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Education International has taken up the cause of Farzad Kamangar, a 32-year-old Iranian teacher and trade unionist who has been repeatedly tortured in custody and sentenced to death by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Kamangar is only one of thousands of political prisoners in Iran, where human rights defenders and civil society activists frequently face egregious rights violations.

Kamangar was condemned on the basis of “absolutely zero evidence,” according to his lawyer. His trial, which lasted only a few minutes, took place in secret and failed to meet even the most minimum standards of fairness. EI is calling on the Iranian authorities to commute his sentence immediately and to re-examine his case fairly.

Iran, unlike most nations of the world, even imposes the death penalty on children. It has the highest number of juvenile executions in the world and the second highest number of all executions, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Below is the full text of EI’s letter to the Iranian government, and additional links for more information.

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Ministry of Justice Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Sharoudi Panzdah-Khordad Square Tehran Islamic Republic of Iran

Brussels, 9 June 2008

Your Excellency,

Education International (EI) represents 30 million teachers and education workers. Our 394 member organisations operate in 171 countries, from pre-school to university. As the world’s largest Global Union Federation, EI unites all teachers and education workers no matter where they are. EI acts as a watchdog to monitor the human and trade union rights of teachers in all countries.

EI is deeply concerned about the situation of Mr. Farzad Kamangar, an Iranian teacher who was sentenced to death on 25 February 2008 by the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of “endangering national security.” Aged 32, Farzad Kamangar has worked for 12 years as a teacher in Kamyaran. He was member of the Kurdish Teachers Trade Association and was in charge of public relations for the teacher union until it was outlawed. Farzad Kamangar was also active in defending human rights, minority rights and women's rights.

According to his lawyer, the judicial process did not meet the Iranian legal requirements and there is no evidence against him of the charges of “enmity against God”. Farzad Kamangar has been held incommunicado at a series of locations: in Sanandaj in Kurdistan, in Kermanshah, in the Evin prison and currently in the Rajaishahr prison in Karaj. Reliable information indicate that he has been tortured regularly. Currently, he is detained with dangerous criminals and he fears for his security, as well as for his health given the high prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B in the prison.

EI supports the campaigns of the Iranian Teachers’ Association and of Amnesty International to re-examine the case of Farzad Kamangar through a fair trial that meets the Iranian and international standards. EI also urges the authorities to commute Farzad Kamangar’s death sentence immediately, as the application of death penalty is irreparable and no judicial system should run the risk of condemning an innocent person.

On 19 May EI requested an audience with the Iranian Ambassador in Belgium to begin a dialogue and obtain more information about Farzad Kamangar, unfortunately EI has not received a response to date.

EI looks forward to engaging in a dialogue with the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran while simultaneously holding them to high standards of respect for human and trade union rights.

Sincerely yours, Fred van Leeuwen General Secretary

For more information about Farzad Kamangar’s case and the campaign to free him, click on the links below.