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KurdistanObserver.com
Press Release: Kurdish
National Congress condemns the arrest of a Kurdish journalist
KNC - North America
Jan 15, 2005
The Kurdish National Congress of North America condemns the arrest,
imprisonment, and sentencing of Shamzin Jihad, a Kurdish journalist in Iran.
The Iranian government continues its prosecution of Kurds who dare to express
their ethnic identity. Amnesty International reports, “Judicial authorities
curtailed freedoms of expression, opinion and association, including of ethnic
minorities; scores of publications were closed, Internet sites were filtered and
journalists were imprisoned.” In the same report, it is stated that most
executions were carried out against the Kurdish minority, often in public.
Numerous reports of this kind demonstrate that the Iranian congress continues to
criminalize the most basic human rights and that the Iranian judicial system is
completely lacking the desire and ability to apply the most basic human laws.
Shamzin Jihad’s sentencing in the city of Mahabat is an example of how the
Iranian regime criminalizes any and all expressions of Kurdish identity. The
government’s case is based on her declaration that she is a Kurd and that she
refers to her place of birth as ‘Kurdistan’. In this age of free speech and
human rights, Ms. Jihad’s commitment to her true identity should be celebrated
and not punished. We are prepared to support her through this ordeal and to
bring to the world’s attention the continued injustices the Iranian regime is
committing against the Kurds.
The Kurdish National Congress calls on the Iranian government to immediately
release the Kurdish journalist Shamzin Jihad, stop the unjust policies against
the Kurdish people in Kurdistan of Iran, adhere to United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights respecting freedom of opinion and expression, and to
commit to principles of the Charter of the United Nations, article 1 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognizing that all
peoples have the right of self-determination.
For more information please call: 949-583-1417
P.O. Box 1663,
Lake Forest, CA 92630
USA
P.O. Box 7033,
Windsor, ONT
N9A 2N9, CANADA
Tel/Fax: 949-583-1417
www.kurdishnationalcongress.org
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