“Five citizens from the Kurdish town of Shno (also known in Farsi as Oshnavieh ) were transferred from Orumiyeh Intelligence Agency detention centre to Orumiyeh Central Prison,” a reliable source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) “Mohamad Royan, Vali Sharifi, Reza Ezat Taj, Faroq Shafahi and Saber Rasoulpour were arrested on 3 April 2016 in Shno by Iranian security forces and they were brought…
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Iranian troops of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have intensely shelled the Kurdish Shaho Mountain and other areas in Kermanshah province, Kamyaran and some other villages and neighborhoods over the past few days, a local source told Kurdistan Human-Rights Network (KHRN). The troops bombarding those areas had been deployed in the area just recently, according to the KHRN source. A local eyewitness also said that…
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Iranian security forces have continued mass arrest of Kurdish rights activists after Newroz New Year was celebrated in its Kurdish form in the Sanandaj area on 19 March and onwards, a source from the area told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). “Iranian security forces have continued mass arrest of Kurdish activists in the Sanandaj area following Kurdish Newroz New Year celebration on 19 March in…
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The critical health condition of 25-year-old Kurdish political prisoner Afshin Sohrabzadeh has dangerously worsened in Minab prison in southeastern Iran, but the authorities still refuse granting him medical leave and his family is unable pay for his treatment. ‘Last week, his health situation worsened suddenly and his blood pressure dangerously lowered. He lost consciousness several times and his fellow inmates repeatedly requested urgent medical help…
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Members of the Yarsani religious community in Iran’s Islamabad Gha===rb have taken part in widespread protests to condemn sectarian insults made against them by some election campaigners, a Yarsani rights activist told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). The source said the Yarsani community came under abusive attacks by election campaigners of Iranian parliamentary candidate Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, and that this happened after they organized a party-like…
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The Iranian authorities have extended detention of several Kurdish activists, five of whom come from the Saqez area, another from Kamyaran and the other activist is a renowned former political prisoner from Orumiyeh prison. The detained activists are being held at security detention centres run by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the cities of Sanandaj and Oroumiyeh….
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Kurdish female political prisoner Zeynab Jalalian serving life imprisonment in Iran’s Khoy prison has been coerced by members of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry to make confessions on state TV for crimes she had not committed, one of the prisoner’s relatives told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), Several members of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry visited Jalalian a few weeks ago demanding that she makes a scripted…
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“Hossain Kamangar, a former Kurdish political prisoner, was arrested again last week by Iranian security forces in Kamyaran and nobody has since heard of him or on his whereabouts,” a reliable source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). “The security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran went to his house in Kamyaran to rearrest him and they also confiscated some of his personal belongings….
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A renowned Iranian Kurdish political activist living in Stockholm Ghafour Mohammadi has been severely wounded in an assassination attempt on his life on the outskirts of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, on 13 February. A family relative of Mohammadi told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that the assassination attempt took place after Mohammadi and other Kurdish activists had held a protest to condemn recent Turkish army’s…
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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 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.