KRG investigating alleged handover of Iranian Kurd executed by Tehran

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced on Saturday that it had formed a special committee to investigate allegations that 53-year-old Iranian national Mustafa Salimi, who was executed that morning in Iran, had been handed over by local Asayish (security) forces in the Kurdistan Region’s eastern district of Penjwin, despite Salimi having claimed asylum to escape death.

“The Kurdistan Regional Government is not aware of such an incident, and if something like this happened, it happened without the KRG’s awareness,” KRG spokesperson Jutyar Adil Mahmood stated on Saturday. “To investigate this, the KRG Prime Minister has ordered the establishment of a committee to investigate the matter.”

Fetema Karimi, the Director of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), told Kurdistan 24 that Salimi was a former member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party – Iran (PDK-I).

“He later left the party and was involved with armed robbery; and because of that he was arrested in 2003 in Iran. He was given a death sentence and was serving 17 years of prison in the city of Saqqez,” she said.

On March 27, 70 prisoners escaped from a prison in Saqqez, fearing the spread of the deadly coronavirus. “(They) started a riot, and many of them managed to escape the prison. One of the escapees was Mustafa Salimi,” Karimi added.

According to a recent Amnesty International report, in the past few weeks, thousands of prisoners at eight prisons across Iran have staged protests, fearing the spread of the coronavirus. 

In Iran, there have been a total of 4,232 deaths due to the coronavirus, according to the latest official data from the Iranian health ministry which multiple reports claim is far lower than the actual number.

“Mustafa Salimi had managed to smuggle himself out of Iran and reach to Penjwin city in the Kurdistan Region,” said Karimi.

“It is Kurdish activists and journalists who are reporting Mustafa Salimi’s arrest in Penjwen, Kurdistan Region – we have not seen any official statements,” she added.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, an Iranian human rights activist in Norway, told Kurdistan 24 that “according to our sources, he had told the Kurdish authorities that he would be hanged if sent back to Iran.”

“It is important to get an answer from the Kurdish authorities at what level the authorities were involved. So they should answer whether it was deportation or extradition.”

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the leading political force in Sulaimani that holds significant authority over local Asayish and Peshmerga forces along the 220-kilometer long border area with Iran, denied the allegations.

Imad Farhadi, a member of the PUK’s foreign relations office told Kurdistan 24 that the PUK believes the case of Salimi has been distorted and that misinformation based on verbal allegations have been circulated. 

“The Sulaimani Asayish has no record of Salimi’s arrest and extradition to Iran. Asayish is part of KRG’s security apparatus. KRG PM Barzani has formed a special committee to investigate the serious allegations and Asayish will cooperate fully.”

The Asayish Directorate in Sulaimani in a statement on Saturday completely denied the claims adding that Salimi arrived in the Kurdistan Region at all.

Diya Butros, who heads the Kurdistan Region’s Independent Board of Human Rights, told Kurdistan 24, “After hearing about the incident, I have requested our offices in Sulaimani and Halabja provinces initiate an investigation into this matter. This morning, we received information from the general prosecutor in Penjwin district who confirmed that Salimi did cross the Kurdistan Region’s border and was then handed over to Iranian forces.”

“Following his handover to the Iranian forces, he was executed this morning,” he added. “This is a clear human rights violation. Since he crossed the border illegally, he should have been legally investigated and the decision regarding his handover must be made by the court of law.”

He continued, “Article 21 of Iraqi Constitution clearly dictates that the man should have been given political asylum… so the decision to hand him over was a violation of the constitution, international law, and human rights law that caused the man to lose his life.”

Butros explained further, “Sulaimani province Asayish is responsible to investigate with the Penjwin district security police whether they acted on their own or if they received orders from their superiors,” specifying personnel from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) who are in charge in Penjwin.

“Sulaimani Asayish must give clarification to the general public on how this incident was allowed within their jurisdiction, to legally hold those responsible for it, and prevent such a thing from happening in the future. This resulted in the loss of life and Salimi was imprisoned for supporting the Kurdish cause in Iran.”

Salimi’s family was earlier contacted by prison authorities for a chance to visit him before his execution on Saturday morning. “Mustafa Salimi was in a terrible mental situation – but there was no word of his looming death penalty,” KHRN’s Karimi said.

After his execution, his body was given to his family.   

Amiry-Moghaddam told Kurdistan 24 that such a handover would be “against all international norms. He was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Courts lacking a fair trial and due process.” 

Furthermore, there are fears that another inmate who escaped from Saqqez Prison could have also been executed after he was arrested in the city of Baneh in northwestern Iran. 

“It is said that Shoresh Morrovati has also been hanged, yet we have not been able to speak to his family and confirm that,” KHRN’s Karimi added.

Following his execution, the Komala political party condemned the Islamic Republic of Iran for the execution Salimi, calling on the KRG to investigate the circumstances of his transfer to Iranian authorities.

“Mustafa Salimi was imprisoned for 17 years by the Iranian regime… no matter what crime he had committed, he must have been treated in accordance to human rights and been given the rights of a Kurdish asylum seeker,” a statement read.

Editing by John J. Catherine 

Additional reporting by Hiwa Shilani