Farzad Kamangar


Farzad Kamangar was a 32-year-old Iranian Kurdish teacher, poet, journalist, human rights activist and social worker from the city of Kamyaran, Iran who was executed on May 9, 2010.

The Accusations and the Courts

Kamangar was prosecuted on charges of Mohareb "enmity towards God". An Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Kamangar to death on February 25, 2008 on charges against national security including being a member of PJAK and accusations of active participation in several bombing attacks among which was the 2006 explosion in the Iran-Turkey gas export pipeline. According to his lawyer, Khalil Bahramian, “Nothing in Kamangar’s judicial files and records demonstrates any links to the charges brought against him.”
Bahramian, the lawyer, who was present during the closed-door court hearing, described it as
“Lasting no more than five minutes, with the Judge issuing his sentence without any explanation and then promptly leaving the room.... I have seen absolutely zero evidence presented against Kamangar. In my forty years in the legal profession, I have never witnessed such a prosecution.”
For this denial, Kamangar was repeatedly tortured. Amnesty International reports that Kamangar was repeatedly beaten, flogged, and electrocuted, and that he suffered from spasms in his arms and legs as a result of the torture.
The Supreme Court officially confirmed Kamangar's death sentence on July 11, 2008.
Kamangar was one of the six political prisoners highlighted in the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran's September 18, 2008 document "Rights Crisis Escalates, Faces and Cases from Ahmadinejad's Crackdown"
Kamangar participated in the hunger strike to protest the execution of Ehsan Fatahian.

Human Rights Organizations' Reaction

, Education International, and other teachers' and human rights organizations have called for Mr. Kamangar's sentence to be commuted.