Kurdistan Human Rights Network

This annual report covers the human rights situation of Kurds in Iran from 21 March 2022 to 21 March 2023. As in previous years, the violation of the rights of Kurdish people on the basis of their language, religion, culture, gender, sexual orientation, class, political choices, etc. continued due to the discriminatory laws of the Islamic Republic and the repressive and violent actions of the security, military, judicial and executive institutions of the government.

In this report, statistics have been collected on people killed during recent anti-government protests, people arrested, killings and wounding of kolbars, killings of civilians, executions, killings and assassinations of opposition forces, femicide cases, civilian deaths caused by landmine explosions, and deaths and injuries at work.

Despite the efforts of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) to inform and document numerous cases of human rights violations in Kurdistan, it is necessary to emphasise that the statistics and information provided in this report only include those that have been previously confirmed and published by KHRN, and in cases where news and information from other sources have been used, KHRN has taken the necessary measures to independently verify them. However, we believe that this report does not include all cases of violations of the rights of Kurdish civilians in Iran, and there are certainly many other cases that have not been reported for various reasons, including pressure from the security institutions on individuals and families to prevent them from speaking to the media and organisations.

During this period, we also witnessed massive and unprecedented anti-government protests in many cities in Iran, which are still ongoing. This uprising, known as the Revolution of Jina or Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (meaning Woman, Life, Freedom in Kurdish) or Zan, Zendegi Azadi (meaning Woman, Life, Freedom in Persian), began after the killing of the Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini by the government, which was followed by people gathering in front of Kasra Hospital in Tehran on 16 September 2022, and with a large presence of people at Ms Amini’s funeral in her hometown of Saqqez, Kurdistan province.

Jina Mahsa Amini was arrested by the Morality Police on 13 September 2022 in one of Tehran’s streets for wearing her hijab “inappropriately”. Less than two hours after being taken to the Morality Police building on Vozara Street in Tehran, she was taken to Kasra Hospital in an unconscious state due to the severity of the blows to her head inflicted by the officers. According to published reports, Amini was brain dead when she was taken to hospital. She died three days later, on 16 September, at Kasra Hospital in Tehran.

Although the Islamic Republic, as usual, announced Amini’s cause of death as a heart attack caused by an underlying illness, her family rejected this claim, insisting that their child was perfectly healthy before her arrest. Several eyewitnesses, who were among the detainees in the same van that took Amini to a detention centre, later confirmed that police officers used violence and severely beat the young woman, fracturing her skull. According to Amini’s lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, no judicial action has been taken in this case and the investigation has been conducted without the presence of her family and lawyer.

The killing of Jina Mahsa Amini by the government led to a massive wave of anti-government protests in Iran, of which the different cities of Kurdistan were and are among the main centres. During these unprecedented protests, thousands of people were arrested and hundreds of people were killed by the military-security forces of the Islamic Republic. Thousands of people were also injured as a result of shooting and beating by the military-security forces, some of them with irreparable injuries, including blindness.

Many of the detainees remain in detention centres and prisons with arrest warrants or prison sentences. Meanwhile, at least eight Kurdish civilians detained in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, Sanandaj and Orumiyeh have been charged with “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz), offences for which the death penalty is a possible verdict under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In its latest report, published on 6 March, Iran Human Rights announced that the number of people killed during the anti-government protests was at least 573. According to the report, most of the victims were from Baluchistan, Kurdistan and Tehran.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) recorded the names and details of 123 Kurdish civilians who died during these protests, including 11 children. According to these statistics, 112 people were killed by direct firing of shotguns and bullets or by batons and knives by the military-security forces during street protests or after being taken to hospital. Eight people died after being detained by the military-security forces as a result of torture in detention centres or shortly after their release. The deaths of two people were suspected to have been carried out by government forces. And one of the demonstrators was executed for “spreading corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz).

Sanandaj, Bukan and Mahabad recorded the highest number of deaths. The details of the number of civilians killed in different cities of Kurdistan are as follows: 49 people were killed in West Azerbaijan province (17 in Bukan, 13 in Mahabad, eight in Piranshahr, five in Orumiyeh, three in Oshnavieh, one in Sardasht), 39 people were killed in Kurdistan province (20 in Sanandaj, five in Saqqez, four in Divandareh, three in Baneh, three in Kamyaran, three in Dehgolan, one in Marivan), 21 people were killed in Kermanshah province (eight in Kermanshah, eight in Javanrud, three in Eslamabad-e-Gharb, one in Qasr-e Shirin, one in Salas-e Babajani), six people were killed in Tehran province (four in Tehran, one in Varamin, one in Shahriar), five people were killed in the city of Karaj in Alborz province, one person was killed in the city of Ilam in Ilam province, one person was killed in Quchan in Razavi Khorasan province, one person was killed in the city of Qazvin in Qazvin province, and one person was killed in Arak in Markazi province.

