahi is the economics reporter. All are now free on bond.
www.insaniyet.com
Translated by Samrand Moradi

Court of Inghalab Sentences Thirty in Bana

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

No.Report : 538
December 24, 2006
Bana- Each of thirty defendants received a fine of three million riyal (Iranian currency) and three to six months imprisonment for public demonstrations of protest against the Iranian Islamic Regime. The defendants are : Abubakr Rehmani, Hassan Kitabi, Ahmed Fatahpour, Bilal Ravand, Salaam Rostami, Latif Rasouli, Mohamad Dervishi, Atta Zabihi, Dervish Majidzada, Ismail Ahmedzada, Abubakr Ostadi, Sirvan Naseri, Heman Majidi, Hossein Alipour, Mohamad Kadri, Rastagar Masgari, Abdulhakim Karimi, Kawa Hassani, Sadiq Aminajad, Salah Dervishi, Nasr Ghulami, Khalid Rahimi, Abdullah Ranjbari, Bahman Fatahzada, Rebwar Rahimpana, Samand Rasoulian, and Serdar Rehmani. All are now imprisoned in Kurdistan of Iran for protesting against the Regime.

www.insaniyet.com

Translated by Samrand Moradi

Two Kurdish Men Brutally Murdered in Miandoub

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 537
December 24, 2006
Miandoub- Hewa Nazari and Abdullah Sircan were shot on the street in Miandoub. Both were killed. The car they were occupying exploded as a result of the shots. It is unknown if they would have survived had the vehicle not exploded. They certainly burned to death if they did not immediately die from the shots. The car contained flammable liquids that the men were selling.

Eighty-one Workers in Kermanshah Go Without Pay

Kurdistan News Human Rights Watch :

December 24, 2006
Kermanshah- Employees of Aland in Kermanshah have not received their pay for the past four months. They are typically due 180 hazar tumen (Iranian currency) on a monthly basis. This is a great hardship in winter, when money is needed for heating. The employees have protested the lack of pay and requested that they be compensated, but there has been no response.

Two Year Prison Sentence for Kurdish Man

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 536
December 24, 2006
Sanandaj- Azad Lutfpour, a teacher and art instructor, was detained for protesting and then sentenced to two years in prison with torture. He appealed the sentence and lost the appeal

Phone Company Employees Go Without Pay

Kurdistan News Human Rights Watch:

December 21, 2006
Bana- Twenty salaried employees of a phone company in Bana have not received their pay for the past four months. This has made living very difficult for the employees and their families, and they have not complained for fear of losing their jobs.

Translator’s Note: Most companies in Iran are owned and operated by the Regime, privatization is not common.

Teacher Jailed

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 535
December 21, 2006
Sanandaj- Shahram Ghovami has been detained by agents of the Iranian Islamic Regime for authoring a book in Kurdish. Mr. Ghovami is an accomplished author, who has written romances, children’s books, and primers on Kurdish language and its’ history. Wednesday the agents of the Iranian Regime searched and seized numerous personal effects from his residence. He is being held in an undisclosed location.

Prison Sentence Handed Down for Two Kurds

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 534
December 21, 2006
Sanandaj- Sohrab Jalali has been jailed for the past year for protesting. He has now been sentenced to two years imprisonment followed by deportation to Khashmir Khorasan, a city far from Sanadaj. He will not be allowed to leave Khashmir Khorasan after the deportation. Kawa Javanmard, twenty-six, a journalist for the weekly paper Karaftoo, was detained on Monday, the twenty-seventh of Azar (Iranian calendar) also for protesting. He was sentenced to five years of imprisonment with torture, and an additional eight months imprisonment without torture. Mr. Javanmard was previously released on a fifty million temen (Iranian currency) bond for earlier charges before his recent detention for protesting. Mr. Javanmard’s father was killed a few years ago for Kurdish political activities after a period in jail with torture. Mr. Javanmard’s mother is undergoing extreme distress at this time, as she is faced with losing her son so soon after losing her husband.

