Iran Briefing Exclusive: The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948, in the wake of the massacres that took place during the first and second World Wars. 140 countries are currently signatory to the convention and are legally obliged to meet its terms.
In spite of this convention, the Kurdish people have been regularly subject to massacre by the governments ruling the Kurdish dominated areas (Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria).
Kurdistan (Iran)
Following unsuccessful rounds of negotiation between the Islamic Republic officials and Kurdish oppositions over the indispensable rights of the Kurdish people, a new wave of massacres against the Kurdish people was launched by the Islamic Republic after the victory of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Innocent civilians were the main victims of raids carried out by the Basij militia and the Quds branch of the Revolutionary Guard. The genocidal policy taken by the Islamic Republic against the Kurdish people goes against all the conventions on the political and civil rights which have been signed and ratified by the Islamic Republic.
The following are such conventions to which Iran is a signatory:
– The Convention on the Civil and Political Rights signed in 1975
– The Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
– The Treaty of Prevention of Brain Drain[AD1] signed in August 1968
– The Convention on the Rights of the Child signed in July 1994
Massacre in East Kurdistan
On September 2, 1979, the Islamic Republic’s army brought heavy artilleries and tanks into Qarna village and massacred as many as 68 people, including women and children, according to the Kurdish sources.
On November 4, 1980, the Revolutionary Guard, under the commandership of Maboudi raided the villages of Inderqash and Yousfekenad, near the city of Mahabad, and killed as many as 35 civilians.
On August 28, 1980, Qelatan village, located on the outskirt of the city of Naghadeh, came under attack by the Revolutionary Guard and as many as 13 people were killed.
On November 8, 1980, four days after the massacre in Inderqash and Yousfekenad, the Revolutionary Guard’s troops, led by Maboudi and Molla Hasan, attacked Sofian village, near the city of Ashnavieh, and killed as many as 12 people and wounded 20 others. Seven of the victims were over fifty years old.
Nine people were killed in Baizava village, near the city of Naghadeh, on November 9, 1981.
18 employees of Sar-o-Qamish, a brick-making plant, were killed on September 14, 1981.
18 people were killed in Gharagol village, near the city of Mahabad, on September 2, 1982. Some of the victims were over 70 years old.
Nine people were killed in a massacre carried out in Suzi village, near the city of Mahabad.
Over 40 people were slayed in Dilanche-Rokh, Helabi, Koikan, Rize-Shakakan and Younselia, near the city of Naghadeh.
An unknown number of people was killed in Dimeh-Sour, Jafar-Ava, and Merejan-Ava, near the city of Mahabad, on March 16, 1983. Only nine victims have been identified so far.
13 people were killed in Hala-Ghush and Gijeh, near the city of Oroumieh, on March 23, 1983.
21 people were killed In Cheghol-Mostafa, Khalifeh-Lina and Gourkhaneh, on March 25, 1983.
Six people were killed in Jabril-Ava, Goundeh-Vileh and Dou-Ava, near the city of Oshnavieh, on September 14, 1983.
It is necessary to mention that the names and personal information of all the victims of the mentioned examples are recorded. The aforementioned incidents show only a tiny part of the Islamic Republic’s crimes against the Kurdish people. There are also other examples of massacres launched by the Islamic Republic against the Kurdish people.
Politically Motivated Execution of Kurdish People
According to Kurdocide-Chak, a center dealing with the Kurdish affairs, more than 832 people were executed by the Islamic Republic regime between 1979 to 1991 in areas dominated by people of Kurdish background. Of the victims, 399 were members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, 209 were reported to be member of Komole Party, and the rest had no political activity.
Mass Executions of Political Prisoner
11 people were executed by firing squad in Dizel-Ava prison in the city of Kermanshah on August 19, 1979.
Seven people were killed by a second firing squad on August 20, 1979.
59 people from the city of Mahabad were killed by firing squad in the city of Tabriz on June 2, 1984.
20 people were killed in the city of Saghghez by firing squad on August 27, 1979.
22 people were killed on April 22, 1979.
11 people were killed in the city of Saneh on August 26, 1979.
52 people were executed in 1980.
163 people were executed in Mahabad, Saneh, Kamyaran, Baneh, Divandareh and other cities on 1981.
160 people were executed in 1982.
44 people were executed in 1983.
37 people were executed in 1984.
20 people were executed between 1985 to 1986.
59 people were executed between 1988 to 1989.
Eight people were executed in 1990.
25 people were executed in 1991.
Four people were executed between 1994 to 1995.
Two people were executed between 2002 to 2003.
Six people were executed in the city of Saghghez in 2004.
Hasan Hekmat Dami, member of PJAK, Free Life Party of Kurdistan, was executed in the city of Khoi on December 20, 2007.
Farhad Tarem was executed in Oroumieh Prison on January 26, 2009.
Ehsan Fatahian was executed in the central prison of the city of Saneh on November 11, 2009.
Fasih Yasmini was executed in the city of Khoi on January 6, 2010.
Ali Heidarian , Farzad Kamangir, a teacher, Farhad Vakili and Shirin Alam Holi were executed in Tehran on May 9, 2010.
Hossein Khazari was executed in the central prison of the city of Oroumieh on January 15, 2011.
Below are the names of 13 political prisoners with Kurdish background who are sentenced to death:
Zeinab Jalalian, Shirko Moarefi, Anvar Rostami, Habibollah Latifi, Habibollah Golpari-Pour, Rashid Akhkandi, Mostafa Salimi, Sayyed Jamal Hosseini, Aziz Mohammd Zadeh, Ablaleh Sarvarian, Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi.
The Islamic Republic has been, on various occasions, condemned by the international bodies for gross violations of human rights.
According the Amnesty International’s 2010 report , with a population of over 70 million, Iran maintains one of the highest rates of execution following China. The report says that 252 people were executed in 2010. According to unofficial sources, the number of those who were executed in 2010 exceeds 300.
In its 2011 report on Iran , Amnesty International severely condemns the Islamic Republic for human rights violations.
According a 70-page report prepared by the US Department of State, 312 people were executed in 2010. The report adds that other sources put the number over 500. On the other hand, the prisoners are forced by the Islamic Republic’s security forces to make confessions that they have been in contact with groups which are accused by the Islamic Republic of terrorism.
In 2011, The EU imposed sanction on 32 officials of the Islamic Republic for violation of human rights. In its annual report, the UK Foreign Ministry criticizes human rights situation in Iran. According to this report, the rate of reported executions rose sharply from 388 in 2009 to 650 in 2010. Similarly, the Islamic Republic has been severely criticized for human rights violation by other international bodies and institutions.
[AD1]Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty