French unions call for ban of Islamic regime in ILO

This is a declaration from the CGT Local Federation of Epinal (translated from French)

Solidarity with Iranian unionists and workers

Iranian state, out of ILO!!

It has been almost one year since Iranian workers and people are fighting the dictatorial regime. Thousands of protesters and activists were arrested and very often tortured. They fight for the fall of the regime but also for winning their unions’ rights. This impulse gave birth to underground or semi-legal unions like Public Transportation Union of Tehran. The Iranian Authorities want to break this democratic impulse.
On Sunday May 9th, the Islamic Iranian authorities executed 5 activists : Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, Shirin Alam-Houli and Mehdi Eslamian but also Farzad Kamangar, previous spokesman of Union of technical teachers of Kurdistan, member of the Human Rights Defense League. These activists suffered under a most savage torture and their trials were a farce. Their execution is used by the regime to set an example, but this bloody strategy did not work.

On May 13th, several underground workers' organizations called for a strike in Iranian Kurdistan to protest against executions and prevent the murder of twenty other activists in danger. This call for strike was a great success in the towns of the province, despite the siege established by the authorities. The regime's security forces tried to prevent protests, hence there were several hours of confrontations in some towns. Many companies, schools and universities were closed in the province. The majority of merchants joined this call.

This mobilization shows that workers and the majority of Iranian people contest the legitimacy and violence of the regime.


International solidarity
But the battle for respecting democratic and union freedoms should not only rest on our Iranian comrades. We believe that French and international unions should join this fight and thus show a true internationalist behaviour.

On June 2nd, the conference of the International Labor Organization will open in Geneva. Several Iranian workers' organizations have asked for many years, that the ILO ban Iran from its list of states taking part in this international institution.
How can we accept that a state that does not respect any union freedom, a state that kills, rapes and tortures union activists can take part in the work of the ILO?
We unionist organizations, ask our unionist representatives at ILO to demand that the dictatorial Iranian state be excluded from this international organization.


First workers organisation who signed this appeal :
Union Départementale CGT des Vosges
Union Locale CGT de Chinon, Union Locale CGT de Saint-Dié des Vosges, Union Locale CGT de Mirecourt, Union Locale CGT d’Epinal
Syndicats : CGT Streit France (Thaon les Vosges), CGT Carrefour Jeuxey , Local Construction CGT 31, CGT Tyco Electronics France SAS (usine de Chapareillan), Syndicat Alternatif des Instituteurs et Professeurs des Ecoles de la Réunion (SAIPER 974), CGT-ADDSEA (Doubs);
Tendance Intersyndicale Emancipation


And French text:

Solidarité avec les syndicalistes et les travailleurs iraniens
Etat iranien, hors de l’OIT !!


Depuis bientôt un an, les travailleurs et la majorité du peuple iranien se battent contre le régime dictatorial. Des milliers de manifestants et de militants ont été arrêtés et bien souvent torturés. Ils luttent pour la chute du régime mais aussi pour obtenir des droits syndicaux. Cet élan donne naissance à des syndicats clandestins ou semi-légaux comme celui des Transports Publics de Téhéran.

Les autorités veulent donc briser cet élan démocratique

Le dimanche 9 mai, les autorités islamiques en Iran ont exécuté 5 militants : Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, Shirin Alam-Houli et Mehdi Eslamian mais aussi Farzad Kamangar ancien porte parole du syndicat des enseignants du technique du Kurdistan, membre de la Ligue de Défense des Droits de l’Homme.
Ces militants ont subi la torture la plus sauvage et ont été jugés dans des conditions caricaturales.

Leur exécution est utilisée par leur régime comme un exemple. Pour autant cette stratégie sanguinaire n’a pas fonctionné.

Le 13 mai plusieurs organisations ouvrières clandestines ont appelé à la grève au Kurdistan iranien pour protester contre ces exécutions et empêcher l’assassinat d’une vingtaine d’autres militants menacés.
Cet appel à la grève a remporté un large succès dans les villes de la province, malgré l’état de siège instauré par les autorités. Les forces de l’ordre de la dictature ont essayé d’empêcher les manifestations, d’où des affrontements de plusieurs heures dans certaines villes. De nombreuses entreprises, écoles et universités étaient fermées dans la province. La majorité des commerçants se sont joints à cet appel
Cette mobilisation démontre que les travailleurs et la majorité du peuple iranien contestent la légitimité et la violence du régime en place.

Solidarité internationale

Mais la bataille pour la respect des libertés démocratiques et syndicales ne doit pas uniquement reposer sur nos camarades iraniens. Nous estimons que les organisations syndicales françaises et internationales doivent se joindre à ce combat et montrer ainsi une véritable démarche internationaliste.

Le 2 juin s’ouvrira à Genève une conférence de l’Organisation Internationale du Travail. Plusieurs organisations ouvrières iraniennes demandent depuis des années à l’OIT d’exclure l’Iran de la liste des Etats participants à cette institution internationale.
Comment accepter qu’un Etat qui ne respecte aucune liberté syndicale, qui assassine, viole et torture les militants syndicaux, puisse participer aux travaux de l’OIT ?

Nous, organisations syndicales, demandons à nos représentants syndicaux à l’OIT d’exiger l’exclusion de l’Etat dictatorial iranien de cette institution internationale


Organisations syndicales signataires (sections syndicales, syndicats, UL,…) :

Protest of mothers in Germany against executions in Iran

A group of mothers and women from Cologne, Germany is holding a 'No to executions!' protest tomorrow Monday 31 May and Tuesday 1 June in Düsseldorf in reaction to the execution of five political activists in Iran two weeks ago. The group wants to spread the message of Farzad Kamangar's mother Daye Saltaneh who in a statement spoke of her hope that other mother's will not lose their children and who asked that people speak out against executions.

Place:
Landesparlament (Regional State Parliament)
Platz des Landtags 1
40221 Düsseldorf

London rally against execution of political activists in Iran

Several protests took place over the weekend against the executions of 5 polititcal activists last Sunday, 9 May. In London on Saturday the WPI and 7 other groups and campaigns organised a rally starting at Trafalgar Square at 1pm. Different speakers talked about the executions, the situation of political activists and prisoners in Iran. At 2.30 around 120 people marched for two and a half hours towards the IRI embassy where the protest continued. The protesters continuously shouted slogans whilst marching. Some of the slogans were: Free all political prisoners now! Stop the murder, stop the torture! Down with the Islamic regime of Iran! Stop victimizing women in Iran!

On Trafalgar Square




Getting ready to march



Marching








In front of the IRI embassy

General Strike in Kurdistan!

A big step forward for the people of Iran’s revolution against the Islamic Republic!

Today, people in Sanandaj, Mahabad, Bokan, Kamyaran, Miaandoaab, Oshnavieh, Nowsood, Piranshahr, Saghez, Baaneh, Divaandareh, Dehgalaan, Naghadeh, Sardasht, Javaanrood, Ravaansar, Rabat and all other cities and towns in Kurdistan carried out a successful general strike, despite undeclared province-wide martial law and all other measures the regime had resorted to. Almost all schools, universities and 80% of shopping centers and workplaces were closed. The Islamic Regime found itself, clearer than ever, surrounded by the ocean of people’s hatred! This strike was not just a powerful, magnificent response to the recent cruel execution of 5 political activists. It was not just a crucial step in defeating the regime’s policies of execution and terrorization of the people. It was an act with far-reaching consequences that will radically change the balance of political power against the regime. In a word, it was a significant step forward in the revolution of the people against the Islamic regime and for freedom and equality.

The general strike in Kurdistan on May 13th, 2010, will be remembered as an historic act, and as an historic day, in the process of the Kurdish people’s struggle in the Iranian revolution. People took part in the strike in their millions and broke the wall of the ever-more-severe repression in Kurdistan, thus pushing the Iranian revolution one significant step forward. It will raise the spirits of the people all across Iran and greatly intensify the regime’s desperation and hopelessness. After May 13th, the people in Tehran, Ahvaz, Mashhad, and so on, will feel much stronger in their fight against the Islamic regime!

