Iranian authorities have refused to hand over the body of Kurdish political prisoner Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heidaranlou following his secret execution, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. On the evening of 21 April, his family were summoned by judicial officials in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, informed of the secret execution and warned against holding a public memorial. Behzad Sarkhanlou, the Deputy Prosecutor of Orumiyeh, told…
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Iranian authorities have secretly executed Kurdish political prisoner Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heidaranlou, his family was told on the evening of 21 April after being summoned to the Orumiyeh court in West Azerbaijan Province. Officials did not disclose when the execution took place. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that on the evening of 21 April, the Deputy Prosecutor of Orumiyeh, Behzad Sarkhanlou, informed the…
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Srwa Pour-Mohammadi, a Kurdish language teacher and board member of the Nozhin Socio-Cultural Association, was sent to Sanandaj Central Prison on 19 April to begin serving a five-year sentence. Pour-Mohammadi was summoned last week to the Enforcement of Judgements Office at the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, and was detained after appearing before the authorities. In November 2023, Branch One of the…
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The whereabouts of Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heidaranlou, a Kurdish political prisoner scheduled for execution this morning, remain unknown after he was transferred from Orumiyeh Central Prison to an undisclosed location. Branch Nine of the Enforcement of Judgements Office of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, had previously announced that the execution would take place in the early hours of Friday 18…
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Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heidaranlou, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death, was transferred to solitary confinement in Orumiyeh Central Prison on 16 April in preparation for his execution, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Today, the prisoner’s family had a final visit with him for a few minutes in Orumiyeh Central Prison while he was handcuffed and shackled, and he told his family that…
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The Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of Nasser Bekrzadeh, a 25-year-old Kurdish man from Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, who had been sentenced to death on espionage charges. His lawyer, Amir Raeisian, announced the Supreme Court’s decision on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), saying: “The death sentence of Mr Nasser Bekrzadeh, which had been issued by Branch One of the [Islamic] Revolutionary…
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Yadegar Rahimnezhad, a 41-year-old prisoner from Baneh, Kurdistan Province, was executed today in Kerman Central Prison on drug-related charges. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Rahimnezhad was moved to solitary confinement in recent days in preparation for execution, and was executed in the early hours of the morning alongside a Baluch prisoner, Aboubakr Shah-Bakhsh. Rahimnezhad was reported to have given a ride to…
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Three prisoners are at imminent risk of having their four fingers amputated after the judicial authorities in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, announced that a guillotine would be transferred to the city’s central prison in the coming days. On 14 April, prisoners Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Shahivand, and Mehdi Sharafian were summoned to the Enforcement of Judgements Office of Orumiyeh Central Prison, where Orumiyeh’s Deputy Prosecutor, Saeid…
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Taha Hassani, a 23-year-old man from Bukan, West Azerbaijan Province, was executed in the city prison on 7 April on charges of “premeditated murder”. Hassani was arrested about five years ago and later sentenced to death for “premeditated murder”.
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 March to 31 March.
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 a prisoner, Arshad Farzadband, on charges of “premeditated murder” in Orumiyeh Central Prison in March.
*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.
Kolbars
In the second half of March, at least one man was killed by Iranian border forces and another died in a road accident while working as a kolbar in the border areas of Baneh and Salas-e Babajani.
Civilian killings
In March, a civilian, Mohammad Hosseinzadeh, was killed by Iranian police in Orumiyeh.
Deaths in prisons and detention facilities
During this period, Kamran Kazemi, a 38-year-old Kurdish man from Kermanshah, died in suspicious circumstances in the Criminal Investigation Department detention centre in Orumiyeh.
While police officials have attributed his death to suicide, fellow detainees claim that he was tortured to death by officers.
Detentions and arrests
In March, Iranian forces arrested at least 59 people, at least two of whom were sent to prison to serve their sentences.
Sentences
During this period, Iranian courts sentenced at least two political prisoners, Hatem Ozdemir and Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heidaranlou, to death on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “armed insurrection” (baghi), respectively.