Civilians killed in street protests

1. Fereydoun Mahmoudi was a 33-year-old from Saqqez, Kurdistan province and the father of two children. He was shot and killed by security forces on 19 September 2022 during anti-government protests in the city.
2. Reza Lotfi was a 20-year-old from Dehgolan, Kurdistan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 19 September during anti-government protests in the city.
3. Mohsen Mohammadi was a 32-year-old from Divandarreh, Kurdistan province. He was wounded by security forces on 19 September during anti-government protests. He died the next day due to the severity of his injuries in Kowsar Hospital in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province.
4. Foad Ghadimi was a 39-year-old from Divandarreh, Kurdistan province and the father of two children. He was injured on 19 September during anti-government protests and died after being hospitalized for two days at Kowsar Hospital in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province.
5. Samad Barginia was a 52-year-old from Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot by security forces during anti-government protests on 20 September. He died on 28 September due to the severity of his injuries at Khomeini Hospital in Orumiyeh.
6. Zakariya Khiyal was a 16-year-old child from Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on the streets of Piranshahr on 20 September.
7. Farjad Darvishi was a 23-year-old from the Balu village in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot and killed by security forces during anti-government protests in the Valiasr neighbourhood of Orumiyeh on 20 September.
8. Reza Shahparnia was a 23-year-old from Kermanshah, Kermanshah province. He was shot at by security forces in Kermanshah on 20 September. He was hit by dozens of shotgun pellets, including one to the heart. Two days later, his body was handed over to his family and he was buried in Kermanshah.
9. Minou Majidi was a 63-year-old mother of three children and was shot dead by security forces on Kermanshah’s Nobahar Street on 20 September. The Kurdish civilian was originally from Qasr-e Shirin and had moved to Kermanshah because of the Iran-Iraq War. She was banned from teaching after the 1979 revolution, and for a time in her life, she volunteered as a table tennis coach for the deaf.
10. Abdolsalam Ghader Galvani was a 32-year-old male from Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot by security forces during anti-government protests on 21 September. He died on 26 September due to the severity of his injuries at Khomeini Hospital in Orumiyeh.
11. Rouzbeh Khademian was a 32-year-old from Sonqor, Kermanshah province and a resident of Karaj. He was killed by security forces on 21 September during anti-government protests held in Karaj, Alborz province.
12. Alireza Fathi was a 22 year old from Sonqor in Kermanshah province. He was killed by security forces on 21 September in Alvand industrial town in Qazvin, Qazvin province.
13. Mohammad Zarei was from Sonqor, Kermanshah province and was a resident of Qarchak-e Varamin. He was shot dead by armed forces on 21 September during protests held in the Bagherabad neighbourhood of Qarchak-e Varamin.
14. Amir Hossein Basati was a 16-year-old male from Kermanshah, Kermanshah province. He was shot from a distance of a few meters and killed by security forces in Kermanshah on 21 September.
15. Iman Mohammadi was a 22-year-old from Eslamabad-e Gharb, Kermanshah province. He was killed by the security forces near the governorate building of Eslamabad-e Gharb on 21 September.
16. Saeid Mohammadi was a 25-year-old from Eslamabad-e Gharb, Kermanshah province. He was killed by the armed forces near the governorate building of Eslamabad-e Gharb on 21 September.
17. Amir Ali Fouladi (Anushirvan) was from Eslamabad-e Gharb, Kermanshah province. He was killed by the security forces near the governorate building of Eslamabad-e Gharb on 21 September.
18. Mohsen Gheysari was a 25-year-old from Ilam, Ilam province. He was killed by security forces on Ilam’s Taleghani Street on 21 September.
19. Sadraddin Litani was a 27-year-old from Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 21 September during anti-government protests.
20. Milan Haghigi was a 21-year-old from Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 21 September during anti-government protests.
21. Amin Marefat was a 16-year-old child from Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 21 September during anti-government protests.
22. Abdollah Mahmudpour was a 16-year-old child from the Balu village of Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 21 September during anti-government protests held in his village.
23. Danesh Rahnema was a 25-year-old male from the Balu village of Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 21 September during anti-government protests held in his village.
24. Nima (Aslan) Shafagh-Doust was a 17-year-old from Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province. He was injured after being shot twice in his legs on 21 September during the anti-government protests in the Eslamabad neighbourhood of the city. His family initially took him to the hospital, but due to a siege of the hospital by security forces and the risk of their son being arrested, they refused to enter the hospital and treated him in a private doctor’s office and at home. After being treated at home for 12 days, the young man was taken to Khomeini Hospital in Orumiyeh on 4 October due to his deteriorating physical condition. A few hours later, he passed away because of a severe infection. Following the publication of the news of the child’s death in the media, Col. Hassan Sheikhi, Orumiyeh’s police chief, issued a statement saying: “The death of the youth from Orumiyeh has nothing to do with the street riots. He was admitted to the hospital due to a dog attack and passed away at his home.”
25. Erfan Khazaei was from Kermanshah and a resident of Shahryar, Tehran province. He was killed by security forces during anti-government protests in Shahryar on 21 September.
26. Ali Mozaffari was a 17-year-old child from Quchan, Razavi Khorasan province. He was shot by anti-riot forces at close range during anti-government protests in the city on 22 September. While he was injured, he was severely beaten by security forces. He was taken to hospital by his friends but died after a few hours due to loss of blood.
27. Mokhtar Ahmadi was from Marivan, Kurdistan province. He was killed by security forces on 1 October during anti-government protests in the city.
28. Yahya Rahimi was a 31-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot with a shotgun by security forces on 8 October for honking his car horn while he was driving on Taj Street.
29. Mohammad Amini was a 33-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot by security forces from a close range during anti-government protests in the city on the night of 8 October.
