Student Council of Defense of Human Rights in Kurdistan: A number of political prisoners entered their seventh (7th) day of hunger strike in Maku Prison. This hunger strike commenced on Sunday January 4th 2009.

This hunger strike is a protest against terrible prison conditions, violation of legal rights or prisoners by prison officials, discrimination against Kurdish political prisoners as well as not being allowed to seek necessary medical treatment and not being allowed temporary leaves from prison, which is a legal right of any prisoner.

Last week two Kurdish prisoners from this prison Mr. Ramezan Ahmad and Mr. Farhad Chalesh were sentenced to death on charges of being a Mohareb (Enemy of God).

Having any kind of communication with the outside world from the prison has been made extremely difficult by the prison officials in order to prevent the news of this hunger strike from spreading.

The names of some of the prisoners currently on hunger strike are:

1. Rostam Arkiya-Son of Rahim-Sentenced to death-Charged with being a Mohareb (Enemy of God)

2. Ramezan Ahmad-Sentenced to death-Mohareb

3. Farhad Chalesh-sentenced to death-Mohareb

4. Saeed Aghvez-3 prison sentences: 15 years, 10 years and 1 year

5. Asad Ahnameh

6. Ibrahim Eghbali

7. Hossein Amigh

8. Nabi Taghlidi

9. Hamid Teymouresh

10. Khalef haji

11. Hossein Cheylan-son of Haji Ali- 3 prison sentences: 10 years, 4 years and 15 years

12. Ardeshir Delayi Miken

13. Ali Rasuli

14. Saeed Raseghi

15. Ibrahim Farmand

16. Saeed Omarpour-so on Ibrahim- four years imprisonment

17. Mohammad Omarpour-Son of Ibrahim-2 prison sentences: 15 years and 4 years

18. Abdollah Omarpour-13 years and 6 years

19. Hossein Moravi Milan

20. Adel Mohammad Nejad

21. Hassan Talei-son of Haji Ali

22. Ibrahim Dadgostar Jeni Kanlu-60 years old

It is worth mentioning that this is the second large scale hunger strike by Kurdish Prisoners this year. Earlier this year close to 80 prisoners from 8 different prisons went on a 47 day long hunger strike to protest against their conditions. Some of the prisoners currently on hunger strike also participated in the previous hunger strike.