The authorities at Ilam Central Prison executed prisoner Mohsen Mehri for “premeditated murder” on 16 January. The prisoner had been arrested and sentenced to death about five years ago for the “premeditated murder” of his brother over a financial dispute, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Mehri was sentenced to death under the Islamic law of qisas, or retribution-in-kind, which gives the victim’s family…
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The Iranian authorities have executed three prisoners in two days on drug-related charges in prisons in Hamadan, Hamadan Province, and Karaj, Alborz Province. Habib Darvishi, a 43-year-old father of two from Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, who was arrested several years ago for drug trafficking, was executed in Hamadan Central Prison on the morning of 16 January. Today, authorities at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj executed Iman Shabani…
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Kurdish political prisoners Pezhman Fatehi, Mohsen Mazloum, Mohammad Faramarzi, and Vafa Azarbar, who have been sentenced to death, have had their request for a retrial rejected by the Supreme Court, according to their lawyer, Masoud Shamsnejad. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on 16 January, Shamsnejad said: “The request for a retrial on behalf of my clients Vafa Azarbar, Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen…
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Some nine Kurdish political and religious prisoners are currently facing imminent execution in prisons in Karaj, Alborz Province, and Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, as well as in an undisclosed detention centre. The identities of these individuals are Kamran Sheikheh, Khosrow Besharat, Farhad Salimi, Anvar Khezri, Pezhman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, Mohsen Mazloum, Mohammad Faramarzi, and Reza Rasaei. These prisoners were sentenced to death during unfair trials on charges…
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Authorities at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, transferred prisoners Iman Shabanian and Hossein Fathollahzadeh, convicted on charges drug-related offences, to solitary confinement for execution on 15 January. Shabanian, from Golestan Province and a resident of Tehran, and Fathollahzadeh, a resident of Tehran, were arrested about four years ago on drug-related charges and sentenced to death. Their co-defendant, Bahman Fathollahzadeh, was executed in Ghezel Hesar…
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Prisoner Akram Karimpour was executed today in Hamadan Central Prison for drug trafficking, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. He was transferred to solitary confinement for execution on 14 January. Karimpour, a 40-year-old father of two from Saqqez in Kurdistan Province, was arrested about three years ago on drug trafficking charges.
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Prisoners Hadi Nazari, Hojjat Miri, Akbar Taj, Amir Hossein Maleki and Ahmad Latifi were executed in Karaj Central Prison in Alborz Province on 14 January for drug trafficking. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the five prisoners, along with six others, were transferred to solitary confinement for execution in recent days. The identities and fates of the other six prisoners remain unknown. The five…
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Authorities at Kermanshah’s Dizel Abad Prison executed prisoner Meysam Habibi for “premeditated murder” on 11 January. The 37-year-old Habibi, from Nowdeshah, Kermanshah Province, was arrested on murder-related charges about seven years ago. He was sentenced to death under the Islamic law of qisas, or retribution-in-kind, which gives the victim’s family the right to retaliate.
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Sunni Kurdish prisoners of conscience Farhad Salimi, Anvar Khezri, Khosrow Besharat and Kamran Sheikheh went on hunger strike on 3 January in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, following the execution of their co-defendant Davoud Abdollahi and the threat of their own imminent execution. These prisoners, along with at least ten other prisoners of conscience, are being held in isolation and without basic facilities…
Read moreIn 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 April to 30 April.
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
According to KHRN’s findings, Iran executed at least six prisoners in April, four on drug-related charges and two for “premeditated murder”.
The executions took place in prisons in Orumiyeh, Hamadan, Kerman, Karaj, Saqqez, and Ardabil.
*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.
Landmine explosions
In the past month, landmine explosions killed a civilian in Gilan-e Gharb and injured another in Saqqez.
Kolbars and tradesmen
During this period, at least four kolbars were shot dead by Iranian border guards and 22 kolbars were injured.
Of the injured, 18 were shot by Iranian border guards, two fell from heights at the border, one was beaten and one was injured during the pursuit of the border guards.
Detentions and arrests
Throughout April, Iranian forces arrested at least 45 civilians, including eight activists, a journalist, and a former political prisoner.
At least 13 of the detained civilians were sent to prisons in Oshnavieh and Naqadeh to serve prison sentences.
Sentences
In the past month, Iranian courts have sentenced at least 10 people to punishments ranging from three months to 10 years in prison.
Among those sentenced was Kurdish rapper Saman Yasin, who was sentenced to five years of exile imprisonment in Babak, Kerman Province, by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran after one year and seven months of detention.