30. Dariush Alizadeh was from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot by security forces during anti-government protests on Sirous Street on 8 October.
31. Peyman Menbari was a 25-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 8 October during anti-government protests in the city.
32. Arian Moridi was a 19-year-old from Salase Babajani, Kermanshah province. He was wounded by security forces on 9 October during anti-government protests in the city. He died the next day due to the severity of his injuries in a medical centre in Kermanshah.
33. Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini was from Saqqez, Kurdistan province. He was run over by a vehicle of the security forces on 12 October during anti-government protests in the Mehr-e Kouhdasht neighbourhood of Saqqez after he objected to security forces destroying civilian vehicles. Eyewitnesses said the vehicle ran over his body a second time to ensure he was dead. Due to pressure from the security agencies, his family stated that he died in an accident.
34. Ramin Karami was a 31-year-old from Sarpol-e Zahab and a resident of Kermanshah, Kermanshah province. He was shot by the security forces on 12 October during anti-government protests in the city. His family was informed of his death eight days later.
35. Kamal Feqhi was a 46-year-old from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot by security forces while on the roof of his house during anti-government protests in the city on 12 October. He passed away in hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
36. Aziz Moradi was from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot and killed by the security forces during anti-government protests in the city’s Naysar neighbourhood on 12 October.
37. Armin Sayadi was an 18-year-old from Dalahu and a resident of Kermanshah, Kermanshah province. He was shot by IRGC forces while he was driving in a private car on 12 October during anti-government protests in the Darreh Drezh neighbourhood (Mahdiyeh). Two other passengers in the car were also shot, severely injured, and taken to hospital.
38. Sina Naderi was a 23-year-old from Kermanshah, Kermanshah province. He was killed on 12 October during anti-government protests in the Darreh Drezh neighbourhood of Kermanshah. He was hit by two bullets fired by IRGC agents.
39. Fayegh Mam-Ghaderi, 37, was wounded by IRGC officers on 15 October and died of his wounds on 9 November at Khomeini Hospital in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province. On 15 October, IRGC forces raided Mam-Ghaderi’s family home in Mahabad to arrest his brother for taking part in anti-government protests. IRGC forces opened fire on his car as he was driving home after hearing that IRGC forces were about to arrest his brother.
40. Alireza Hosseini was from Kermanshah, Kermanshah province and a resident of Tehran. He was killed on the evening of 19 October in a raid by security forces on his home. The house where he lived was the residence of a number of migrant workers. Security forces suspected the migrant workers had participated in anti-government protests and raided the house in order to make arrests.
41. Mohammad Lotfollahi was a 26-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was injured and arrested by the security forces during anti-government protests on 26 October. While he was severely injured, IRGC forces took him to an undisclosed location in a van. On the morning of 27 October, he was buried with the participation of some of his family members under the supervision of security forces.
42. Sarina Saedi was a 16-year-old child from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. She was severely beaten by security forces wielding batons during anti-government protests in the city’s Naysar neighbourhood on 26 October. She was taken to Towhid Hospital in Sanandaj the next morning but died a few hours later due to the severity of her injuries. Her body was buried in Behesht-e Mohammadi cemetery in Sanandaj in the presence of only a few members of her family at 2:00 am local time on 28 October. During a forced media appearance under pressure and threats from security forces, her father stated that the cause of his daughter’s death was a drug overdose. Days later, however, her mother and other family members denied the father’s statement.
43. Afshin Asham was a 28-year-old from Sorkhak-e Sanjabi village, Kermanshah province. He was killed by security forces on 26 October during anti-government protests in the city of Qasr-e Shirin.
44. Keyvan Darvishi, 42, was shot dead by military-security forces in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, on 26 October 2022. According to an informed source close to his family, Darvishi’s cause of death was listed in the medical certificate as “heart attack”.
45. Esmaeil (Simko) Mowloudi was a 35-year-old from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in Mahabad on the 40th-day ceremony for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini.
46. Fereydoun Faraji was a 28-year-old from Saqqez, Kurdistan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in Saqqez on the 40th-day ceremony for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini.
47. Masoud Ahmadzadeh was a resident of Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot by security forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in the city and died of his injuries a day later.
48. Fereshteh Ahmadi was a 32-year-old from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province, and a mother of two children. She was on the roof of her house when she was shot and killed by security forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in the city.
49. Mohammad Shariati was from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in Sanandaj on the 40th-day ceremony for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini.
50. Shaho Khezri was a resident of Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in Mahabad on the 40th-day ceremony for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini.
51. Hamid Goli was a 46-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was killed by security forces during anti-government protests in Tehran on 27 October.
52. Kobra Sheikheh Sagha was a 52-year-old from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province. She was shot and killed by security forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in Mahabad on the 40th-day ceremony for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini.
53. Zanyar Aboubakri was from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in Mahabad on the 40th-day ceremony of the death for Jina Mahsa Amini.
