Late last week, I wrote a diary about Habibollah Latifi, the Kurdiah Iranian student who was sentenced to death after allegedly pleading guilty in a politically-charged case. Reports are that Latifi was tortured, that his confession was extracted as a result of torture, and that the crimes for which he was tried were dubious.
Habibollah Latifi was first arrested on October 23 2007 (Aban 1, 1386) and was sentenced to death by a short court session lasting only a few minutes after enduring four months of interrogation and torture on June 30 2008 (Tir 10, 1387). His court, which lacked presence of family members was held at First branch of Revolutionary Court and was ruled by judge Hasan Babaei. His charges include crimes against national security and causing war.
The BBC is reporting that Latifi's death sentence has been delayed as human rights groups like Amnesty International push to have his sentence commuted.
"While we recognise that governments have a responsibility to bring to justice those who commit crimes, this must be done according to international standards for fair trial," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director.
Latifi was accused of "waging war against God" (mohareb) by Iranian authorities, who claim that Latifi was involved in plotting insurrection against the Islamic government of Iran. The same term (moharebeh) was used to describe those who protested the results of elections in Iran in 2009.
While I do not know the details of Latifi's case, I only point this out to demonstrate what happens when you equate "God's will" with the will of the government, or when you deny rights of assembly, protest, and/or religious freedom to groups of people. The widespread claims of vote-rigging by the Iranian government suggested a dishonest scheme by Iranian leaders trying to maintain a hold on power over dissenters.
Habibollah Latifi is a member of the Kurdish minority in Iran, which has been targeted by the majority in the region for generations. The Kurds have been victims of economic, political, and religious repression in the Middle East, but especially in Iran, where Kurds constitute 15% of the population.
In the United States, Kurds tend to be identified with other Muslim groups, which exacerbates their minority status. Nashville, which is home to the largest population of Kurdish immigrants, has been the site of numerous acts of oppression against Muslims, including the burning of a mosque in Columbia, the vandalism of the Islamic center in Nashville, and community-based opposition to the construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro. Nashville's Kurdish community seeks to maintain its cultural identity while integrating into the community.
The pending execution of Habibollah Latifi has drawn attention to the plight of Kurdish refugees around the world. Kurds in Northern Iraq escaped from the "ethnic cleansing" of Saddam Hussein in the wake of the first Iraq War. And while Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is the most prominent Kurdish leader in the region, the role of Kurds and Talabani's party (the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) is still unclear in the soon-to-be-formed government in Iraq.
The Iranian interference into Iraqi affairs was noted in diplomatic cables recently released by Wikileaks. The cables suggest that Iran is attempting to exert influence in favor of an Islamist, anti-American, Shi'ite government.
Iran's over-arching political objective for Iraq's January election is the re-election of a Shia-dominated, preferably Islamist, coalition led by Tehran's closest allies.
While no specific connections have been made, it is suspicious that Iran is threatening to execute a Kurdish dissenter at the same time that Iraq is in the final stages of forming its government.