Forty-one Medical College Employees in Kurdistan are Dismissed

Kurdistan News Human Rights Watch:

December 21, 2006
Sanandaj- Fourteen experienced female medical employees have been dismissed from a teaching hospital. Each of these fourteen had fifteen to twenty years experience in the medical field. Twenty-seven other employees were also dismissed. The employees were dismissed for following a Kurdish religion. The employees have pressed discrimination charges against the hospital and the medical college, and their case has not been addressed.

The Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan
http://www.insaniyet.com/

Kurdish Man From Bana Jailed in Greece

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 533
December 17, 2006
Bana - Abdullah Rezayi, a Kurdish man from Bana, was jailed on the first of Mehr (Iranian Calendar) for political activities in Iran. He was later released on temporary bond and then fled the country. He was apprehended in Greece after crossing the border from Turkey. He is being held in a Grecian jail. His life would be forfeit if he were deported back to Iran. The Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan previously reported on his disappearance.

Police Officers Receive Sentence for Torture Case

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 532
December 17, 2006
Tehran- Jahan Bakhsh R., Wahid A., and Ayoub I., police officers, were released after sentencing regarding the beating and torture of Reza Feradjian, a Kurdish resident of Bana. Mr. Feradjian was detained last summer by the police and sustained permanent injuries in both of his hands as well as psychological damage from the torture inflicted on him during his detainment. His injuries have been attested to by medical staff, who submitted testimony to the court. The court’s sentence barred each of the police officers from performing arrests and interrogations.

Five Year Prison Sentence for Teacher

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 532
December 17, 2006
Sanandaj- Sasan Babai, a Kurdish teacher, had been held in jail for the past four months and is now sentenced to five years in prison for political actions opposing the Islamic Regime. Farzat Kermangar, also a teacher, is a representative of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan and was taken into custody at the same time as Mr. Babai. Both are being held in Sanandaj Jail.

One Prisoner Killed in Naghada Prison

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 531
December 17, 2006
Naghada- Rasoul Kurd was sentenced to hang by the Naghada court after serving four years in prison for murder. His execution was carried out within the past few days.

Sanandaj Resident Murdered In Loristan

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan Reporters:

Article 528
December 15, 2006
Sanandaj- Ayoub Mohammadi was traveling from Khoramabad to Loristan when he was shot and killed by police in his vehicle. Mr. Mohammadi was on a business trip, and lost control of the vehicle when he was shot by the police and his vehicle rolled over numerous times.

Radio Fardah Interview With Mohamad Sedigh Kaboudvand

Radio Fardah’s Katozian: Shirko Jahani made a short phone call to his family and assured them he was alive.

Mohamad Sedigh Kaboudvand: The first hour after news was received about Mr. Jahani having a heart attack the Iranian FBI (Itlaad) announced he was alive and well.
Katozian: He had contact with his family?
Mohamad Sediq Kabudvand: Mr. Jahani’s mother wanted to see her son and speak with him very badly. The government did not grant her requests at first, but then gave permission for a very short phone call. This morning he did call his mother and told her he was alive.
Katozian: Do you think he has given up his fast?
Mohamad Sedigh Kaboudvand: I am sorry, I don’t know what has happened with his fast and if he is still fasting, I still don’t know where he was taken and where he would be right now.
Katozian: What is the last you heard of his case?
Mohamad Sedigh Kaboudvand: Right now he might be in an Itlaad facility. He was detained in the first place for speaking with foreign news agencies and organizing a discussion about a woman who was imprisoned in Mahabad- these are the only reasons he was jailed. Why Itlaad has him, and which Itlaad facility he is held in, we don’t know. No answers have been given to us regarding the case.
Katozian: Why did people say he had died in custody?
Mohamad Sedigh Kaboudvand: Mr. Jahani had been fasting since the first day he was jailed, and two days after he began his fast he announced he would no longer speak to anyone in the government until he was freed. This was the reason they transferred him to an unknown location. After this his family and our organization did all we could to get some answers and some news regarding him. We were unsuccessful in obtaining any information, and this is why the rumors started that he was given poison, or had a heart attack, or was in a coma, because people began to manufacture reasons why the government would not allow us to see him or know anything about his welfare.

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan
http://www.insaniyet.com
Translated by Samrand Moradi