54. Motalleb Saeid Peyro was a 40-year-old from Baneh, Kurdistan province. He was shot and killed by IRGC forces on 27 October during anti-government protests in Baneh on the 40th-day ceremony for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini.
55. Dastan Rasoul was a 31-year-old from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. On 28 October, he was shot dead by IRGC forces on the border when he and a group of relatives of Motalleb Saeid Peyro were going from Iraqi Kurdistan to the Choman village in Baneh to attend Peyro’s funeral. Two other civilians from Iraqi Kurdistan were also injured in the shooting.
56. Komar Daroftadeh was a 16-year-old child from Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot dead by security forces on 29 October during anti-government protests in Piranshahr.
57. Momen Zand-Karimi was an 18-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was killed by security forces on 2 November during anti-government protests held at the Golshan intersection of the city. He was shot at close range and from behind with a shotgun. Security agents forced his family to bury their son’s body at night in the village of Muchesh.
58. Sepehr Aazami was a 24-year-old who was shot by the security forces on 3 November. He died due to the severity of his injuries in Karaj, Alborz province on 6 December.
59. Alireza Karimi was a 20-year-old from Eslamabad-e Gharb, Kermanshah province and a microbiology student at the Islamic Azad University of Arak. He was injured by several baton blows by security forces during the anti-government protests in Arak on 9 November and died a few hours later. His body was buried on 11 November in the presence of security forces in the cemetery of Eslamabad-e Gharb.
60. Ardalan Ghassemi was a 48-year-old from Gilan-e Gharb, Kermanshah province. He was shot by security forces while writing slogans on Tagh-e Bostan Boulevard in Kermanshah on 10 November. Officers took him to Taleghani Hospital in Kermanshah, but they did not allow him to be operated on immediately. He was bleeding heavily and passed away a few hours later. The security agencies received 16 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 500 USD – from the family in exchange for Ghassemi’s body. The family was also forced to sign a document stating that Ghassemi was shot by police officers while stealing a car.
61. Foad Mohammadi was a 38-year-old from Kamyaran, Kurdistan province and the father of two children. He was shot by IRGC forces on 15 November during anti-government protests in Kamyaran and died after being taken to Sina Hospital.
62. Zanyar Allahmoradi was a 26-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot at close range by security forces on 15 November during anti-government protests in the Kani Kuzaleh neighbourhood of Sanandaj and died from internal bleeding due to his severe injuries an hour after being taken to Tohid Hospital.
63. Isa Beiglari was a 39-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was killed by direct fire from security forces on 15 November during anti-government protests around Sanandaj’s Kurdistan University.
64. Saman Ghaderbeigi was from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot by security forces during anti-government protests in Bukan on 15 November. He died due to the severity of his injuries a day after being sent to a medical centre in Orumiyeh.
65. Farhad Khosravi was a 38-year-old from Kermanshah, Kermanshah province. He was shot and killed by IRGC forces while in a car on a street in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province on 16 November.
66. Salar Mojaver was a 30-year-old male from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed on 16 November when security forces opened fire during anti-government protests in the Mirabad neighbourhood of Bukan.
67. Mohammad Hasanzadeh was a 28-year-old from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was stabbed to death by Basij forces of the IRGC during anti-government protests in Bukan on 16 November.
68. Asaad Rahimi was a 30-year-old from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 16 November during anti-government protests in Bukan.
69. Danyal Pabandi was a 17-year-old child from Saqqez, Kurdistan province. He was killed by security forces on 16 November during anti-government protests in Karimabad neighbourhood of Saqqez.
70. Borhan Karami was a 32-year-old from Kamyaran, Kurdistan province. He was killed by security forces on 16 November during a public gathering in front of Foad Mohammadi’s family home in Kamyaran. Mohammadi was killed by security forces on 15 November.
71. Ebrahim Sharifi was a 29-year-old from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was injured by security forces during anti-government protests on 16 November. He died due to the severity of his injuries in Seyyed al-Shohda Hospital in Orumiyeh on 29 November.
72. Mehran Rahmani was a 22-year-old from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. He was wounded by security forces on 17 November during antigovernment protests in Mahabad. He died on 18 November after being transferred to Orumiyeh Hospital due to the severity of his injuries
73. Aram Habibi was from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 17 November, after celebrating the 40th-day ceremony for the deaths of four people in Sanandaj.
74. Shaho Bahmani was a 34-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was shot and killed by security forces on 17 November, after celebrating the 40th-day ceremony for the deaths of four people in Sanandaj.
75. Abdolrahman Bakhtiari was a 66-year-old retired teacher from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. On 17 November during anti-government protests in Saadi Mahabad Street, security forces opened fire on his car and killed him with a shot to the head.
76. Azad Hosseinpouri was a 30-year-old student killed by the Basij forces of the IRGC during anti-government protests in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province, on 17 November
77. Mostafa Shabani was a 44-year-old with a mental disability from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot by security forces at close range while sitting in front of the door of his home during anti-government protests in Bukan on 17 November and died in hospital.
78. Ghafour Mowloudi was from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 17 November during anti-government protests in Bukan.
79. Hazhar Mam-Khosravi was from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 17 November during anti-government protests in Bukan.
80. Hiva Jan Jan was from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 17 November during anti-government protests in Bukan.
81. Amjad Enayati was from Bukan. West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 17 November during anti-government protests in Bukan.
