Iranian of the Day

ICHRI: A source close to Habibollah Golparipour told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that authorities have transferred him from Orumiyeh Prison to the Semnan Central Prison for unknown reasons. Prior to his transfer, the Kurdish political prisoner wrote a letter, a copy of which was made available to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran for publication. In the letter that is addressed to the international community and human rights organizations, Golparipour states that "voices of political prisoners do not pass through their cell walls." The death row prisoner adds, "despite the long-term detentions and physical and psychological torture which pushed me to the point of death, the detailed grievance about which I have reported to different government organizations, in this country, our voices won't pass through our prison cells, let alone find an audience outside."

According to local activists, considering in some cases after transfer of death-row inmates to other prison facilities their executions have been carried out, concern about this Kurdish prisoner is mounting.

"After this political prisoner was transferred to an unknown location, despite the long distance, his family traveled from Sanandaj to Orumiyeh on Saturday, 17 March. They went to Orumiyeh Central Prison and asked for clarification on their son's status, but prison authorities said they had no information about the location of the prisoner and asked them to go to Orumiyeh Intelligence and Judiciary offices. The court and the Intelligence Office of Orumiyeh stated they didn't know anything about this prisoner's transfer, either, but after several visits the authorities announced that their son had been transferred to Semnan Central Prison. The political prisoner's father went to Semnan Prison on 18 March and asks to visit with his son, but Semnan Prison authorities only confirmed news of his son's transfer, and said that this political prisoner is not allowed visitation and telephone contact until after Nowruz holidays," said the source.

Golparipour's sudden transfer to Semnan Prison without prior notice and considering that his sentence did not include exile to Semnan Prison, is a cause of concern for his family. The local activist told the Campaign that in March 2010, Hossein Khezri, a Kurdish political prisoner, was also transferred to Qazvin Prison without prior notice. After about 50 days, Khezri was returned to Orumiyeh Central Prison again, where his sentence was carried out in complete secrecy in January 2011 without the knowledge of his lawyer and family.

Forces from the Intelligence Unit of Mahabad IRGC arrested Habibollah Golparipour on 26 September 2007, and kept him inside intelligence detention centers of Mahabad, Orumiyeh, and Sanandaj under the most severe physical and psychological torture for several months, to the point where his arm and leg were broken under torture. He was transferred to Mahabad Prison later. Branch One of Mahabad Revolutionary Court sentenced Habibollah Golparipour to death on charges of "membership in PJAK." Golparipour embarked on a two-week hunger strike on 11 May 2010 to protest the ruling.

According to sources close to Golparipour, he was transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison on 2 December 2010 where he was kept inside the facility's Ward 12 until his sudden transfer. Over the past year, the prison Intelligence Unit has transferred him to a solitary cell and the Intelligence Unit Ward on several occasions, where he has been threatened with imminent execution.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran publishes Habibollah Golparipour's letter here for the first time:

"As a human being, according to international laws, I am entitled to basic human rights--rights such as the right to live free, the right to social welfare, the right to choice, etc. Considering I have been sentenced to death as a political prisoner at this time and that I have lost all legal avenues for realizing my rights in Iran, closing all legal doors on me, I reserve this right for myself to be heard by the international community, so that [further] violation of my rights is prevented.

As a Kurdish citizen, I have been denied my basic human rights in Iran and against my struggles to achieve those rights, I have faced an unfair punishment, a punishment that has been imposed on me and the society in order to uphold the authoritarian structure of a minority group. I face the heavy sentence of death by execution for choosing to defend my national identity. Defining the acts of propagating our thoughts and defending our identity as 'war against the Islamic state' is the most prominent lawlessness that has been imposed on me as a human being. Not only have my rights as an oppressed human being been violated, my rights have also been violated within the framework of this land's Constitution. Though all sentence rulings have to take place during fair trials, my death sentence was issued in a show trial that lasted only five minutes and no more, something that does not even conform to the country's laws.

Despite the long-term detentions and physical and psychological torture which pushed me to the point of death, the detailed grievance about which I have reported to different government organizations, in this country our voices won't pass through our prison cells, let alone find an audience outside.

The laws, even with their share of injustice, exist only on paper and for abuse and in practice, they are worth nothing. A law that questions my basic rights cannot defend me--this law only defends the government and not the people in the society. In this law, discrimination is quite apparent, without concealment or clauses, and it changes according to gender, ideas, thoughts, and tastes. Forcing the rulers' thoughts and generalizing them to the society through pressure and force have put me in this position. Also, the power struggles of the country's rulers and even the regional rulers have caused me to become a victim of such policies.

At this time, my national identity as a Kurd and my freedom-seeking thoughts are considered as 'corruption on earth' and my struggles for them are seen as 'moharebeh (enmity with God)' and this in itself is a clear case of discrimination and an apparent oppression, despite the fact that even in the country's Constitution, such crimes do not face such punishments. Presently, when my demand for justice has been rejected by all judicial organizations and related bodies in the Iranian society, I ask the international legal and human rights organizations to do their human duties to defend my basic rights, so that a young man's hopes are not buried. I also ask the Iranian rulers not to sacrifice their human responsibilities for their power seeking interests.

Habibollah Golparipour, Orumiyeh, March 2012"