Security forces have arrested at least four more civilians in the run-up to and on the second anniversary of the anti-government Women, Life, Freedom uprising in Marivan, Divandarreh, Baneh and Bukan.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Kurdish filmmaker Reza Alaei was arrested without a warrant by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in Baneh, Kurdistan Province, as he was leaving his home on 11 September.

At the same time, security forces also arrested Milad Pirani, a civilian from the village of Qaleh Kohneh in Divandarreh, Kurdistan Province, and Zanyar Afsari, who had been summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence in Marivan, Kurdistan Province.

Both individuals were taken to undisclosed locations.

Additionally, on 15 September, security forces arrested Ahmad Hassanzadeh, the father of Mohammad Hassanzadeh, a protester who was killed during the protests on 16 November 2022.

The father of the slain protester was arrested without a warrant and taken to an undisclosed location, the KHRN has learned.

Ahmadzadeh and his daughter, Solmaz Hassanzadeh, were previously arrested by security forces in a raid on their home on 30 July as the family prepared to celebrate the birthday of his late son Mohammad.

The family’s mother, Dayeh Azimeh, was also beaten during the raid and later admitted to Gholipour Hospital in Bukan.

Hassanzadeh and his daughter were provisionally released on bail from prisons in Bukan and Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, on 31 July and 13 August, respectively.

These arrests are part of a wider crackdown in Kurdistan as the authorities intensify their efforts on the anniversary of the Women, Life, Freedom uprising.

Over the past 10 days, at least 21 Kurdish civilians and activists have been detained by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the cities of Mahabad, Oshnavieh, Piranshahr and Bukan in West Azerbaijan Province, and Marivan, Sarvabad, Divandarreh and Baneh in Kurdistan Province.

Additionally, 14 members of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union have been summoned to the Public and Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province.