The mass strike in Kurdistan will also radicalize the current revolution in Iran even further, and swing it more to the left. Kurdistan has always remained the “fortress of the revolution” of 1979. The people in Kurdistan have always said “no” to the murderous Islamic regime. The broadest masses have always shown the deepest hatred towards the regime and all its factions. Now that the people have actively set foot in the arena of political struggle, they show a fact ever more vividly, that is, what goes on in Iran is not a movement to “reform” the regime but a revolution to bury it in its entirety. Meanwhile the “revolutionary Kurdistan”, in general, and the “red Sanandaj”, in particular, have been the stronghold of organized left, revolutionism and communism since the 1979 revolution. The idea of a general strike in Kurdistan per se, the fact that it was called by the communists, the fact that it gained the support of all political forces in Kurdistan, and the fact that it took such huge dimensions in practice, provide yet another air-tight proof that the Iranian revolution turns more and more to the left as it goes further and further ahead.

The general strike of May 13th in Kurdistan showed something else too. It took place following the extensive, vigorous protests by the Iranians living abroad against the execution of five political prisoners in Iran. These protests were supported by the people within Iran. It all goes to prove, once more, that all the people in Iran share the same destiny in their struggle for liberation. The general strike by the people in Kurdistan was a manifestation of our slogan: ‘“No!” to ethnic state! “No!” to religious state! “Yes” to humanist state!’ Right, nationalist forces, as well as the regime itself, i.e., all the forces that seek to divide the people along ethnic and/or religious lines, received a fierce blow in the general strike in Kurdistan.

Finally, the general strike in Kurdistan was a great step forward also in that it promoted the tactics and forms of struggle, and thus contributed to the clearer articulation of the current revolution. It added, in practice, besides street demonstrations, “general strike” to the tactics of revolutionary struggle. At the present moment the adoption of this tactic is an absolute necessity for the revolution to advance. There is no doubt that today’s move by the heroic people in Kurdistan will set a pattern for the revolution across Iran.

The Worker-communist Party salutes the people in Kurdistan and congratulates all freedom-loving people, all the communists and the various political parties who made today’s strike a success.

Down with the Islamic regime of Iran!
Humanist revolution for a humanist state!
For a socialist republic!

Worker-Communist Party of Iran
May 13, 2010

Soldiers at Farzad Kamangar's family home

Some of the soldiers that have been sent to Kamyaran, Farzad Kamangar's city, for the general strike yesterday are currently surrounding the family's home and filming and photographing anyone leaving or entering the house.

Source: Kurdistan Committee of WPI

Kurds from Turkey at Iran's border to join strike 13 May

Here is a clip of how a demonstration of a few hundred Kurdish people from Turkey marched to the Turkey/Iran border trying to cross over to join the strike in the Kurdish province in Iran yesterday 13 May.

Protest in Afghanistan against execution of 45 Afghans in Iran

Today a fifth protest was held in Afghanistan against the recent execution of 45 Afghans in Iran. People burnt picture of Ahmadinejad and others held a picture of Farzad Kamangar and his mother.

Footage of strike in Kurdistan today

Sanandaj, Kurdistan today May 13

People and shopowners in Sanandaj following the call out for a general strike in Kurdistan in response to the execution of 5 political activists on Sunday in Tehran, 4 of them Kurdish.

Divandara, Kurdistan today 13 May

London rally against executions in Iran this Saturday 15 May

Come and join WPI at a rally to protest against the execution of Farzad Kamangar and 4 other political activists in Iran and demand an immediate stop to executions in Iran.

This Saturday 15 May at 1pm Trafalgar Square, London
At 2pm we will be marching to the IRI embassy at 16 Prince's Gate. Please come and support people's struggle in Iran and protest against executions in Iran!

contact
wpiengland (at) googlemail.com
mob 07950924434

Protest in London 12 May

To protest against the executions of Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heydarian, Shirin Alam Houli, Farhad Vakili and Mehdi Eslamian and against the Islamic regime of Iran join a protest tomorrow Wednesday 12 May at 6pm in front of the Iranian embassy


Address: 16 Prince's Gate SW7 1PT
Contact: Jalil Jalili 07950924434

Call For General Strike in Kurdistan

The following is a statement released by the Kurdistan Committee of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran, condemning the execution of five Kurdish political prisoners Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam Hooli, Mehdi Hosseinian, Farhad Vakili, and Ali Heydarian on May 9, 2010. The letter demands the unconditional release of political prisoners and supports the call for a general strike in the province of Kurdistan, Iran on May 13, 2010.

