Justice for Iranian Workers

The ITF has reacted with shock and anger to reports that Mansour Osanloo could be being violently abused in Rajai Shahr prison. Read more…

Source Workers in Action

The news release was brief.  They executed them.

At dawn on Sunday, 19 Ordibehesht 1389 (May 09, 2010), five political activists were sent to the gallows to join those who have been executed over the past three decades.  Their families, who for years have marked time behind the prison gates, sat waiting for their corpses. Read more…

Together with four other Kurdish political prisoners, Farzad Kamangar was executed, in secret, on Sunday 9 May at Evin Prison in Tehran. Kamangar, a 35-year-old teacher and member of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Kurdistan, was accused of “endangering national security” and “enmity against God”. He had lived with the threat of the death penalty since February 2008, when it was imposed upon him after a sham trial that lasted less than five minutes. In prison, Farzad suffered torture and psychological pressure.

Although the Iranian authorities had accepted Farzad’s appeal, the case stalled when it should have been sent to the Supreme Court for review. After further delays, Farzad’s lawyer was told that his file had been lost. Despite the evident lack of independent inquiry into the allegations and the absence of a fair judicial process, Farzad has been executed.

Farzads case is particularly troubling because of the opaque and secretive manner in which his trial was conducted, the lack of basic rights he had access to whilst in prison, and the fact that neither his family or legal representatives were informed of his execution.

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Amnesty International today condemned the executions in Iran of four Kurdish political activists and another Iranian man, all convicted of “moharebeh” (enmity against God)”. The four Kurds – Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, Shirin Alam-Holi – along with Mehdi Eslamian, were hanged on Sunday, 9 May at Evin prison in Tehran. Read more…

ITF General Secretary David Cockroft has today written to the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, challenging him to deny reports that five Iranian citizens, including teachers’ trade union activist Farzad Kamangar, have been summarily executed. Read more…

Education International is deeply troubled to hear reports that Iranian teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar was among five people who were summarily executed in secret on 9 May.

Farzad Kamangar, a 35-year-old married man and member of the Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan, was accused of “endangering national security” and “enmity against God”. He had lived with the threat of the death penalty since February 2008, when it was imposed upon him after a sham trial that lasted less than five minutes.

Although the Iranian authorities had accepted Farzad’s appeal, the case stalled when it should have been sent to the Supreme Court for review. After further delays, Farzad’s lawyer was told that his file had been lost. Despite the evident lack of independent inquiry into the allegations and the absence of a fair judicial process, Farzad has still been reportedly executed.

EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen, said: “We are all deeply shocked and saddened to hear that Farzad has been executed. His case was particularly troubling to our 30 million members because of the opaque and secretive manner in which his trial was conducted, the lack of basic rights he had access to whilst in prison, and the fact that neither his family or legal representatives were informed of his execution. This is a terrible day for teachers, union activists and human rights. EI expresses our solidarity with Farzad’s family, colleagues and students.”

He added: “EI recognises the rights and responsibilities of all governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences but this must be in line with international and national standards of fair trial. EI is also unequivocal that the Iranian government must ensure respect for all trade union and human rights.”

The trade union and human rights community had campaigned against the death penalty and prosecution of Farzad. EI and its affiliates have been particularly vocal and lobbied the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, which subsequently ‘urge[d] the Government [of Iran] to immediately stay the execution of Farzad Kamangar’s death sentence, annul his conviction and secure his release from detention.’

Call for action:

• EI is joining international networks and campaigns to remember Farzad and support other Iranian teachers and union activists, including Rasoul Bodaghi, Hashem Khastar and Bahman Goudarzzade, who remain in prison within Iran.
• EI is writing to the Supreme Leader and Iranian authorities to request a transparent investigation into the execution of Farzad and to halt any further executions.
• EI is informing and calling on all EI affiliates to write to their respective country’s foreign office to express their shock at the execution of Farzad, to call for open and fair trials, and an end to the death penalty.
• EI is encouraging its affiliates to hold vigils to mark the sad news of the death of Farzad

Source http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1254&theme=rights&country=iran

The ITUC is deeply shocked and has strongly condemned the recent execution of the teacher and trade unionist Farzad Kamangar, together with four other prisoners on Sunday 9 May. According to the information received by the ITUC, Farzad Kamangar was sentenced after a court process that did not meet international or Iranian standards for a fair trial.

