Farzad Kamangar (son of Baghi Kamangar), Ali Heydarian (son of Ahad Heydarian), Farhad Vakili (son of Mohammad Saeed Vakili), Shirin Alamhooli (daughter of Khadr Alamhooli) and Mehdi Eslamian (son of Mohammad Eslamian), were executed in Evin prison in Tehran on Sunday morning, 9 May 2010.

Below: a video of a letter written by Kamangar to his mother from death row…(Persian)

Recently, Farzad Kamangar wrote a letter to other imprisoned teachers. The following letter was published by Human Rights Activists News Agency.

« Be Strong Comrades »

Once upon a time, there was a mother fish who laid 10,000 eggs. Only one little black fish survived. He lives in a stream with his mother.

One day the little fish said to his mother, “I want to go away from here.” The mother asked, “Where to?” The little fish replied, “I want to go see where the stream ends.”

[Translator’s note: is the title of a short story fiction piece for children. The story was written in 1967 by the dissident teacher Samad Behrangi. The book was banned under the Shah’s regime. It tells the story and adventures of a little fish who defies the rules of his community to embark on a journey to discover the sea. On the way, he courageously fights enemies. The tale is considered to be a classic in Iranian resistance literature]

Hello cell mates. Hello fellow mates of pain!

I know you well: you are the teacher, the neighbour to the stars of *Khavaran, the classmates of dozens whose essays were attached to their legal cases [as evidence], the teacher of students whose [only] crime was their humane thoughts. I know you well: you are colleagues of Samad and Ali Khan. You remember me too, right?

[Translator's note: Khavaran is the cemetery in eastern Tehran where many political dissidents were executed during the 1980's and buried in mass unmarked graves]

It is me, the one chained in Evin prison.

It is me, the quiet student who sits behind the broken school benches and longs to see the sea while in a remote village in Kurdistan. It is me, who like you, told the tales of Samad to his students; but in the heart of the Shahoo Mountains [located in Kurdistan].

It is me who loves to take on the role of the little black fish.

It is me, your comrade on death row.

Now, the valleys and mountains are behind him and the river passes though a plain field. From the left and the right side, other rivers have joined in and the river now is filled with more water. The little fish enjoyed the abundance of water…the little fish wanted to go to the bottom of the river. He was able to swim as much as he wanted and not bump into anything.

Suddenly, he spotted a large group of fish. There were 10,000 of them, one of whom told the little black fish, “Welcome to the sea, comrade!”

My jailed colleagues! Is it possible to sit behind the same desk as Samad, look into the eyes of the children of this land, and still remain silent?

Is it possible to be a teacher and not show the path to the sea to the little fish of the country? What difference does it make if they come from Aras[a river in northwestern Iran, Azerbaijan], Karoon [a river in southwestern Iran, Khuzestan], Sirvan [a river in Kurdistan] or Sarbaz Rood [a river in the Sistan and Baluchestan region]? What difference does it make when the sea is a mutual destiny, to be united as one? The sun is our guide. Let our reward be prison, that is fine!

Is it possible to carry the heavy burden of being a teacher and be responsible for spreading the seeds of knowledge and still be silent? Is it possible to see the lumps in the throats of the students and witness their thin and malnourished faces and keep quiet?

Is it possible to be in the year of no justice and fairness and fail to teach the H for Hope and E for Equality, even if such teachings land you in Evin prison or result in your death?

I cannot imagine being a teacher in the land of Samad, Khan Ali, and Ezzati and not join the eternity of

*Aras. I cannot imagine witnessing the pain and poverty of the people of this land and fail to give our hearts to the river and the sea, to roar and to inundate.

[*Translator note: Aras is a river in northwest Iran, bordering Iran and Azerbaijan. Samad drowned in the river in the summer of 1968. Some have considered the circumstance of his death suspicious and blamed agents of the Shah’s regime for his death]

I know that one day, this harsh and uneven road will be paved for teachers and the suffering you endured will be a badge of honour so everyone can see that a teacher is a teacher, even if his or her path is blocked by the *selection process, prison, and execution. The little black fish and not the heron bestows honour on the teacher.

