New information about Kurdish journalist's death in northwestern Iran

After getting new information about the death of Ayfer Serçe, Reporters Without Borders today reiterated its appeal to the Iranian authorities to explain how she died. A Kurdish journalist with Turkish citizenship, Serçe was killed after entering northwestern Iran to report on suicides by Kurdish women in the region. “We at first thought Serçe was killed by the Iranian army in Keleres, during an operation against Kurdish rebels,” the press freedom organisation said. “Now we have learned that in fact she was killed as she was heading back towards the border with a colleague after completing her reporting. We would like to be told the full truth about her death.” When asked on 12 August, Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry foreign press director Mohammad Hussein Khoshvaght said he knew nothing about Serçe and that no one of that name had ever filed a visa request. But it was Khoshvaght who previously admitted, in a letter published in the press, that he lied about Zahra Kazemi, the Iranian-Canadian photographer who died in 2003 as a result of blows to the head received while in custody in Tehran. Serçe's family has still not been able to recover her body, which was removed by the Iranian authorities from Salmas hospital after being taken there following her death. The authorities have still not issued an authorisation for the repatriation of her body. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.08.2006 Authorities asked to explain Kurdish journalist's death during an army operation Reporters Without Borders today condemned the death of Ayfer Serçe, a young Kurdish journalist and activist, during an army operation against Kurdish rebels on 24 July in Keleres, in the northwestern province of Azarbayjan, and called on the Iranian authorities to provide an explanation. A Turkish national, Serçe worked for the Firat Haber Ajansi (Euphrates News Agency - FHA) using the pseudonym of Silan Aras. She had gone to Azarbayjan in early July to investigate suicides by women in the region, which has a sizeable Kurdish population. “We call on the authorities to establish the facts of this case,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We do not yet know if her death was linked to her work as a journalist but this possibility should definitely not be ignored.” The FHA has accused the Iranian military of killing Serçe. It also reported that when her relatives went to the hospital in the nearby town of Salmas with the aim of collecting and repatriating her body, they were told the Iranian authorities had taken it away. The family was also stopped and searched when they arrived in the town. Serçe is said to have been a supporter of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an armed separatist group that is outlawed in Turkey. Iran has often been accused by Turkey of offering a haven to the PKK and the Iranian security forces have recently carried out several operations against the group.