Ramin was the member of an opposition party that held different political beliefs, but in Iran, being different is a crime! Discrimination and racism is at the heart of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This new blog will appear in my upcoming book, "Dear God: Please bring freedom to Iran."
Ramin Hossein Panahi lived a very short time on
this earth. He died by hanging at the age of 24. Life didn’t give him the
opportunity to make his dreams and wishes come true. Ramin had many dreams. He
had hope for his nation, his family, and worked tirelessly for the freedom of
his people. His friends remember him as a humble person of great character. He
had a sense of humor and remained clam in adversity. He rarely got angry or mad
at his friends. He honored women, children, and stood up against the injustices
against the Kurdish people, because he was one of them!
Ramin
didn’t have the privilege of knowing his elder brother Anwer for a very long
time. Anwer meet his fate after being arrested by the Iranian regime and then
sentenced to death. At the time of his brother’s execution, he was studying
hard in high school. Unfortunately, his hard work didn’t pay off. Ramin wasn’t
able to enroll in college because of his family’s involvement in politics and
also because his brothers we Peshmerga. Peshmerga literally means, “those who face death.” Ramin’s brothers
were members of the military forces of the federal region of Iraqi Kurdistan,
and opposed by the Iranian regime.
At the
tender age of just 16, Ramin was arrested by the Iranian government and held in
solitary confinement by the intelligence service for 45 days. Although beaten
and tortured while in prison, Ramin learned at an early age how to survive and
resist the cruelty of the regime. With both of his brothers suffering together
in prison, the responsibility for managing the home fell on the shoulders of
Ramin at such a young age. Both of his parents and his other two sisters were
very ill, so Ramin had to grow up very quickly. While being the head of the
house, Ramin continued his counter-political activities against the Islamic
Republic. He spoke out against the death penalty and because of his human
rights activities he was arrested jailed, and tortured many times by the IRGC
(Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp.)
Following
in the footsteps of his brothers, Ramin crossed the border, coming into
Southern Kurdistan and became a Komala
Peshmerga, an armed communist ethnic party, exiled in Northern Iraq. This
group had been heavily involved in guerilla warfare against the Iranian
government. By joining this party Ramin had once and for all sealed his fate in
his struggle for freedom against the Islamic Republic.
In
June 2016, The IRGC opened fire on Ramin and his three friends as they were
riding in his car. Ramin was seriously wounded in the thigh, his left arm and
in the back. All three of his friends were killed. In a mockery and miscarriage
of justice, Ramin was sentenced to death in a “kangaroo”14-minute trial for
simply belonging to an opposition party. He was falsely charged with being
armed with both a rifle and a grenade.
During the investigation period, Ramin was denied access to his lawyer
and his family, as well as any details of the evidence against him.
Intelligence officials repeatedly pressured him to make a televised confession
on Iranian TV, apologizing for his beliefs, and speaking out against the
Kurdish people and his family. Ramin vehemently refused and instead began a
deadly hunger strike protesting the charges against him. Amnesty International
took up his case and began a powerful campaign protesting against his
execution. Thousands of Iranians took to Twitter in a tweet storm calling for
the government to stop his unjust execution. The Twitter storm proved to be a
powerful tool that was successful in postponing the execution, but unfortunately
on September 8, 2018, after months of brutal torture, Ramin was finally hanged
in Raja’I Shahr prison, in Karaj, Iran.
The
Iranian government had once again succeeded in silencing another human being,
simply because his political and religious beliefs were different from theirs!
In Iran, if you are a Christian, or a member of the Bahai’ Faith, or a member
of the Komala Party, then according to the regime, you are an enemy of God, or one who is acting against national
security.
The discrimination
and racism is so deep and so embedded in the twisted hearts and minds of the
Iranian regime. They cannot and will not accept a person who believes
differently or contrary to the official Islamic religion. There is no freedom
or tolerance in their perverted minds.