On Sunday May 9, 2010, the Iranian government committed another heinous crime when they executed five political prisoners Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam Hooli, Mehdi Hosseinian, Farhad Vakili, and Ali Heydarian.

Thousands of our dear ones have been put to death for demanding their rights so the sinister and backwards regime and its system of exploitation, stealing, and suppression, can be saved. We must resist these crimes and stop this killing machine.

To object to this crime, Komeleh (The Kurdistan Organization of The Communist Party of Iran) has issued a call to the people of Kurdistan for a general strike on Thursday May 13, 2010.

The Worker-Communist Party of Iran supports this call. We call upon all of the people of Kurdistan, the workers and university students, teachers and school students, shopkeepers, and civil servants to object to the regime’s savage crime and to honour the memory of our loved ones by uniting.

A wide and successful general strike will be an important factor in the continuation of our just struggle, in consolidating our empathy and unity, and in organizing and preparing for the conclusion of the battle to overthrow the sinister regime. In recent months, millions of people throughout the country, in many ways, have demonstrated their hatred and opposition to the government and their will to bury it. The success of this strike, while the regime is struggling with a wide array of crises, will be a crushing response to their crimes and an important step toward strengthening the political balance of power in favor of the peoples’ struggle for freedom throughout all parts of Iran.

Freedom-seeking people of Kurdistan:

Unify in support of this call and participate in this general strike to respond forcefully to the ruling criminals. We must not leave our dear ones alone in prisons. In objection to the execution of these dear ones, who lost their lives on charges of opposition to the government and having a difference of opinion, we need to react with utmost force to demonstrate to the regime that they will be confronted decisively. You should demand the unconditional release of political prisoners by this wide and simultaneous strike in protest against execution, torture, and any forms of pressure against prisoners.

Our strike will undoubtedly be greeted with joy by millions of freedom-seeking Iranians throughout the nation and will create a new environment for toppling the Islamic Republic.

Down with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Victory to the revolution of freedom-seeking people of Iran.

Kurdistan Committee of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran
May 10, 2010

translated by persian2english

Farzad Kamangar and 4 other political dissidents executed in Iran - Join the campaign to expel the Islamic regime of Iran from the ILO

In the early hours of Sunday 9 May, the Islamic authorities in Iran executed Farzad Kamangar and four other political prisoners. Farzad Kamangar was a teacher and a human rights activist, whose release had been the object of high profile campaigns in Iran and internationally over the past two years. The other four political activists who were executed on Sunday in Evin Prison were Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, Shirin Alam-Houli and Mehdi Eslamian.

All five had been sentenced to death for their political opposition to the regime. The sentences were carried out in secret, without their families or lawyers being informed.

The bereaved families of the five have called for a demonstration outside Tehran University for Monday 10 May. Many are expected to join the protest, despite the brutality of the regime. At the time of writing, hundreds of Iranians in Europe have gathered in protest outside Islamic Republic’s embassies and consulates. In London, Paris and Frankfurt angry demonstrators have pelted the buildings with eggs, red paint and stones.

These latest political killings are part of the Islamic Republic’s brutal last attempts to cling on to power in the face of the anger, hatred and massive protest of the people in the past year and their clear demand for this despotic, medieval regime to go. However, these executions are not expected to dent the resolve of the people and will only deepen the loathing for this regime in Iran and around the world.

We call on all trade unions and human rights organisations and all those outraged at this barbaric act to condemn the Islamic regime of Iran in the strongest possible terms. In particular, we call on all to join the campaign of expulsion of this regime from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This regime should not be allowed to seek legitimacy for itself through its continued membership of the ILO. A regime which jails, flogs, tortures and executes workers and political dissidents; a regime which executes children and stones women to death; a regime which shoots at unarmed demonstrators and rapes detained protesters should not be not allowed to set foot in any international body or forum, and least of all in an organisation bearing the name of worker. This regime belongs not in the ILO, but in an international court to answer for its crimes against humanity.

