Mehabad protests under siege
- KurdishMedia.com
- 27/07/2005 00:00:00
London-Kurdistan (KurdishMedia.com) 27 July 2005: The protests by Kurds in East Kurdistan, in particular in the cities of Mehabad, Kirmashan and Kamiyaran, have now been going on for several weeks.
In Mehabad, security forces have covered the Shush region “step-by-step”, as one eyewitness put it, to the heights of Hemze-awa. “At midnight, the security forces shot over the dwelling properties in an attempt to terrify the people,” KurdishMedia.com was told by an eyewitness.
In Mehabad on Saturday, all the shops and offices were closed and no one could bee seen around. The military (Artesh) and Islamic Guards (Pasdaran) have kept a strong grip on the city. It was described that the Artesh and Pasdaran are inside as well as surrounding the city with heavy weapons.
The people of Mehabad have demanded the release of all political prisoners; loses and damages caused by the assaults of the authorities to be compensated, and for the Iranian Republic to formally issue an apology for what happened since the killing of Shwane Qadiri nearly two weeks ago.
Shwane Qadiri was shot two weeks ago by the Iranian police then tied to a car and dragged all the way to the police station, where he was tortured until he died. He was accused of calling for autonomy for the whole of Kurdistan and celebrating the appointment in Iraq of the Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president.
In related news, local media sources reported that an “under-aged” boy telephoned his mother from the Urmiye Prison stating that he was “raped and tortured by the Islamic authorities in the prison”. It was also reported that a 13 year old boy was beaten in the head and, as a result, lost his sight.
The villages around the Kurdish area of Serdeshit and Xane (Khana) were reported to be under military siege.
- KurdishMedia.com
- 27/07/2005 00:00:00