Some German Parliament Representatives Call for Pressure on the Islamic Republic to End Executions in Iran

Several representatives of the German Parliament (Bundestag) met with Bayan Azimi and Maria Mahmoudi, the wives of two Kurdish political prisoners who were executed on January 29, emphasizing the need to exert pressure on the Islamic Republic to stop executions in Iran. Max Lux, the Green Party's reporter on Iran at the Council of Europe; Jürgen Hardt, spokesperson for foreign affairs for the Christian Social Union and Christian Democrats; Katja Leikert, a member of the Family, Seniors, Women and Youth Committee of the Christian Social Union and Christian Democrats; and Michael Brand, spokesperson for human rights and humanitarian aid for the Christian Social Union and Christian Democrats, were among the representatives who met with Ms. Azimi and Mahmoudi from Tuesday to Thursday, February 20 to 22. Christian Dorr, head of the Liberal Party faction; Renate Alt, head of the Liberal Party's humanitarian committee; Peter Heidt, spokesperson for human rights policy of the Liberal Party; Knut Grashoff, head of the Economic Cooperation and Development Committee of the Liberal Party; Clara Bunger, spokesperson for asylum and human rights policy of the Left Party; and Kathrin Vogler, executive director of the Left Party in the Bundestag, were also among the representatives who met with Bayan Azimi and Maria Mahmoudi. According to a press release from the human rights organization 'Hawar Help' in Germany, Max Lux, after meeting with the two survivors and the political sponsorship team of this organization, announced in a video with Maria Mahmoudi and Bayan Azimi: 'The regime in Iran is waging three wars; a war against its own people, including the Kurds,' adding that the Islamic Republic's forces are also bombing Kurds in neighboring countries. Mr. Lux added: 'This regime has made a miscalculation and cannot break women like Maria and Bayan.' The Green Party representative and human rights reporter on Iran at the Council of Europe called for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be declared a terrorist organization, an end to appeasement with the Islamic Republic, and the restoration of Kurdish rights. In a text published on his Instagram channel, he wrote: 'The regime has not returned the bodies of these executed political prisoners to their families.' Jürgen Hardt, spokesperson for foreign affairs of the Christian Social Union and Christian Democrats in the Bundestag, along with several of his colleagues, also called in a video for the German Foreign Ministry to 'increase pressure on the Islamic Republic to stop executions,' referring to the severe wave of executions in Iran. He emphasized: 'For every executed political prisoner, one European country should expel an Iranian diplomat, one Iranian manufactured goods group should be sanctioned by Europe, and IRGC actors should be placed on Europe's terrorist list.' Mr. Hardt and several of his colleagues in the same video called on the Islamic Republic to return the bodies of these executed political prisoners to their families. Christian Dorr, head of the Liberal Party faction, who met with Maria Mahmoudi and Bayan Azimi, as well as Duzan Takal, director of the Hawar Help organization, and Mina Khani and Daniela Sepehri from the political sponsorship team of this organization, referred to the four Kurdish political prisoners executed on January 29 as 'martyrs for freedom and democracy' and wrote: 'Freedom fighters deserve our full support.' He added: 'We want the Iranian ambassador to open the newspaper and see the images and names of the judges who ordered the executions... This is our clear message to the Iranian regime.' According to the report, Christian Dorr added: 'Today we met with Bayan Azimi and Maria Mahmoudi, the wives of those who were executed by the mullah regime in Iran for their efforts for freedom and human rights. The regime has buried their bodies in an unknown location and is now refusing to return these bodies.' This Liberal Party representative emphasized that 'the human rights situation in Iran remains dire,' stating: 'Those who work in Iran for values and rights that are taken for granted in Germany are suppressed, tortured, and killed by the mullah regime.' He added: 'For us, this matter is certain: we will continue our efforts for human rights in Iran and will steadfastly stand by the women and men fighting for freedom.' Christian Dorr emphasized: 'It is necessary to take immediate practical action against those who plan these crimes. The people of Iran, in our view, not only deserve our will but also our endless