Kurdish labour rights activist Amjad Geryakhiz has been sentenced to six months in prison and handed a two-year suspended sentence by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the court convicted Geryakhiz on charges including “propaganda against the state”, and formally notified him of the verdict on 7 June. Geryakhiz, from Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, was arrested…
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Iran has executed three prisoners, Masoud Nasseri, Ardeshir Soltan-Abadi, and Sajjad Moradi Motlagh, for drug-related offences at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province. The three men were transferred to solitary confinement on 9 June in preparation for their executions, which took place at dawn on 11 June. Moradi Motlagh, originally from Harsin, was living in Kermanshah and was the father of one child. Nasseri was…
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Iran has executed prisoners Karim Hemmati and Hamzeh Yari for drug-related offences at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province. The men were transferred to solitary confinement on 7 June in preparation for their executions, which took place at dawn on 9 June. Hemmati, from Harsin in Kermanshah Province, was arrested around five years ago, while Yari, from Nurabad in Lorestan Province, was arrested approximately four…
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Iran’s judiciary announced on Tuesday that nine prisoners accused of belonging to the Islamic State (IS) group had been executed. The statement, published by the judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency, provided no details on the identities of those executed or the location or circumstances of the executions. It stated only that the individuals had been arrested in February 2018 during clashes with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…
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Four prisoners, Morteza Esmaeilian, Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Shahivand and Mehdi Sharafian, who were sentenced to the amputation of four fingers on their right hands, are at imminent risk of having their sentences carried out in the central prisons of Orumiyeh and Tabriz, in the provinces of West and East Azerbaijan respectively. In late May, Esmaeilian was transferred from Orumiyeh Central Prison to Tabriz Central Prison…
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Kurdish prisoner of conscience Iraj Sofi-Mohammad has been on hunger strike since 22 May after being removed from an open prison facility in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province. His health is reported to be deteriorating. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Sofi-Mohammad, who is from Mahabad and was serving a 10-year sentence in the city’s open prison, was transferred to the general ward…
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Karim Asghari, a former political prisoner and the brother-in-law of Verisheh Moradi (Wirishe Moradi), a Kurdish political prisoner on death row, was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents in Shuyesheh, in Sanandaj County, Kurdistan Province, on 8 June. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that security agents raided Asghari’s shop and violently arrested him, transferring him to an undisclosed location. His wife, Mehraneh Moradi…
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Branch 101 of the Second Criminal Court in Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan Province, has sentenced Kurdish civilian Hedi Shadi-Khah to 22 months in prison. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the court convicted Shadi-Khah on charges of “acting against national security” through his alleged collaboration with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI). The verdict was issued and formally communicated to him in recent…
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Fifteen Kurdish teacher union activists have been summoned to appear before Branch 109 of the Second Criminal Court in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, on charges of “disturbing public order and peace”. Fatemeh Zand-Karimi, Nasrin Karimi, Mokhtar Asadi, Mohammadreza Moradi, Salahaddin Haji-Mirzaei, Behzad Ghavvami, Seyyed Ghiyas Nemati, Reza Tahmasebi, Rizgar Heydari, Kourosh Ezzati Amini, Shahriyar Naderi, Aram Ebrahimi, Sadegh Kanani, Majid Karimi and Faysal Nouri were officially…
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In its monthly reports, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) highlights cases of human rights violations in Kurdistan and violations of the rights of Kurdish civilians in different regions and cities across Iran.
This report includes all cases recorded and reported by KHRN from across Iran through its own sources and verification mechanisms from 1 May to 31 May.
The restrictive environment for independent human rights organisations in Iran, coupled with the pressures faced by individuals subjected to human rights violations and their families, make it difficult to publish accurate and comprehensive reports.
It is therefore important to note that the statistics and information presented in this report do not cover all cases of human rights violations. This report is the result of examining news and reports published by the KHRN and fact-checking of reports published by other human rights organisations and news websites.
Executions
Iran executed at least 15 prisoners in May, nine being on drug-related charges and six on charges of “premeditated murder”.
The majority of these executions took place in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province.
*Explanation: The KHRN, recognizing the fundamental right to life, publishes and records news and execution statistics without regard to the ethnic background of individuals and the location of the execution. All cases reported to the organisation by credible sources are published after thorough fact-checking.
Femicide
At least four Kurdish women were reported to be victims of femicide in May. Two were killed by their husbands, one by her son-in-law and one by a suitor.
All four cases occurred in Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, and the method of murder in all cases was gunshot.
Kolbars
Last month, at least three kolbars were shot dead by Iranian border guards in the border areas of Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, while two others were wounded in the border areas of Kurdistan Province.
Detentions and arrests
In May, Iranian forces arrested at least 27 people, six of whom were sent to prison to serve their sentences.
According to the information obtained by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), at least seven of the remaining 21 detainees were released on bail, while the situation of the other 14 remains unknown.
Sentences
During this period, Iranian courts sentenced at least seven people to prison sentences ranging from eight months to two years.
Also, the Supreme Court rejected the second appeal for a retrial of Hatem Ozdemir, a Kurdish political prisoner with Turkish citizenship, and upheld his death sentence.
Ozdemir was sentenced to death in May 2024 by Branch Three of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, presided over by Judge Najafzadeh, on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh). In September 2024, Branch Nine of the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.
With this latest rejection, Ozdemir’s execution is now even more imminent.
Additionally, in May, Branch 31 of the Court of Administrative Justice upheld the dismissal of Somayyeh Akhtar-Shomar, a 37-year-old Kurdish teacher from Marivan, Kurdistan Province, with 17 years of service.
The original decision to dismiss the Kurdish teacher was taken on 17 March 2024 by the Primary Disciplinary Committee of Civil Servants in Kurdistan Province.