We call on the governing body of the ILO to annul the membership of the Islamic Republic forthwith on grounds of its flagrant violation of human rights and its denial of a human life to workers and the people in Iran. The expulsion of the Islamic regime of Iran from the ILO has been the demand of the workers in Iran, conveyed to the ILO on numerous occasions. It has been the object of repeated protests at the International Labour Conferences by our party’s International Labour Solidarity Committee. The appalling human rights violation by the regime in Iran have been brought to the attention of the ILO through tonnes of evidence submitted to its governing body and various committees by the world’s trade unions, by our party and by worker campaigns and activists year after year. However, unfortunately, the ILO executive has failed to heed these calls.

With the murder of Farzad Kamangar and four other political dissidents today, any bureaucratic excuse for the continued membership of this regime in the ILO becomes totally unacceptable; any diplomatic justification for continued ties with this regime will be viewed with utter disgust by the workers and people in Iran and by the world labour movement and progressive community. We call on the ILO to immediately withdraw its invitation of the government of Iran to the June 2010 International Labour Conference. We call on trade unions globally to support our call and urge the ILO to annul the Islamic Republic’s membership.

Finally, in the event that, despite worldwide protests, the ILO admits the Islamic Republic to the June conference, we call on the workers’ groups and delegates from all countries represented to walk out of any session at which the delegates of the Islamic regime of Iran may be present. As in previous years, our party, on behalf of the workers and people of Iran, who remain unrepresented in the ILO, will mobilise for powerful protests at the conference.

International Labour Solidarity Committee of the
Worker-communist Party of Iran (ILSC-WPI)

9 May 2010

For further info, contact wpi.workers.iran@gmail.com

www.kargaran.org http://worker-communistpartyofiran.blogspot.com/ http://www.iransolidarity.org.uk

Protests tomorrow

Denmark, Copenhagen

Monday, May 10 from 6pm Rådhusplatsen Square protest


Brussels, Belgium

Monday from 6pm in front of IRI Embassy


Frankfurt, Germany

From 2 pm rally in front of the consulate of the Islamic Republic.



Cologne, Germany:

Monday May 10, 2010 6pm protest in downtown Cologne near Central Train Station, Dom platte



Stockholm, Sweden

Monday, May 10 after 5 pm Zhrmydan Srgl Stockholm



Pakistan, Islamabad

Monday from 10 am gathering at the site of the Press club

Protest in Hamburg tomorrow

In response to the exectuions today, there will be a protest tomorrow Monday 10 May at 6.30pm in front of the Islamic regime's consulate in Hamburg, Bebelallee 18.

Kundgebung vor dem islamischen Konsulat Irans in Hamburg

Montag den 10. Mai 2010 um 18:30 Uhr

Bebelallee 18

Farzad Kamangar: Be strong Comrades!

(At the end of April Farzad Kamangar, the school teacher who was exectued today, had written a letter to other imprisoned teachers)

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: Little Black Fish 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.

Protests In London, Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne today

People gathered today in various cities to commemorate the five executed polititcal activists and to protest against the Islamic regime of Iran. Paris around 1000 people, London around 200 in front of the embassy, dozens in Frankfurt in front of the consulate and in Cologne centre to protest against the exexutions of five political activists. Relatives of Farzad Kamangar took part in the protest in Frankfurt. The windows of the Islamic regime's consulate in London were reportedly smashed earlier today.

Frankfurt consulate of IRI


(banner reads: Down with Islamic regime)


Cologne

Paris

Here is a short video from the Frankfurt protest:

Protest in Tehran tomorrow by families of executed activists

Tomorrow Monday 10 May the families of political prisoners who were executed along with some Civil Rights activists will be protesting in Tehran. The protests are to start from 11am in front of the entrance of Tehran University. The grieving families invite the public to attend this gathering.

5 political activists executed in Iran today

Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili, Shirin Alam-Huee and

Mehdi Eslamian were executed today in Evin prison by the Islamic regime of Iran.

Neither their lawyers nor their families were aware of the executions.

Farzad Kamangar's mother holding a picture of Farzad


Farzad Kamangar with a class he was teaching

Shirin Alam-Huee

Farhad Vakili

Ali Heydarian