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One of the most under-reported human rights issues in Iran is the current state of Kurdish political prisoners, and in particular, the current eighteen political prisoners who are on death row and may be facing imminent execution. Unfortunately, serious consequences and escalated conflict may be imminent if the conditions continue to be ignored.

While a few of the individuals on death row such as Farzad Kamangar, Zeynab Jalaliyan and Habibollah Latifi, have received some international attention, most of the Kurdish political prisoners facing execution are virtually unknown. There are currently eighteen Kurdish political prisoners on death row, two of whom are women. All of these individuals were subjected to torture and “tried” behind closed doors in sham trials, and in most cases, without the presence of their lawyers.

In the past two months, two Kurdish political activists have been executed by the Islamic Regime of Iran (IRI).

Kurdish students in the city of Kermanshah protest against the detainment of Kurdish political prisoners

A young Kurdish activist, Ehsan Fatahiyan, was the first to be executed on 11 November 2009. In the weeks leading up to his execution, a number of international and national campaigns were initiated in order to try to pressure IRI authorities not to carry out the execution. According to his lawyer, Fatahiyan underwent torture during his incarceration and IRI authorities were regularly using brutal torture tactic... >>>