On the occasion of the eleventh anniversary of their deaths, the Coordination of the Community of Women from Kurdistan (KJK) commemorated the political prisoners Shirin Elemhuli, Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heidarian and Farhad Vakili.

Elemhuli was an activist in the Kurdish women's movement, while Kamangar and his two colleagues worked as teachers. On May 9, 2010, the four Kurds were executed in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison. They were all in prison for "endangering national security" and "enmity to God" in connection with the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) and had been sentenced to death after unfair trials that lasted only a few minutes. In custody, they were subjected to massive physical and psychological torture; none of the executions had been announced beforehand. Iranian Mehdi Eslamian was also hanged along with them.

"At a time when the oppressive policies of the fascist Iranian regime were at their most intense, when the will of women was wanted to be completely broken and femicides were experiencing a massive rise in accordance with Sharia law, our companion Shirin Elemhuli embodied a rebellion against this order. Her rebellion indicated the path to freedom, where she met with the philosophy of Rêber Apo (Abdullah Öcalan). Shirin, the daughter of Maku, braided the resistance culture of the Serhed Mountains with her soul and spirit. She unfolded a rebellious personality that made the enemy tremble to the bone. And she realized that going to the free mountains was the most effective among the struggles against the system," the KJK said.

Shirin Elemhuli was 26 years old when she was arrested in the Iranian capital Tehran in spring 2008 and taken to the headquarters of the "Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps" (IRGC). Of the 25 days she was held there, she spent 22 days on hunger strike. The torture she experienced there continued in Evin Prison. In a 2010 letter, Elemhuli wrote, "When I was brought to the prison, they immediately started beating me without asking me any questions or waiting for any answers. All my torturers were men. I was tied on a bed. They beat me with electric batons and cables. They punched and kicked me. If I could not answer their questions, they continued to beat me until I became unconscious. Then they doused me with cold water. Once, during interrogation, they kicked me so hard in the abdomen that I suffered severe internal bleeding."

Defining Shirin Elemhuli as the "butterfly of freedom", KJK said, “She is the"eternally shining sun of the Rojhilat Revolution who represented the Apoist woman. The revolution of Rojhilat will be a women's revolution. In this moment of life, when the Iranian regime is expanding more than ever the repression against Kurds and women, we as KJK emphasize again the need to strengthen the common women's struggle against fascist mentalities.”

The statement added, “As a women's liberation movement, it is our duty to extend the resistance of Shirin Elemhuli and friends Farzad Kamangar, Ali Heidarian and Farhad Vakili. We say the time has come to fight the battle with the spirit of Shirin. We bow to her and our companions with respect and accept the duty to keep alive the memory of her and all other May martyrs. We call on the Kurdish people to do the same and extend the struggle against the fascists."