82. Aso Ghaderi was a 22-year-old from Sardasht, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 17 November during anti-government protests in Baneh. He had gone to Baneh to visit his grandmother and was shot by security forces while in his car.
83. Milad Maroufi a 23-year-old athlete, was injured by security forces during anti-government protests in Bukan, West Azerbaijan province, on 17 November. He lost his life on 18 November in hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
84. Arian Khoshgovar was a 17-year-old student who was severely injured by special forces with batons and knives in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, on 17 November 2022. He died in Kowsar Hospital on 15 March 2023 after four months in the hospital.
85. Shorash Niknam was a 35-year-old who was injured during anti-government protests in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province, on 17 November. He died due to the severity of his injuries at Seyyed alShohada Hospital in Orumiyeh.
86. Shahriar Mohammadi was from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was shot and wounded by security forces during anti-government protests in Bukan on 18 November and died in hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
87. Kamal Ahmadpour was from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 18 November during anti-government protests in Mahabad.
88. Mohammad Ahmadi Gagesh was a 43-year-old from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by IRGC forces on 18 November during antigovernment protests in Mahabad.
89. Amir Farasati Shad was killed by security forces during anti-government protests in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province on 18 November.
90. Awat Ghaderpour was a 20-year-old who was wounded by IRGC forces on 18 November at the Nachit checkpoint near Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He died on 30 November due to the severity of his injuries in Seyed Al-Shohda Hospital in Orumiyeh.
91. Saadi Shahrokhifar was a 40-year-old father of two and a resident of Bukan, West Azerbaijan province who left his home to go shopping on 19 November. He died on Ali Abad Street in Bukan after being shot in the chest and stabbed several times by IRGC forces. For four days, his family searched for him at security institutions, the court, and the Department of Forensic Medicine until they received his body from the Gholipour Hospital morgue. The medical examiner declared Shahrokhifar’s cause of death was ‘internal bleeding due to being hit by a sharp object’. His burial ceremony was held under strict security measures and security forces threatened his family not to speak to the media about how he died.
92. Erfan Kakaei, a teacher from Javanrud, Kermanshah province, was shot dead by IRGC forces on 20 November during anti-government protests in Javanrud.
93. Bahaeddin Veysi was a 16-year-old child from Javanrud, Kermanshah province. He was killed by IRGC forces on 20 November during antigovernment protests in Javanrud.
94. Mohsen Niyazi was a 25-year-old athlete from Dehgolan, Kurdistan province. He was killed by security forces on 20 November during anti-government protests in Dehgolan.
95. Taher Azizi was from Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province. He was killed by security forces on 20 November during anti-government protests in Piranshahr.
96. Jalal Ghorbani was killed by IRGC forces during anti-government protests in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province on 20 November.
97. Soleiman Shokri was severely injured in the head by the shooting of security forces on 17 November, during anti-government protests in Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He died three days later on 20 November in a hospital in Orumiyeh.
98. Karvan Ghader Shokri was a 16-year-old from Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province. He was injured during anti-government protests in Piranshahr on 19 November and died in hospital a day later.
99. Hossein Abd-Panah an elderly resident of Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, was killed by security forces on 19 November during an attack on the Baharan neighbourhood of Sanandaj.
100. Habibollah Fathi was from Divandarreh, Kurdistan province. He was killed by security forces during anti-government protests in Divandarreh on 19 November 2022.
101. Foad Savari was shot dead by military-security forces during the anti-government protests in Divandarreh on 19 November 2022.
102. Shamal Khediri was a 32-year-old who was shot by the IRGC forces during antigovernment protests in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province, on 20 November. He died due to the severity of his injuries after being hospitalized for several days in Khomeini Hospital in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province.
103. Kourosh Pazhakh was a 27-year-old who was killed by security forces during anti-government protests in the Elahieh neighbourhood of Kermanshah, Kermanshah province on 21 November.
104. Esmail Gol-Anbar was from Javanrud, Kermanshah province. He was killed by IRGC forces on 21 November during anti-government protests in Javanrud.
105. Jawhar Fattahi was from Javanrud, Kermanshah province. He was killed by IRGC forces on 21 November during anti-government protests in Javanrud.
106. Jamal Aazami was a 34-year-old worker from Javanrud, Kermanshah province. He was killed by IRGC forces on 21 November during anti-government protests in Javanrud.
107. Tahsin Miri was a 45-year-old killed by IRGC forces during anti-government protests in Javanrud, Kermanshah province on 21 November.
108. Masoud Teymouri was killed by IRGC forces during anti-government protests in Javanrud, Kermanshah province on 21 November.
109. Reza Kazemi was a 16-year-old child who was wounded by IRGC forces on 22 November on a road in the district of Muchesh, Kamyaran, Kurdistan province. He died of his injuries in Kowsar Hospital in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province on 26 December.
110. Ehsan Ghasemifar was a 32-year-old athlete from Kangavar, Kermanshah province and a resident of the Sar Asiyab neighbourhood of Karaj, Alborz province. He was shot by security forces at close range and killed while out shopping on 30 November. Ghasemifar’s body was handed over to his family on 3 December. The next day, his funeral ceremony was held in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Kangavar.
111. Houman Abdollahi was a 21-year-old who was injured and tortured on 7 December during anti-government protests in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was taken to Sanadaj’s Kowsar Hospital where he passed away hours later due to the severity of his injuries.
112. Burhan Elyassi was a 22-year-old from Javanrud, Kermanshah province. He was shot and killed by IRGC forces in Javanrud during anti-government protests to mark 40 days after the deaths of seven others who were killed by security forces in the city.

