Commemorating the fighting men and women who died in the prisons of the Islamic Republic regime
29 years ago, in June and July 1981, the Islamic Republic regime began the greatest crime of contemporary Iran by executing 23 men and women activists, including poet, playwright, and theater director Saeed Soltanpour and leftist activist Mohsen Fazel. It continued this crime against humanity by killing more than fifteen thousand freedom fighters and communist revolutionaries in 1981, 1982, 1984, and 1985, culminating in the massacre of more than four thousand political prisoners in August and September 1997.
The Islamic Republic regime never stopped killing and assassinating political opponents, freedom fighters, intellectuals, and secular and communist revolutionaries inside and outside prison. Continuing its crimes, it dedicated June, July, and all of 2009 to killing young girls and boys who had come out to the streets for freedom and liberation from the inhumane situation. In its most recent crime, it handed over five political prisoners; Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alamholi, Farhad Vakili, Ali Heydarian, and Mehdi Eslamian to the death squad and has issued death sentences to more than twenty-three political prisoners in Tehran and Kurdistan.
In the 1960s, and especially in the summer of 1967, the Islamic Republic regime committed a massive massacre in prisons across Iran, the most heinous of its kind in the contemporary history of the world. This horrific crime can neither be forgotten nor forgiven.
In memory and in commemoration of all political prisoners who were killed in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a special program will be held by the Iranian Political Prisoners Association (in exile) – Stockholm Branch, on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of the killing of political prisoners, at 6:00 PM on Saturday, September 11, 2010, at the Hussey Björff Assembly Hall in Stockholm.
It is hoped that by our widespread presence in this program, we will collectively pay tribute to these victims and not allow the dust of oblivion to settle over this horrific human crime. This is part of our fight against the Islamic Republic.
In this program, three women from the families of the victims of the massacre; Leila Danesh, Leila Qaleh Bani, and Gita Rostam Alipour will talk to us about the resistance and struggles of the families and the pain and suffering they have endured from the time of their loved ones’ arrest to their execution. Shahroz Rashid with her poems and Gisoo Shakeri with her voice will be other guests on this program. Iman Shirali, representing the “Campaign to Prepare an International Tribunal to Investigate the Murder of Political Prisoners in the Sixties”, will give a short speech about the importance of holding this lawsuit from the perspective of the victims’ families and the progress of this people’s tribunal’s work at the international level.
Iranian Political Prisoners’ Association (in exile) – Stockholm Branch
August 6, 2010 is equal to August 15, 2010