The ITUC has also denounced the inhumane treatment of Farzad Kamangar’s family, who were not informed before the execution took place.

The ITUC has already written to the president of Iran on several occasions to strongly condemn attacks by the Iranian authorities on independent trade unions in the country and the intensification of repression against the Iranian people in general and trade unionists in particular and to protest against the latest wave of repression that has targeted trade unionists in this country.

“The ITUC is shocked with what happened to Farzad Kamangar. Imprisoned trade unionists must be freed and all other threats of imprisonment against independent trade unionists for their legitimate activities must be lifted,” said Guy Ryder, ITUC general secretary.

In a letter to the Iranian authorities the ITUC urges the Iranian president to halt any further escalation of trade union repression and human rights abuses against trade union members. The ITUC will complain to the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association about this gross violation of the principles of the ILO, and it will call on all of its affiliates across the entire world to denounce this inhumane act.

Source http://www.ituc-csi.org/iran-execution-of-a-trade-unionist.html

This morning it is being reported that teacher Farzad Kamangar, with four other Iranian Kurds, has been executed for “crimes against the state”.

Source http://enduringamerica.com/2010/05/09/iran-farzad-kamangars-last-letter-is-it-possible-to-teach-and-be-silent/

Two weeks ago, the Human Rights Activists News Agency published a parable written by Kamangar in prison. His explanation: “Eight years ago, the grandmother of one of my students, Yassin, in the village of Marab, played the tape of the story of the teacher Mamoosta Ghootabkhaneh. She told me then, ‘I know that your fate, like the teacher who is the writer and recorder of this poem, is execution; but be strong comrade.’ The grandmother said those words as she puffed on her cigarette and stared at the mountains.”

*****

Once upon a time, there was a mother fish who laid 10,000 eggs. Only one little black fish survived. He lives in a stream with his mother.

One day the little fish said to his mother, “I want to go away from here.” The mother asked, “Where to?” The little fish replied, “I want to go see where the stream ends.”
[Little Black Fish is the title of a short storyfor children, written in 1967 by the dissident teacher Samad Behrangi. The book was banned under the Shah’s regime. It tells the story and adventures of a little fish who defies the rules of his community to embark on a journey to discover the sea.]

Hello cellmates. Hello fellow mates of pain!

I know you well: you are the teacher, the neighbour to the stars of Khavaran [the cemetery in eastern Tehran where many political dissidents were executed during the 1980's and buried in mass unmarked graves[, the classmates of dozens whose essays were attached to their legal cases, the teacher of students whose crime was their humane thoughts. I know you well: you are colleagues of Samad and Ali Khan. You remember me too, right?

It is me, the one chained in Evin prison.

It is me, the quiet student who sits behind the broken school benches and longs to see the sea while in a remote village in Kurdistan. It is me, who like you, told the tales of Samad to his students; but in the heart of the Shahoo Mountains [in Kurdistan].

It is me who loves to take on the role of the little black fish.

It is me, your comrade on death row.

Now, the valleys and mountains are behind him and the river passes though a plain field. From the left and the right side, other rivers have joined in and the river now is filled with more water. The little fish enjoyed the abundance of water…the little fish wanted to go to the bottom of the river. He was able to swim as much as he wanted and not bump into anything.

Suddenly, he spotted a large group of fish. There were 10,000 of them, one of whom told the little black fish, “Welcome to the sea, comrade!”

My jailed colleagues! Is it possible to sit behind the same desk as Samad, look into the eyes of the children of this land, and still remain silent?

Is it possible to be a teacher and not show the path to the sea to the little fish of the country? What difference does it make if they come from Aras [a river in northwestern Iran, Azerbaijan], Karoon [a river in southwestern Iran, Khuzestan], Sirvan [a river in Kurdistan], or Sarbaz Rood [a river in the Sistan and Baluchestan region]? What difference does it make when the sea is a mutual destiny, to be united as one? The sun is our guide. Let our reward be prison, that is fine!

Is it possible to carry the heavy burden of being a teacher and be responsible for spreading the seeds of knowledge and still be silent? Is it possible to see the lumps in the throats of the students and witness their thin and malnourished faces and keep quiet?