Protesters tortured and killed in detention centres

1. Esmaeil Dezvar was from Saqqez, Kurdistan province. He was arrested on 28 September during anti-government protests in the city and his body was taken to the city hospital on 10 October. The family of the Kurdish civilian, under pressure from the security agencies, stated the cause of their son’s death was a “traffic accident”.
2. Ramin Fatehi was a 49-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was arrested by security forces along with his brother Wrya Fatehi on 12 October. Rad Fatehi, his sister, was also arrested a day later. On 21 October, the office of the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj summoned his family and informed them that he had committed suicide in detention. The family and brother of Ramin Fatehi denied the intelligence ministry’s allegations and said he was killed under torture. On the evening of 21 October, the body of the Kurdish civilian was secretly buried in the Behesht-e Mohammadi cemetery in Sanandaj. Only one of his relatives was present to identify his body.
3. Saman Rahmani was a 26-year-old from Takab, West Azerbaijan province and a resident of Tehran. He was identified by security agents while writing slogans on one of Tehran’s streets on 12 November. He was severely beaten and killed by baton blows to his head while being arrested. In order to retrieve his body, Rahmani’s family was forced to sign a written commitment not to speak to the media about the death of their son. His body was buried in Takab without a public ceremony and under strict security measures.
4. Omid Hassani was a 20-year-old from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province. He was detained by police on 17 November between Mohammadi Square and Sanandaj passenger terminal while returning from a 40th-day ceremony for protest victims. He was taken to the detention centre in Davazdah-e-Farvardin Square. That same night, police officers took him unconscious to Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj. He died the next day due to cerebral and internal bleeding caused by beating with a baton.
5. Hemin Aman was a 26-year-old resident of the Majbourabad neighbourhood of Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was injured on 17 November during antigovernment protests in the city. He was arrested by security forces the next day while he was being treated at home. He was taken to the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Bukan and then transferred to the detention centre of the ministry in Orumiyeh. Aman was severely tortured by security agents to make a forced confession and died in detention as a result. On 17 December, the Ministry of Intelligence in Bukan called his father to retrieve his son’s body in Orumiyeh. Aman’s burial ceremony was held under strict security measures and security agents threatened his family, saying they had no right to speak to the media regarding the death of their son.
6. Shadman Ahmadi was a 23-year-old who lost his life on 8 December under torture in the police detention centre in Dehgolan, Kurdistan province. He died the same day he was arrested, accused of participating in anti-government protests in Dehgolan.
7. Shahriar Adeli was a 27-year-old who died in hospital on 8 December due to the torture he was subjected to in the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sardasht, West Azerbaijan province. He had been arrested on 22 November for participating in antigovernment protests in Sardasht and released on bail on 3 December in critical condition due to torture.
8. Mohammad Haji Rasulpour was a 57-year-old former political prisoner from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province. He was arrested again during the anti-government protests and tortured in detention. He was temporarily released from prison on 13 December due to his deteriorating physical condition caused by torture. On 19 December he lost his life in the intensive care unit of a hospital in the city.

Protesters died after release from detention centres

Aboubakr (Hazhar) Saeidzadeh, from Mahabad, died on 30 December, 18 days after his release from the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Orumiyeh. He was arrested by security forces in the Kani Sufi Rashi area of Mahabad on 19 November and released after 22 days. Saeidzadeh’s family said that he was very depressed after his release and suffered a heart attack as a result of the torture and severe psychological pressure he was subjected to during his detention.

Suspicious deaths during anti-government protests

1. Nasrin Ghaderi, from Marivan in the province of Kurdistan, died under suspicious circumstances in her apartment in Tehran on 4 November. Ghaderi’s body was buried in Marivan on the night of 5 November under tight security. Her father, under pressure from the security services, initially said that his daughter had died of a “fever attack”. After a few days, Ghaderi’s family announced that her father had been forced to give a television interview under pressure from the security services, who had made the handing over of the body conditional on a television interview, and that the cause of her “suspicious death” had not yet been announced.
2. Hamid Reza Nokhbeh-Zaeim, from Hashtgerd, disappeared on 18 November 2022 during the anti-government protests in Karaj. On 20 November, his mother was told to go to the Forensic Medicine Department to identify her son’s body. Security officials initially announced the cause of death as a train accident, claiming that he had committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train. The burial permit issued by the Forensic Medicine Department in Savojbolagh, Alborz province, states the cause of death as “multiple physical injuries” and “hit by a hard object”. The security agents threatened the family that if they said anything other than “accident” or “suicide” as the cause of death, they would exhume the body and take it away.

Executions for taking part in protests

Mohammad Mehdi Karami, a 21-year-old labourer and athlete, was executed in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj on 7 January 2023, along with another protester, Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, for taking part in anti-government protests. Karami was from Bijar and lived in Tehran. He was arrested on 3 November 2022 during the commemoration ceremony of the 40th day of the killing of Hadis Najafi by security forces in Karaj.

