Dear friends,

Farzad Kamangar is a young teacher and human rights activist who has been arrested and sentenced to death in Iran. Many organizations have so far protested this sentence, among which Education International has called on one and all to do the same in order to save Farzad’s life.

We are on the threshold of International Teacher’s Day, October the 5th. It is a day of paying respect to the teachers across the world who teach our children science and friendship. It is therefore an appropriate opportunity to organize a global protest against the death sentence given to Farzad Kamangar by the regime in Iran.

We request that you declare this International Teacher’s Day an international day of protest against the death sentence for Farzad Kamangar and all others sitting on death row in Iran. Please ask all institutions within your own organization, as well as all human rights organizations, to organize, among others forms of pressuring the Iranian regime, protest actions in front of the embassies of Islamic Republic of Iran, demanding Farzad Kamangar’s sentence to be overturned.

During the past two years we have had international days of solidarity with the workers in Iran, in the form of demonstrations in front of Islamic Republic’s embassies in many countries, and protest letters flooding the offices of the regime’s authorities. It is now absolutely vital that we initiate a global movement against the executions and execution sentences in Iran, in general, and Farzad Kamangar’s sentence, in particular. Let the Islamist regime see for itself that the world public opinion is against such premeditated murders and will come to the rescue of those awaiting their deaths in its dungeons. Let Farzad Kamangar’s mother who has appealed to the people of the world for her son’s life see for herself that many a good heart beats for her son’s freedom, and that they will be linked in action on October the 5th to cry out loud the demand for his death sentence to be overturned.

Long live international solidarity of civilized humanity to save Farzad Kamangar’s life!

Best regards,

Mina Ahadi
Spokesperson – International Committee against Execution
Tel: + 49 -1775692413

Shahla Daneshfar
Coordinator – Committee for Struggle to Free Political Prisoners
Tel: + 44 777 9898968

Aug. 22, 2008