support. Therefore, it is important for us to announce not only the names of those who are suppressed by the regime but especially those who run the regime's machinery of repression.' According to the human rights organization 'Hawar Help,' Jürgen Hart said on the floor of the German Parliament just two days after this meeting: 'The two wives of the deceased political prisoners, Pejman Fathi and Mohammad Farahmrazi, were here. The regime in Iran does not even return the bodies of the deceased for burial. The regime fears that signs of torture will be seen on their bodies.' Mr. Hart added: 'The Islamic Republic fears that during their burial ceremonies, people will protest against the government, and for this reason, they do not return the bodies of these deceased. I emphasize that this matter must happen; it is a humanitarian issue that must be addressed.' According to this report, Bayan Azimi and Maria Mahmoudi, in their meetings with 10 members of the German Parliament, called for 'the return of the bodies of these deceased or the showing of their graves, pressure on the Islamic Republic to stop the wave of executions, and the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization.' They also called for 'an end to the policy of appeasement with the Islamic Republic and the implementation of justice through the continued pursuit of the families of the victims and the pursuit of this justice by European countries.' Joanna Timisi: The Islamic Republic must return the bodies of four Kurdish political prisoners to their families. Joanna Timisi, the wife of Mohsen Mazloom, one of the Kurdish political prisoners executed on January 29, told Voice of America: 'We, the wives of four Kurdish political prisoners who were executed without any fair trial and after 19 months of torture and ignorance by the Islamic Republic, are trying to retrieve the lifeless bodies of these loved ones.' She also mentioned: 'The Islamic Republic has not even allowed the families to see the bodies of their children after their execution' and pointed out that 'the Islamic Republic has committed multiple injustices against Kurdistan during its 45 years of rule, one example of which is the refusal to return the bodies of four political prisoners.' Ms. Timisi stated that the bodies of her husband and his friends are still subjected to 'enforced disappearance, just as they were during their detention,' considering the Islamic Republic's behavior in this regard as an act that, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, constitutes 'crimes against humanity.' She said: 'We urge government officials and human rights activists to pressure the leaders of the Islamic Republic to return the bodies of these four executed youths to their families, take immediate action to stop executions in Iran, and place the terrorist IRGC where it belongs, namely on the list of terrorist groups.' The four Kurdish political prisoners, Mohsen Mazloom, Pejman Fathi, Vafa Azabar, and Mohammad Farahmrazi, were executed at dawn on January 29 in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj. Their wives are also the survivors of Pejman Fathi's five-year-old child. They were members of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, arrested by security agents in July 2022 in the city of Urmia. After their arrest, they were transferred to an unknown location. Eighty days after their enforced disappearance, their forced confessions were broadcast. They were accused of spying for Israel in a Revolutionary Court without access to their lawyer and family members, and their forced confessions were the only basis for the death sentence issued by the case judge, Iman Afshari. This sentence was then confirmed by Judge Qasem Mozeinani in the Supreme Court. Monthly report of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network: 10 Kurdish prisoners executed in one month. The fourth week of the 'Black Tuesdays' campaign; continuation of the hunger strike of political prisoners in protest against the death sentence. The 'Stop Executions in Iran' campaign; activists in cyberspace are calling for 'cutting this 45-year rope.' The end of the Munich conference with the presence of opponents of the Islamic Republic; Masih Alinejad: I tried to be 'the voice of real revolutionaries.' The arrest of a citizen after traveling to meet the family of Mohammad Farahmrazi, a Kurdish prisoner executed. Korkor Mujahid, a prisoner sentenced to death in Ahvaz, has been deprived of 'phone calls and visits.' The 'Justice-seeking for the victims of the 1988 massacre' meeting; Javid Rahman criticized the 'complete lack of accountability' of human rights violators in Iran.