Families of Executed Kurdish Political Activists Search for Closure
by Anonymous — Zamaneh Media — 9February2024
Crimes in the process of the governmental killing of four Kurdish political activists, Pejman Fatehi, Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazloum, and Vafa Azarbar, continue even after their execution. Their bodies have not been handed over to their families, and there is no information available about their burial locations. The forced disappearance that began at the time of their arrest continues even after their death.
This narrative has been sent to Zamaneh. The individual or individuals who have sent this narrative and for the sake of security, their name or names will be kept confidential by Zamaneh, have titled it: “Let Them Believe You’ve Killed Their Children.”
Days come and go. In Ghezal Hesar prison, prisoners are still on a hunger strike on Tuesdays in protest against execution orders, and the women’s ward is also raising a public outcry against the death penalty, following their lead. The protest against execution orders continues with full force, and despite approximately 10 days passing since the execution of the Kurdish political prisoners, the mothers of these four martyrs are still waiting for a body. They had been deprived of visits for a year and a half, and when they were informed to come for their first and last visit, their hope was forever extinguished.
We might have lost count of the days since the political murder of these four prisoners, but unlike us, who have come to believe they have been killed, the mother of one of them is still restlessly longing for her child:
“I can’t believe my child has become a martyr. Until I visit his grave, I can’t believe it.”
The last visit has created an unbelievable image of their children’s murder in their minds:
“The last time I saw my child, was alive, I still can’t believe that the Islamic Republic has killed him.”
The mothers have resorted to protest again, this time not to ask people and human rights organizations to save their children’s lives, but rather as a shot in the dark, hoping they might be allowed to stand by their children’s graves and mourn, yet justice is far from reach:
“They have told us it might be three or four months before we are told where your children have been buried.”
The mother of one of the Kurdish prisoners has a history of illness, and after the murder of her child, her physical condition has intertwined with the grief of losing her dear one:
“I think I need to start chemotherapy again.” She refers to the papers she had for protesting the execution order on the day of the last visit: “The papers were all just a game.”
What the families of these four martyrs have experienced over the past year and a half is indescribable. Their children were completely deprived of legal support, such as the right to access a lawyer, and have been forcibly disappeared for a year and a half. Now, this nightmare continues with the intentional efforts made by security forces to prevent the bodies from being handed over to their families.
“Discrimination and inequality in death,” which falls under extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, is an issue that has been present both in the process of handling these four prisoners’ cases and after their execution. To prove this point, one can refer to a note by the UN Secretary-General titled “Promotion and protection of human rights,” which mentions inequality in death:
“Just as there can be inequality among the living, there can also be inequality in death. Those who are marginalized in life; the poor, the abused, and those who face discrimination are also at the greatest risk of not being identified. Their remains are never returned to their families, and they never receive justice.”
The forced disappearance of Pejman Fatehi, Mohsen Mazloum, Vafa Azarbar, and Mohammad Faramarzi is a complete violation of human rights, for which the government is entirely responsible. The Islamic Republic is primarily accountable for the extrajudicial execution of these four political prisoners and then for the desecration of their bodies, which international laws have prohibited and recognized under the “violation of personal rights and the rights of the deceased’s family.”