Karami and Hosseini were charged with “spreading corruption on earth by committing crimes against the country’s security, attacking security officials and committing crimes against people’s physical integrity, which caused a serious disturbance of public order and insecurity in the country, resulting in the death of Ruhollah Ajamian”. The two civilians were severely tortured while in custody prior to their execution.

Executions

From March 2022 to March 2023, at least 82 Kurdish prisoners were executed in various prisons across the country. Among them were 37 people accused of “premeditated murder” and 41 others accused of drug-related crimes. These are the cases that the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has received from its sources. However, the number of people executed is likely to be higher.

Four Kurdish political prisoners, Firouz Mousalou, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Sarkawt Ahmadi and Mohyeddin Ebrahimi, were among those executed. These individuals were severely tortured during their detention and sentenced to death in unfair trials. The death sentences of Mousalou, Karami and Ahmadi were executed without informing their families or lawyers. Only Ebrahimi’s family visited him the day before his execution.

Killings and deaths in detention centres and prisons

During this period, at least 17 Kurdish civilians died as a result of torture and beatings in custody or committed suicide due to pressure in prison. Nine of these people, whose details are given in the first part of this report, were arrested during the anti-government protests.

The names and details of other civilians who died in detention centres and prisons in various ways and for various reasons are listed below:

1. Milad Jafari who came from Kermanshah, died on 8 April 2022 in the police detention centre in Tehran.
2. Shahroud Jafari committed suicide in the infirmary of Orumiyeh Central Prison on 23 August 2022 a few days after his arrest.
3. Jina Mahsa Amini was from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province. She died on 16 September 2022 after being admitted to Kasra Hospital in Tehran. She was brain-dead as a result of beatings by morality police officers during her transfer to Vozara Prison in Tehran.
4. Hossein Alipour died on 27 November 2022 in the infirmary of Orumiyeh Prison due to the delay in his transfer to a hospital outside the prison.
5. Saeid Salimifar died after committing suicide in Orumiyeh prison on 20 February 2023.
6. Seyyedeh Amaneh Ahmadi died on 26 February 2023 due to a lack of access to medical services in the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj, Kurdistan province.
7. Farhad Naghizadeh died in Orumiyeh Central Prison on 26 February 2023 after suffering a heart attack. He was delayed in being transferred to a hospital outside the prison and denied access to medical care.
8. Shirzad Ahmadnezhad died on 15 March 2023 in the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence in Orumiyeh.

Killings of civilians

From March 2022 to March 2023, at least 16 Kurdish civilians were killed by the military-security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Most of these people were shot on the pretext of carrying smuggled goods. A Kurdish civilian from Iran was also killed by the Turkish army in the border areas between Iran and Turkey.

1. Keyvan Abdollah, a Kurdish tradesman, was killed on 28 May 2022 by IRGC forces at the border heights of Qandil Mountain, between Iran and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
2. Mohammad Amin Ahmadi, a Kurdish tradesman, was killed on 8 June by IRGC forces in the border area of Darreh Gadar in Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan province.
3. Habib Azh was killed on 1 July 2022 after officers from the Iranian police reinforcement unit shot at his car in one of the streets of Ilam.
4. Sina Mozafari, a 20-year-old from the village of Daroyan, Kamyaran, was killed by anti-trafficking police on the road to Ahvaz on 27 July. These forces chased Mozafari’s car on a road near Ahvaz and opened fire on the suspicion that he was “carrying contraband”.
5. Mahdi and Matin Rashidimanesh, two children from Marivan, were killed on 31 July when police forces opened fire on their father’s car near Khorramabad, Lorestan Province. On the pretext that the car was “carrying contraband”, the police opened fire on Rahman Rashidimanesh’s car, killing his two children, Mehdi Rashidimanesh, 12, and Matin Rashidimanesh, 9.
6. Asgar Darvishzadeh, from the village of Karkush in Khoy, West Azerbaijan province, was killed on 13 September by Turkish army fire in the border areas of Khoy.
7. Kourosh Godarzi, a Kurdish tradesman from the village of Misurab in Kamyaran, was killed by police forces near Ahvaz on 17 September. Police forces fired directly at the civilian’s car, without prior warning, on the suspicion that he was “carrying contraband”.
8. Shwaneh Moradi-Aghdam, a Kurdish tradesman from the village of Gazgasak in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province, was with a group of kolbars transporting cattle to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 29 September, when they were ambushed by the IRGC forces in the border areas of Piranshahr. After confiscating the cattle, these forces shot him dead at close range without prior warning.
9. Mohammad Faraj Rahimi, a 60-year-old tradesman from the village of Rajabi in Salas-s Babajani, was killed by military forces at the city’s border on 1 October. The forces fired directly at Rahimi’s car, without prior warning, on the suspicion that he was “carrying contraband”.
10. Karvan Golzari, a 28-year-old tradesman from the village of Askol in Marivan, Kurdistan province, was killed on 13 October 2022 after being shot by military forces at the Dezli border of Marivan. The forces opened fire on the Kurdish civilian without prior warning and on the suspicion that he was “smuggling cattle”.
11. Hemin Hamzeh, a 30-year-old father of two, was killed on 11 November after the forces of the Border Regiment raided the village of Boyuran in Sardasht, West Azerbaijan province. The forces attempted to enter the houses in the village without a court order under the pretext of “confiscating the goods carried by kolbars”. After the villagers resisted, the border guards fired at them from close range, killing Hemin Hamzeh with a bullet that hit his chest. His sister, Amaneh Hamzeh, was also shot and seriously injured.
12. Rebaz Salehivand, 21, was shot dead by IRGC forces on 22 November 2022 while he and his friend were riding a motorcycle near the village of Haji Mamian in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province.
13. Jabbar Farghizadeh, 36, was shot dead by border forces near the village of Asnawi in Marivan on 24 November 2022.
14. Farshad Ebrahimi, 40, was shot dead by police forces at a checkpoint near the village of Sar Qale in Kamyaran on 24 December 2022 as he drove from Kamyaran to Kermanshah.
15. Daria Mikaeili, 23, was shot by the police in the Koshtargah neighbourhood of Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province, on 3 February 2023 and died of his wounds at Khomeini Hospital on 10 February. The police opened fire on Mikaeili’s car on the pretext of “transporting contraband”. The civilian first tried to flee but then surrendered in the face of the gunfire.
16. Mokhtar Fathi was shot dead by police forces in Saqqez, Kurdistan province, on 18 February. He was shot without prior warning.