Is it possible to be in the year of no justice and fairness and fail to teach the H for Hope and E for Equality, even if such teachings land you in Evin prison or result in your death?

I cannot imagine being a teacher in the land of Samad, Khan Ali, and Ezzati and not join the eternity of Aras [Samad Behrangi drowned in the river in 1968]. I cannot imagine witnessing the pain and poverty of the people of this land and fail to give our hearts to the river and the sea, to roar and to inundate.

I know that one day this harsh and uneven road will be paved for teachers and the suffering you endured will be a badge of honour so everyone can see that a teacher is a teacher, even if his or her path is blocked by the selection process, prison, and execution. The little black fish and not the heron bestows honour on the teacher.

The Little Fish calmly swam in the sea and thought: Facing death is not hard for me, nor is it regrettable.

Suddenly the heron swooped down and grabbed the little fish.

Grandma Fish finished her story and told her 12,000 children and grandchildren that it was time for bed. 11,999 little fish said good night and went to bed. The grandmother went to sleep as well. One little red fish was not able to sleep. That fish was deep in thought.

A teacher on death row, Evin prison

Farzad Kamangar

April 2010

Farzad Kamangar’s explanation on the title of his letter:

Eight years ago, the grandmother of one of my students, Yassin, in the village of Marab, played the tape of the story of the teacher Mamoosta Ghootabkhaneh. She told me then, “I know that your fate, like the teacher who is the writer and recorder of this poem, is execution; but be strong comrade. The grandmother said those words as she puffed on her cigarette and stared at the mountains.

As seems to become a detestable tradition, leaders and members of the Iranian Teacher Trade Associations have been arrested and detained in the days preceding Labour Day and the National Teachers Day, celebrated on 2 May in Iran.

Unabashed by these assaults, the Associations’ statement released to mark the National Teachers Day included seven demands focusing on the continued detention and unfair sentences of the teacher unionists. Special focus was given to the case of Farzad Kamangar, who remains in death row. The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations also announced that its executive members would be on hunger strike from 2 to 8 May to highlight their demands.

In the lead-up to Labour Day and Teachers Day, arrests and harassments of teacher unionists included:

• On 16 April 2010, a number of members of the Central Council of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations, including teacher representatives from Yazd, Tafriz, Hamedan, Rasht and Tehran, gathered in Yazd to agree on this year’s National Teachers Day statement. They were cautioned by local representatives of the secret police and had to break up their meeting.
• On 24 April, three members of the Iranian Teacher Trade Association of Hamedan, Ali Najafi, Asghar Mohammad Khani and Jalal Naderi, were summoned to the local secret police office. Ali Najafi was detained for 24 hours. All of them were interrogated again on 26 April.
• Mohammad  Beheshti Langeroudi and Aliakbar Baghani were summoned to the Tehran Investigation Office of the Intelligence ministry on 24 April. Even though they were released a couple of hours later, on 29 April, their homes were simultaneously stormed and searched by the secret police. The two men were taken away and there is no news on their whereabouts.
• On 22 April, Tofigh Mortezapour and Hasan Kharatian, of the Iranian Teacher Trade Association of Tabriz, were summoned to the local secret police offices. On 26 April, the house of Tofigh Mortezapour was searched and his personal items, including his computer and his notes were confiscated. Another interogation followed on April 27.
• Ali Sadeghi and Mohammad Tavakoli, of the Iranian Teacher Trade Association of Kermanshah, were handed down their verdicts regarding their participation in the teachers’ gathering in 2006. They were sentenced to flogging and fines by the criminal court in Kermanshah  for “organizing illegal gatherings”.

In April, EI addressed another letter to the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressing concern about the continued detention of teacher unionists throughout Iran’s New Year celebrations. The teacher unionists still in detention include Farzad Kamangar, Rasoul Bodaghi, Hashem Khastar and Bahman Goudarzzade. EI called on the Iranian authorities to stop the pressure on the trade unions, to release the detained teacher union activists immediately and to withdraw all charges against them.

Source http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1249&theme=rights&country=iran

13 April: ITF continues its efforts to secure the freedom of Mansour Osanloo. Latest report received is that he has received a medical checkup at an outside clinic – however he was shackled hand and foot during the visit.