Open Letter from KDPI:s Foreign Relations Office to the International Community
Open Letter (No.1) to international community
On September 13, 2022, a 22-year-old Kurdish girl from the city of Saqez named Jina (Mahsa) Amini, was beaten to death by the Iranian morality police in Tehran. She was accused of not wearing the Hijab properly. Unfortunately, the injuries she sustained during her short detention at the Tehran Morality Police headquarters, caused her to die three days later while in a coma. The tragic death of this innocent Kurdish girl triggered a wave of unrest and demonstrations in Eastern Kurdistan and across Iran.
In the Islamic Republic’s inhumane system, Kurdish women and girls are at the intersection of both ethnic and gender inequalities and are subjugated and oppressed the most. The country’s backward laws, allowing the state to interfere in an individual’s most private affairs, including clothing, have legalized the crimes committed by the regime’s oppressive forces against women. In response to people’s legitimate demands, the regime sends its repressive forces to the streets to use lethal force, and live rounds.
The Islamic regime in Iran does not tolerate peaceful demonstrations. At the time of writing this letter (September 22, 2022) at least 20 civilians have been killed and hundreds of others are seriously injured by direct gun shots in various cities and towns of Eastern Kurdistan. Detailed information on the number of killed and wounded will be provided in our future letters.
According to preliminary reports from Eastern Kurdistan the Iranian regime has shut down the Internet in many cities and filtered various social media apps to control the online space and to prevent news reaching the world about the protests and the violence used against unarmed citizens.
We call upon the international community, government agencies, NGOs and human rights activists to raise their voices in support of Kurds in Eastern Kurdistan. This oppressive silence in international society vis a vis the plight of Kurds in Iran needs to be broken and the international community should hold the Iranian regime accountable for its crimes against its own citizens. It is imperative for the international community to realize that the path to a responsible regime in Tehran passes through resolving ethnic and gender inequalities.
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
Foreign Relations Office
September 22, 2022
