The last letter by Sirin Elem Hulu, hanged in Iran
The last letter by Sirin Elem Hulu, hanged in Iran
One of the 4 PJAK prisoners hanged last Sunday in Evin prison in Tehran, was Sirin Elem Hulu. She was 29 years old and she was born in the village of Gheshlagh near the city of Maku. She was arrested in May 2007 by the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran and she spent the first 25 days of her imprisonment in an unknown location where she was subjected to a brutal physical and psychological torture. She was then transferred to Section 29 of Evin prison where she was held in solitary confinement. She was tortured for six months before being transferred to the Women's Ward of Evin prison. In December 2009 she was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for illegal exit from Iran and sentenced to death for being an 'enemy of God' for her alleged involvement in the PJAK. She was tried in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. After the sentence was handed down, Sirin Elem Hulu’s lawyers filed an appeal. The young woman was executed on Sunday morning. Her case still in the process of appeal. Neither the lawyers of the families of the prisoners had been given any notice that the execution was to be carried out on Sunday.
Below the letter written by Sirin Elem Hulu on the 2 of May, a week before her execution.
In the letter Sirin Elem Hulu refers to the case of Zeynab Jalaliyan. Zeynab is a 27 year old Kurdish woman, sentenced to death and presently awaiting execution. She has been held in prison for the last two years and is currently detained in Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah City. Zeynab was convicted of being a 'Mohareb' ('enemy of God') for her activities in PJAK, which is the major opposition front to the Islamic regime. Her trial was concluded in only five minutes and she was denied the right to have access to a solicitor.
"I am entering into my third year of imprisonment, three years under the worst conditions behind the bars of the Evin Prison. I spent the first two years of my imprisonment without a lawyer, and in pre-trial custody. All my inquiries about my case went unanswered until I was unjustly sentenced to death.
Why have I been imprisoned and why am I going to be executed? For what crime? Is it because I am Kurdish? If that’s the case than I must say I was born a Kurd. My language is Kurdish, the language that I use to communicate with my family, friends and community, and the language that I grew up with. But I am not allowed to speak my language or read it, I am not allowed to go to school in my own language and I am not allowed to write it. They are telling me to deny my Kurdishness, but if I do, that means I have to deny who I am.
Mr. Judge and Interrogator:
When you were interrogating me, I couldn’t speak your language and couldn’t understand you. I learned Farsi in the past two years in the Women’s section of the prison from my friends. But you interrogated me, tried me and sentenced me in your own language even though I couldn’t understand it and couldn’t defend myself.
The torture that you subjected me to has become my nightmare. I am in constant pain because of the torture I was subjected to. The blows to my head during interrogation has caused major problems to my head, and sometimes I suffer from severe headaches, where I lose all sense of myself, my nose starts bleeding from the pain and this lasts for several hours until I start to feel normal again.
Another “present” your torture has left me is the damage to my eyes which gets worse every day. My request for glasses has gone unanswered. When I entered this prison my hair was black, now after three years of imprisonment, my hair has started to turn white.
I know you have done this not only to me but to all Kurds including Zeynab Jalaliyan and Ronak Safarzadeh... The eyes of Kurdish mothers are full of tears, waiting to see their children. They are in a state of constant worry, in fear that each phone call may bring the news of the execution of their children.
Today is May 2nd 2010 and once again they took me to Section 209 of the Evin Prison for interrogation. They asked me to cooperate with them in order for me to be pardoned and not executed. I don’t understand what they mean by cooperation, when I don’t have anything more to say than what I have already said. They want me to repeat whatever they say, but I refuse to do it.
The interrogators told me “we wanted to release you last year, but your family wouldn’t cooperate with us so things had to come to this.” They admitted to me that I was a hostage and until they reach their goal they will keep me a prisoner or execute me but they will never release me".
Below the letter written by Sirin Elem Hulu on the 2 of May, a week before her execution.
In the letter Sirin Elem Hulu refers to the case of Zeynab Jalaliyan. Zeynab is a 27 year old Kurdish woman, sentenced to death and presently awaiting execution. She has been held in prison for the last two years and is currently detained in Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah City. Zeynab was convicted of being a 'Mohareb' ('enemy of God') for her activities in PJAK, which is the major opposition front to the Islamic regime. Her trial was concluded in only five minutes and she was denied the right to have access to a solicitor.
"I am entering into my third year of imprisonment, three years under the worst conditions behind the bars of the Evin Prison. I spent the first two years of my imprisonment without a lawyer, and in pre-trial custody. All my inquiries about my case went unanswered until I was unjustly sentenced to death.
Why have I been imprisoned and why am I going to be executed? For what crime? Is it because I am Kurdish? If that’s the case than I must say I was born a Kurd. My language is Kurdish, the language that I use to communicate with my family, friends and community, and the language that I grew up with. But I am not allowed to speak my language or read it, I am not allowed to go to school in my own language and I am not allowed to write it. They are telling me to deny my Kurdishness, but if I do, that means I have to deny who I am.
Mr. Judge and Interrogator:
When you were interrogating me, I couldn’t speak your language and couldn’t understand you. I learned Farsi in the past two years in the Women’s section of the prison from my friends. But you interrogated me, tried me and sentenced me in your own language even though I couldn’t understand it and couldn’t defend myself.
The torture that you subjected me to has become my nightmare. I am in constant pain because of the torture I was subjected to. The blows to my head during interrogation has caused major problems to my head, and sometimes I suffer from severe headaches, where I lose all sense of myself, my nose starts bleeding from the pain and this lasts for several hours until I start to feel normal again.
Another “present” your torture has left me is the damage to my eyes which gets worse every day. My request for glasses has gone unanswered. When I entered this prison my hair was black, now after three years of imprisonment, my hair has started to turn white.
I know you have done this not only to me but to all Kurds including Zeynab Jalaliyan and Ronak Safarzadeh... The eyes of Kurdish mothers are full of tears, waiting to see their children. They are in a state of constant worry, in fear that each phone call may bring the news of the execution of their children.
Today is May 2nd 2010 and once again they took me to Section 209 of the Evin Prison for interrogation. They asked me to cooperate with them in order for me to be pardoned and not executed. I don’t understand what they mean by cooperation, when I don’t have anything more to say than what I have already said. They want me to repeat whatever they say, but I refuse to do it.
The interrogators told me “we wanted to release you last year, but your family wouldn’t cooperate with us so things had to come to this.” They admitted to me that I was a hostage and until they reach their goal they will keep me a prisoner or execute me but they will never release me".
