Iran: Execution of a Trade Unionist

[The Vegan Marxist]

Iran: Execution of a Trade Unionist
10 May 2010

The ITUC is deeply shocked and has strongly condemned the recent execution of the teacher and trade unionist Farzad Kamangar, together with four other prisoners on Sunday 9 May. According to the information received by the ITUC, Farzad Kamangar was sentenced after a court process that did not meet international or Iranian standards for a fair trial.
The ITUC has also denounced the inhumane treatment of Farzad Kamangar’s family, who were not informed before the execution took place.

The ITUC has already written to the president of Iran on several occasions to strongly condemn attacks by the Iranian authorities on independent trade unions in the country and the intensification of repression against the Iranian people in general and trade unionists in particular and to protest against the latest wave of repression that has targeted trade unionists in this country.

“The ITUC is shocked with what happened to Farzad Kamangar. Imprisoned trade unionists must be freed and all other threats of imprisonment against independent trade unionists for their legitimate activities must be lifted,” said Guy Ryder, ITUC general secretary.

In a letter (http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/10-05-2010_Farzad_Kamangar_-_DRAFT__final_.pdf) to the Iranian authorities the ITUC urges the Iranian president to halt any further escalation of trade union repression and human rights abuses against trade union members. The ITUC will complain to the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association about this gross violation of the principles of the ILO, and it will call on all of its affiliates across the entire world to denounce this inhumane act.

http://www.ituc-csi.org/iran-execution-of-a-trade-unionist.html

[Agnapostate]

I'm not sure why so many alleged leftists are insistent on defending Iranian governmental institutions simply because the U.S. government happens to be opposed. It's an overly simplistic "enemy of my enemy" strategy, though they have their uses in other arenas. There's certainly overt media bias involved, such as claims that he was executed for his political dissidence without any mention of the charges that he participated in blowing up an oil pipeline. It also seems that his trial was not fairly conducted, however.

[Red Commissar]

The trial was not conducted fairly. The main line of action by the prosecutors is that they were all Kurdish and they tied them to the killing of a prosecutor earlier this year, which Iran said was done by PJAK, and number of bombings. The defense however argued that all these people were convicted mainly on circumstantial evidence tying them to dissident groups or Kurdish groups, not concrete evidence to show they were involved in these acts.

To make matters worse I believe the man in question, Farzad, was convicted in a matter of minutes.

[Astinilats]

The ITUC is a merger of two anti-communist trade unions that basically further the aims of Western Imperialism.

[AK]

I'm not sure why so many alleged leftists are insistent on defending Iranian governmental institutions simply because the U.S. government happens to be opposed. It's an overly simplistic "enemy of my enemy" strategy
This.

Seriously, whatever happened to "our common enemy is the Bourgeoisie"? The Iranian ruling class is no better than the American.

[Astinilats]

The ITUC is lead by people who are essentially members of the ruling class of the imperialist West. We should thank the Iranians for doing us a favor in offing some class collaborationist bureaucrat.