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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
Iran has executed three prisoners, Ali Karami-Nasr, Alireza Shahbazi, and Nasser Nabizadeh, for drug-related offences at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj and Orumiyeh Central Prison. Karami-Nasr and Shahbazi, both from Kuhdasht in Lorestan Province, were executed in the early hours of 2 June at Ghezel Hesar Prison. On the same day, Nabizadeh, a civilian from the village of Gajin in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, was executed…
Read more
Hojjat Havasizadeh, a prisoner convicted of drug-related charges, has been executed at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Havasizadeh was transferred to solitary confinement on 25 May, ahead of his execution, which took place at dawn on 28 May. Two other inmates were also taken to solitary confinement, alongside Havasizadeh, but their identities and fate remain…
Read more
Iran today executed two prisoners, Amir Ebrahimi and Rahim Amiri, for drug-related offences at Karaj Central Penitentiary. The two men were moved to solitary confinement ahead of their executions on 25 May. Ebrahimi and Amiri, both from Harsin, Kermanshah Province, were arrested in separate cases around six and seven years ago respectively and later sentenced to death for drug-related charges.
Read more
Iran executed prisoner Morad Dalaei Milan in Maku Prison on 26 May for drug-related charges. Dalaei Milan, from the village of Baghlachi-ye Olya in Chaldoran, West Azerbaijan Province, was arrested around five years ago and was later sentenced to death. He was moved to solitary confinement on 25 May in preparation for his execution and was executed at dawn the following day.
Read more
Prisoners Mohammadreza Dehghan Dehnouri, Javad Rezaei, Nourveys Achak Zehi, Vali Shahr-Babaki, and Reza Beig have been executed for murder and drug-related offences at Yazd Central Prison. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the five men were transferred to solitary confinement on 19 May and executed in the early hours of 21 May. Dehnouri, Rezaei, Achak Zehi, and Shahr-Babaki were arrested in separate cases…
Read more
Iranian authorities have executed prisoner Yousef Esmaeili at Bandar Abbas Central Prison on drug-related charges. He was transferred to solitary confinement on 20 May in preparation for the execution, which took place in the early hours of the following day. Esmaeili, a 38-year-old father of two from Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province, was arrested about three years ago and subsequently convicted of drug trafficking offences.
Read more
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.