A/HRC/25/61 Mr. “Hassan” Association of Kurds living in France A UN delegation went to Iran in 2003, and prior to that visit there had been calls for the release of an activist (Sasson Arekan-An), but he was executed the day the delegation arrived. The Government “plays with Kurdish political prisoners in Iran” like this. Mr. Shirko Mo’aerfi was told he was going to be executed 10 times. He was transferred a number of times and underwent a mock execution before being executed in the autumn of 2013. Iraqi Kurdistan’s President Jalal Talabani intervened and his execution was suspended, but then reinstated and carried out. “Authorities are still playing with Messrs. Zanyar and Loghman Moradi, for example.” There was a Revolutionary Guard Colonel named Mr. Hiva Tab who was himself executed this year. This man had been known to have killed numerous Kurds, but there was no trial or official complaint being pursued against him so his execution is shrouded in mystery; they feel he may have actually been executed as the result of a private or tribal dispute. There are 28 political prisoners on death row in Kurdistan at the moment. “Siamak Namatabi” Artist / 2009 green movement activist Mr. “Namatabi” from Tehran, was arrested during the February (Ashura) 2010 election protests after being beaten badly. He did not go straight to prison; instead he was taken to a hospital. He remained there for seven days, and had his broken nose set. He was taken to Section 204 (with mostly Kurds who had been arrested for Students’ Day), whereas most other Ashura protestors had been taken to Section 7. After just a few hours he was moved to Section 204. The cell to which he was moved to, was meant to be a solitary cell, but he was squeezed in with five people (with one toilet and sink) and too few sleeping areas. He was interrogated three times; the first time was only seven days into his sentence so he had been getting nervous. The first time he was interrogated was from 9am to 3pm. The person asked him very general questions, and did not seem to know who he was. The interrogator was kind, according to Mr. “Namatabi”. The second time the interrogator wanted him to admit that he was involved in the protests, but they had no photos of him. It became clear they had no evidence, so he maintained that he was not involved. The third time they brought in a photo of someone else that they said was him, but it was a fake photo, so he disputed it. When they read his charges to him in court (72 days into prison), he denied being involved in the protests. He said he was just walking by and was a simple worker. He did not have a lawyer at that time, because authorities and even lawyers of some of his friends recommended that he not get a lawyer: “Having a lawyer will just make things more difficult for you.” Unfortunately, according to Mr. “Namatabi”, this was “unfortunately true” for others. He feels that he was convicted and sentenced because there was a sense that he had been in prison for 72 days and so should be punished or have something hanging over his head, in 97