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Human Rights and the Kurds in Iran

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Human Rights and the Kurds in Iran Human Rights and the Kurds in Iran KHRP Briefing Paper Last Updated 26 August 2009 Summary Amid the mass protests that erupted following suspected vote-rigging in the presidential elections in Iran in June 2009, headlines around the world highlighted the excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions and severe restrictions on freedom of expression that characterised the official response. However, while the human rights situation in Iran deteriorated sharply during this period, the unfortunate reality is that abuses of this kind are nothing new. What is more, in a context defined by institutionalised disregard for international human rights standards, members of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious minorities – including Kurds, Arabs, Azeris and Baha’is – are especially at risk. With the Iranian authorities inclined to treat much minority activism – whether social, cultural or political – as bound up in an overall separatist threat, individuals from these communities are frequently arbitrarily arrested and held incommunicado, often accused of vaguely-worded crimes relating to national security. This paper gives a brief overview of the modern history of the Kurds in Iran and of the international and domestic legal framework in relation to the human rights situation that they and other Iranians face today. It goes on to explore entrenched patterns of human rights violations in Iran through analysis of four key themes: discrimination on grounds of gender and ethnicity; arbitrary detention; torture and ill-treatment in custody; and corporal and capital punishment. While most of these issues affect Iranians from all backgrounds, this paper focuses on their implications for members of minority groups, especially Kurds, in light of their particular vulnerability. In the wake of the post-elections unrest, the evidence and analysis presented here underscores the importance of keeping human rights concerns squarely at the forefront of international engagement with Iran. 1 INTRODUCTION text messaging and filtering of websites in the wake of the elections, but is also Amid the mass protests that erupted in seen in longer-term measures such as response to suspected vote-rigging in arbitrary arrests and prosecutions of the presidential elections in June 2009, journalists, human rights defenders and the human rights situation in Iran other activists. Such individuals are became front-page news. In the weeks frequently accused of national security- that followed the disputed vote, related crimes such as the capital headlines around the world highlighted offence of moharabeh, or ‘waging war the excessive use of force, extrajudicial against God’.2 killings, arbitrary detentions and severe restrictions on freedom of expression Torture and other forms of ill-treatment that characterised the official response in custody are commonplace and Iran’s to the popular unrest. However, while statute books also allow for various the human rights situation in Iran forms of corporal punishment. deteriorated sharply during this period, Furthermore, the country remains one the unfortunate reality is that abuses of of the world’s most prolific users of the this kind are nothing new. death penalty. The Iranian authorities’ notorious The crackdown that followed the recent disregard for human rights and post-election unrest is thus fundamental freedoms has implications distinguished by the scale of the abuses for all of the country’s citizens, in all witnessed, rather than their nature. aspects of life. At the level of While all in Iran are vulnerable to such governance, the power structure of the abuses, the situation is particularly Islamic Republic pays little heed to civil alarming for Kurds and members of and political rights. Although elections other cultural, ethnic, linguistic and are held for both the presidency and the religious minorities. Although the parliament, the allegations of authorities claim that the rights of widespread fraud during the recent minorities are protected in accordance vote underscored deep concerns about with Articles 12 and 19 of the the fairness of this process.1 What is constitution, which formally guarantee more, the influence granted to a series equal rights for followers of other of unelected and largely unaccountable Islamic doctrines (besides the officially- institutions effectively counters any sanctioned school of Twelver Shi’ism) scope for democratic decision-making and ethnic minorities respectively, by elected officials. reality past and present paints an altogether different picture. Political At the same time, freedom of expression activity on the basis of Kurdish identity and freedom of association are routinely curtailed. This was illustrated by the government’s blocking of 2 In the wake of the disputed election, communication technologies such as Mohammadreza Habibi, prosecutor-general of the province of Isfahan, pointedly reminded protestors that the punishment 1 See for example Guardian, ‘Iran Elections: for this offence is death. See Human Rights Guardian Council to Examine Vote-Rigging Watch, ‘Iran: Halt the Crackdown,’ 19 June Claims,’ 18 June 2009, available at 2009, available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/j http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/06/1 un/18/iran-protest-mourning (last accessed 9/iran-halt-crackdown (last accessed 25 25 August 2009). August 2009). 2 is banned in Iran3 and in practice the put the number of Kurds living within authorities treat much Kurdish activism Iran’s borders at somewhere between 7 – whether social, cultural or political – and 9 million, approximately 12 to 15 as linked to an overall ‘separatist’ per cent of the total population. threat. As a result, Kurds are disproportionately targeted using Tensions between the Iranian security legislation. Such attitudes have authorities and the country’s Kurdish hardened since 1991, as Iran and other community date back long before the states in the region have increasingly advent of the Islamic Republic. In viewed the consolidation of self-rule in perhaps the most high-profile instance the Kurdish regions of Iraq as a threat to of such strains, a revolt by Qazi their own security. Mohammed and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) against This paper gives a brief overview of the the central government in the wake of modern history of the Kurds in Iran and the Second World War peaked with a of the international and domestic legal declaration on 22 January 1946 framework in relation to human rights. announcing the establishment of the It goes on to explore the current human Republic of Kurdistan in the north-west rights situation in Iran from the point of of the country. Also known as the view of four key themes: discrimination Mahabad Republic after the city in on grounds of gender and ethnicity; which it was founded, this entity is arbitrary detention; torture and ill- frequently spoken of as a short-lived treatment in custody; and corporal and instance of independent Kurdish capital punishment. While these issues statehood, though the initial manifesto affect Iranians from all backgrounds, drafted by the KDPI was far less precise, this paper focuses on their implications calling for ‘Kurdish independence for Kurds in particular, and also for within the borders of Persia’. Whatever members of other minorities, in light of the aspirations of its founders, Shah their particular vulnerability. Mohammed Reza Pahlavi viewed the Mahabad Republic as a clear challenge THE KURDS IN IRAN: A SHORT to Iranian territorial integrity and HISTORY quickly resolved to expunge all traces of Kurdish ‘nationalism’. In December Kurds in Iran are the second largest 1946, the entity fell to the Iranian armed minority group after the Azeris, and live forces. Qazi Mohammed was arrested, mostly in the western provinces of tried and hanged in Mahabad’s central Kordestan, Azerbaijan and square on 31 March 1947 and mass Kermanshah. The province of executions took place in a number of Kordestan is one of the most deprived other towns. in the country, relying largely on farming and agriculture for income. A Two years later, following an small Kurdish enclave also populates assassination attempt against the Shah the north-eastern city of Mashhad in in February 1949, the authorities Khorasan province, near the Afghan systematically cracked down on border. A lack of census data makes it democratic movements throughout the difficult to determine the size of the country, including the Kurdish regions, Kurdish population, but most estimates and hundreds of KDPI members and sympathisers were jailed. 3 Kerim Yıldız and Tanyel B. Taysi, The Kurds in Iran: The Past, Present and Future, Amid the upheaval of the Iranian (Pluto Press, London, 2007), 37-40. revolution in 1978 and 1979, Kurds once 3 again sought to advance their interests. continues to define the status of the In April 1979 the KDPI presented a Kurds and other minorities in Iran to comprehensive plan for autonomy this day, with serious implications for within Iran to Ayatollah Ruhollah their human rights. Khomeini. The plan contained provisions for an elected Kurdish In the aftermath of the war and parliament, local management of following the death of Khomeini, the provincial government departments presidencies of Ali Akbar Hashemi and the elevation of Kurdish to the Rafsanjani and Mohammed Khatami status of official provincial language brought much speculation about a new alongside Persian. ‘pragmatic’ approach in both foreign and domestic policy. For the Kurds
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