Farzad Kamangar, Teacher, Trade Unionist, Kurd

November 26, 2008 at 2:51 pm (Human rights, Iran, KB72, Rosie B, unions)

This is being posted around the blogosphere.

Farzad Kamangar is a Kurdish teacher and activist who was arrested in August 2006 by the Iranian regime. There is breaking news that after fifteen months of torture and no fair trial he has been taken from his cell and is to be executed in the next few hours.

Farzad’s crime was that he “belonged to the Teachers’ Union of Kurdistan and to other activist associations. He wrote for the review Royan, the review of Education department of Kamiyaran and for newspapers of local Human Rights associations”, although the Iranian government prefers to describe this as “endangering national security”.

Whilst Education International has a list of things you can do to push for a fair trial if we can’t prevent his execution then those longer term efforts will be in vain. I know it’s not much but I’d like to encourage you to send an email to the Iranian President to let him know that the outside world is watching and that Farzad’s “crimes” of being a Kurd and a trade unionist do not justify his execution.

Please write to dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir when you read this.

Sample email;

Dear President Ahmadinejad,

Having learned today that teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar faces hanging in the next few hours, I call upon you to immediately commute his death sentence and have his case re-examined through a fair trial.

Sincerely,

Actions like this are only small things – but sometimes they can make a difference.

More information here.