[Translator's note: Selection process or Gozinesh is a process through which teachers and other government-paid employees are vetted based on their ideological, political, and religious views]

The Little Fish calmly swam in the sea and thought: Facing death is not hard for me, nor is it regrettable.
Suddenly the heron swooped down and grabbed the little fish.

Grandma Fish finished her story and told her 12,000 children and grandchildren that it was time for bed. 11,999 little fish said good night and went to bed. The grandmother went to sleep as well. One little red fish was not able to sleep. That fish was deep in thought.

A teacher on death row, Evin prison

Farzad Kamangar

April 2010

Farzad Kamangar’s explanation on the title of his letter:

Eight years ago, the grandmother of one of my students, Yassin, in the village of Marab, played the tape of the story of the teacher Mamoosta Ghootabkhaneh. She told me then, “I know that your fate, like the teacher who is the writer and recorder of this poem, is execution; but be strong comrade. The grandmother said those words as she puffed on her cigarette and stared at the mountains.

Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heidarian, Farhad Vakili, Shirin Alam Houli and Mahdi Eslamian were all executed this morning, May 9, 2010.

The semi-official Fars News Agency, cited judiciary officials as saying that the “antirevolutionary” individuals were executed this morning for carrying out terrorists activities such as “bombings in different cities in Iran.” According to the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, just minutes after the publication of this news story, Farzad Kamangar’s lawyer stated, “I have no information about the execution of these individuals.” He added that he would be referring to the judiciary for verifying the tragic news.

Farzad Kamangar is a Kurdish teacher who had been arrested in the summer of 2006 and was subsequently put under a great deal of physical and mental torture. He maintained through his writings, that he had been forced to make false confessions and that his confessions lacked any credibility as they were obtained under torture.

He was sentenced to death in early 2007 for “criminal intentions.” On 4 February 2010, Kamangar wrote a letter to the head of the judiciary requesting a court of appeal to be held for his case.

Mahdi Eslamian, another prisoner put to death today was arrested on Monday, May 4, 2009 and spent six months in solitary confinement. His brother Mohsen Eslamian had also been previously executed.

The other prisoner executed today was Shirin Alam Houli a female prisoner who was arrested in spring 2008 in Tehran.

Ali Heidarian, Farhad Vakili and Farzad Kamangar had been in prison since 2006 and had described their court proceedings as “unjust.”

Lawyer and family unaware of execution

In an interview with the opposition website Jaras, Farzad Kamangar’s brother said that his family had heard the news of his brother’s execution through the media and expressed regret about hearing the death sentence of a loved one through the news agencies. “They’re all about lies, I wish the news about my brother’s execution would also be a lie.”

Mehrdad Kamangar said that he had no news about his brother’s condition and that their last contact had been a phone call the day before.

“Since this morning when I heard the news, I have called everywhere. But no one is responding to us,” he said. “If there was justice [in the country], Farzad wouldn’t be executed or at least someone would tell us where he is right now. Everyone has been giving us news from Tehran for an hour now, but we still don’t know where our Farzad is. Is he alive, has he been executed? I don’t know what’s going on in the country. Where is the law?”

When asked if Farzad’s family had pursued the matter through Kurdish members of parliament, Farhad said that the MPs could not do anything. “They also heard the news through the news agencies. You tell us what we should do.”

Mehrdad Kamangar also said that their mother is still unaware of her son’s execution. “I don’t even dare give her the news of Farzad’s execution … I don’t know what to tell my mother. We are waitinig for Mr Bahramian, Farzad’s lawyer. We sent to him to the prosecutor to the get the real news. My only hope is that the news is not true because they had not said anything to the family.”

According to Jaras Farzad’s brother could no longer continue the phone conversation after this last statement.

The website has also reported that the phone lines of Evin prison had been disconnected since two days ago.

It should be noted that this morning’s five hangings took place despite the fact that three of the cases were under review and none of the families or lawyers of the defendants had been informed about the five executions beforehand.

Below: A voice file of the last message and will and testament of Mehdi Eslamian (in Persian)