Killings and assassinations of opposition forces

On 6 August, the former co-chair of the Democratic and Free Society of Eastern Kurdistan (Kodar) and a member of the executive committee of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), Yousef Rabbani (also known as Rezan Javid) and two of his companions lost their lives in a joint operation by the Iranian and Turkish intelligence services in the city of Qamishlo in Syrian Kurdistan (also known as Rojava) in north-eastern Syria. They were targeted by Turkish army drones.

On 31 December 2022, the Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle (known as Khabat) announced the killing of one of its members, Mostafa Ahmadnezhad (also known as Diyar Khabat), by the IRGC during a mission in the territory of Iranian Kurdistan.

As the protests grew inside Iran, the IRGC launched three cross-border drone and missile attacks on the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish armed opposition groups based in the neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The cross-border attacks on 28 September, 14 November and 21 November hit the bases of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and two Komala factions. A total of 20 members of these parties and one baby died as a result of the attacks.

During these attacks, eight KDPI members, Milad Pir-Saheb, Mohammad Khalili, Sherko Bartani, Osman Feyzeh, Omar Mahmoudzadeh, Ayoub Honarvar, Rebwar Abdi, Aso Twana, Behzad Eskat and three members of their families, Hazhar Zargeh, Reyhaneh Kanani (Shima) and Vanyar Rahmani, and nine PAK members, Omid Nikdel, Ehsan Faraji, Arvin Sohrabi, Yadollah Nouri Sabet, Younes Ghiasi, Saeid Omidi, Kamran Rostami, Edris Amjadi and Sasan Shariati, were killed.

Kolbars

From March 2022 to March 2023, at least 28 Kurdish civilians died in the border areas of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces. Of these, 24 kolbars were killed by the military forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, one died of a heart attack, one died of frostbite, one died after falling from a height and one person died as a result of a road accident while working as a kolbar.

During this period, 166 Kurdish civilians were injured during their activities as kolbars, 132 of them were shot by the military forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 17 were injured while being chased by the military forces, three were beaten by these forces, seven kolbars were injured in road accidents, four were injured as a result of falling from a height, and three others were injured as a result of landmine explosions.

According to the statistics recorded by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), most of the shootings by the Iranian forces against the kolbars, which resulted in their deaths and injuries, took place in the border areas between Iran and Iraq in the Nowsud district of Paveh city in Kermanshah province and the city of Baneh in Kurdistan province.

Femicide

During this period, at least 17 cases of femicide were reported in different cities and regions of Kurdistan. These murders were committed by husbands, ex-husbands, brothers and brothers-in-law.

Workers

Also, at least 20 Kurdish workers died in work accidents. The main reason for the accidents that led to the deaths of these workers was the lack of safety standards in the workplace.

Exploding landmines and ammunition

At least nine Kurdish civilians and two soldiers were killed and 14 people were injured, some losing parts of their bodies, as a result of the explosion of landmines and war ammunition.

Detentions and arrests

From March 2022 to March 2023, thousands of Kurdish civilians and activists were arrested by the security, law enforcement and judicial institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran for political reasons and generally during the anti-government protests in the months of September to March. Although some of these people have been temporarily released on bail after initial interrogations, some others are still in temporary detention and some of these people have been sent to prison to serve sentences.

The KHRN has been able to register the names of 1,761 detained civilians, but the number of detainees is certainly much higher, as many cases are not reported to the media due to pressure from the security institutions.

Prison sentences

During this period, Iranian courts in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Tehran, Razavi Khorasan, Mazandaran, Hamedan and East Azerbaijan sentenced at least 124 Kurdish civilians and activists to imprisonment, exile, flogging etc. on political charges.

Religious freedom

Also, at least 29 Sunni clerics and activists and Yarsani activists were arrested in West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces for their religious or civil-political positions or activities, at least 17 others were summoned and four were sentenced to prison terms.