K U R D I S T A N in English

The Farewell Letter from a Kurdish Freedom Activist Executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran on January 24, 2002

Karim Toujhali (1968-2002)

The Islamic regime of Iran executed a former Kurdish activist on January 24, 2002. Karim Toujhali was executed at the backyard of the Islamic Intelligence Office in the city of Mahabad in the province of West Azerbaijan, Iran.

Karim Toujhali was born in 1968 in the village of Toujhal located in the suburb of Sardasht in West Azerbaijan, Iran. He established political ties with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in 1982. Karim Toujhali later joined the PISHMERGE forces, Kurdish Freedom Fighters, of the PDKI in 1986. Karim Toujhali resigned from his political life in 1996. Therefore, in search of a quiet life, he headed to Turkey to find refuge in a third country with the help of United Nations in Ankara, a traditional way of finding a new home in Europe, North America or Australia. Karim Toujhali waited for two years to be transferred to a third country by the UN. It did not happen. He was captured by the Turkish police and was handed over to the Islamic regime of Iran in 1998 contrary to all international measures and agreements.

According to the official publication of the PDKI, “Kurdistan”, Karim Toujhali was interrogated violently and tortured for almost 4 years. Karim Toujhali was executed on Thursday morning, January 24, 2002 and the Islamic regime of Iran refrained from handing over his body to his family for 3 days.

Karim Toujhali wrote to one of his friends, another Kurdish activist, to reassure him that the political life must go on with no hesitation. What follows is the exact translation of Karim Toujhali’s final farewell written in Kurdish.

I had been thinking about writing a letter for a while so I could inform you about my conditions. I know that you must have been worried about the position that I would take under interrogation after my capture. Trust me, I had neither any time nor I had been allowed to have any visits until just recent few days. In this fearful situation and under these horrible circumstances I will write these few lines and send it to outside of the prison.

First, I would like to tell you about how I was captured: I was asked by the UNHCR in Turkey to go to Ankara in February 1998. With the intention of resolving any departure problem from Turkey and sending me to a third country, I was taken by the UNHCR to the Turkish Central Security Office in Ankara. The UNHCR official introduced me to the Turkish police, and I was instructed by the UNHCR to leave my address with the police. I was told to be present at the police station upon receiving order from the Turkish police.

One month later, I was summoned to appear before the Turkish police. I took precautionary measures and contacted the UNHCR by telephone to prevent any surprises. They reassured me that my situation had been looked after and I should go to the police station without any worries about my case in Turkey.

I was handcuffed immediately upon my arrival at the police station. When I opened my eyes I was at the Turkey-Iran border. Attempts of pleading and bribing were not effective in making the Turkish police change their mind of deporting me back to Iran. Therefore I was handed over to Iranian intelligence squads who had been awaiting my arrival on the other side of the border.

I was taken to the Security and Intelligence office in the city of Khoy, in the province of West Azerbaijan, Iran. After a few days of interrogation in Khoy, I was then taken to the Central Office of Intelligence for the Province. There, Hagi Ghodret told me that the intelligence office had been looking for me for one year. I was told that they were finally very happy to have me at their hands. Hagi Ghodret also said that only my cooperation with Intelligence Officers would save my life. [Hagi Ghodret, meaning Mr. Power, is a secret nickname for a popular Iranian Regime Interrogator].

Things were going well initially. I knew their initial good behavior was a deceptive tactic to get information and a confession out of me. I did not tell them any thing that they wanted to hear. I did not reveal any information, and this made them increasingly furious as time went on.

The “good times” ended after a few days of intensive but “pleasant” interrogation and came generously the “holy blessings”. I do not want to go into the details of the “Holy blessings”, neither do I want to make any bones about it. I do, however, want to tell you that I was taken to a room in a basement that resembled an operating room. The room was equipped with all kinds of torturing devices and a projector. I was put under the powerful projector, then electric currents were sent to my head many times. I would then be taken out semi-consciousness. The interrogators wanted any information about other PDKI activists. They tried very hard but they did not succeed; I did not tell them anything.

I was then taken to the city of Sardasht. After two months of intense interrogations, torture, beating and physical assault I was then taken to the detention center of the Intelligence Central Office in the city of Mahabad.

With the exception of the Intelligence officers, nobody was aware that I was held in the detention center in Sardasht. The intelligence officers - with their hidden agenda-tried very hard to deviate me from my beliefs. They wanted me to digress my Party and start giving them information about the PDKI Kurdish activists. On the other hand, I had enough political experience to tolerate the torture and to fight for my beliefs to dismay the Intelligence officers; therefore, their search to find any information about the Kurdish activists from me had failed. The interrogators asked me to denounce the Kurdish cause publicly at the following places:

State-run television stations
To speak publicly at a Friday prayer in the city of Sardasht
To speak for the local counselors and elders from the Belfet region in a mosque in the village of Mirabad.

I refused to do them all. Then came their last request. The interrogators asked me to cooperate with their secret service. They asked me to “work” on some friends close to me as an infiltrator so they could provide the secret service with information on the Kurdish activists in the future. I should tell you that with any kind of cooperation, outwardly, they were promising my freedom and significant financial rewards. I was very aware of their tactics and intentions; therefore, I did not give much consideration to what they were saying. Immoral request deserves no attention; don’t you think so?

My position, a constant refusal to cooperate, made them very angry and they vowed to sentence me to death. I was then taken to the detention center in the city of Mahabad, where I appeared in an Islamic revolutionary court with no defense lawyer. The ceremonial court, which lasted a few days, sentenced me to death.

Although I have been sentenced to death, I am proud of the fact that no Kurdish activists have found themselves in the dark prison cells of the Islamic regime because of me. That is why I would like to reassure you that I did not give them any information about any Kurdish activists, which might lead to their capture. I must say that the interrogators tortured me and pressured me severely to give them information about other Kurdish activists.

How could I? Irrespective of my mutual ties to PDKI, It is my ethical and moral responsibility to remain committed to all the Kurdish activists. In order to save other Kurdish activists I am, and always will be, ready to be hung in order to preserve my ethical and moral commitment to my comrades.

Off course, Mirzaie [a secret nickname for a local spy] testified and disclosed some information in the detention center. That is why it is possible that he may have said something to disgrace my name. Although the interrogators had a lot of specific information about my political activities, I did not confess to any and refused them all.

I would like to reassure all of you that I have not revealed any information about any Kurdish activists. To protect its own interest, the Islamic regime, I suspect, may have made a huge propaganda out of all of this. I am asking that you would reassure everyone who might have had some concerns about themselves that I have not reveal any information about anybody.

At the end, I must say that this might be the right time to say farewell, and ask for your forgiveness. I hope that you would forgive me. I, on my part, forgive all of you. Good-bye everyone.

This is the exact translation of the letter that Karim Toujhali wrote 3 years ago.The Kurdish letter was published in “Kurdistan” # 334, the official publication of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan