Kurdish environmental activist “Sahar Kazemi” was released from Sanandaj Correctional Center at the end of her prison term, an informed source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Sahar Kazemi was arrested on Aug 9, 2018, and he was interrogated for several months under strict conditions. Her trial was held by Judge Saeedi at Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj on…
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Zeynab Ismaili, a member of the “KurdishP eace Mothers” has been arrested in Dehgolan since February 27 and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence Detention Centre in Sanandaj. She has not been allowed to call or visit her family. “Daye Zeynab suffers from gastrointestinal diseases, especially the stomach, and must take her medications on time. In the past few days, the Ismaili family…
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“The (Islamic Revolutionary Gaurd Corps (IRGC) has offered to rent out a tent to the earthquake-stricken people in Qotur (part of West Azerbaijan Province of Iran), asking the villagers to pay 35 thousand tomans a night if they need to hire a tent”, an informed source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). “In some villages, no assistance has been received from…
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Hadi Tanumand, a labour activist and a member of the Coordination Committee for the Creation of Labours’ Union, was sent to Bukan prison to serve his three-and-a-half-year imprisonment sentence. Tanoumand was arrested in June 2013 during the annual general meeting of the Coordination Committee to help establish labour unions in Karaj along with four other members of the committee. He was transferred to…
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A Kurdish worker Isaac Rouhi has been sent to prison for serving his one-year imprisonment sentence, a source told the Kurdish Human Rights Network (KHRN). Isaac Rouhi had previously been sentenced to one year in prison by Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj on charges of “participation in World Labor Day”. The verdict was served on this labour activist following when…
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Hajar Ardesi, a Kurdish civilian from the village of Agh Gol located in Maku County, has been detained by the Intelligence Unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) since late August and he is still in custody, a reliable source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). “Ardesi was transferred to the Khoy prison after five days in detention at the …
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Iranian security and military authorities have resorted to widespread suppression, violence against civilians, torture, murder and even sexually abusing children. following the November protests shook several Iranian cities. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network’s (KHRN) investigation, more than a thousand civilians have been arrested in the Kurdish cities alone and the fate of some of them still remains unclear. The KHRN has interviewed a number of eyewitnesses and informed…
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Kurdish Labour activist Seyed Khaled Hosseini was released from Sanandaj Central Prison on a bail of 100 million tomans on 19 December. The Iranian security forces detained Hosseini, a member of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organization, in Sanandaj on 25 November. The activist has been arrested and prosecuted several times over the past several years for allegedly participating in a protest rally in condemnation of the…
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Labour activist Jalil Mohammadi, a member of the Coordination Committee for the Establishment of Workers’ Organizations, was arrested by security forces on 3 December, local sources told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Mohammadi was arrested at his workplace in Sanandaj and taken to an unknown location. No information has been released concerning the whereabouts of the activist. Mohammadi has also been summoned and detained many times over the past few years…
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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 October to 31 October.
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 based on a review of news and reports provided by the KHRN and a review of reports from other human rights organisations and news agencies.
Executions
According to KHRN’s findings, Iran executed at least nine prisoners on drug-related charges in the prisons of Hamadan, Rasht, Khorramabad, Karaj and Khoy during the month of October.
These are the executions the KHRN has been informed of by its sources. However, the number of those executed is likely to be higher.
Civilian killings
On 28 October, Iranian state news agencies reported that a 16-year-old girl, Armita Geravand, had died after spending 28 days in a coma in the intensive care unit of Tehran’s Fajr Hospital.
Geravand was transferred to a military hospital on 1 October, and numerous news reports stated that she had been physically assaulted by government agents on the Shohada line of the Tehran metro because of her hijab.
According to various reports, Geravand had “no vital signs” from the moment she was admitted to the hospital and remained in a coma throughout her stay.
The British newspaper The Guardian reported on 5 October, citing two eyewitnesses, that Geravand had been subjected to a “physical assault” by a female morality police officer in a metro carriage. According to one witness, the morality police officer ‘violently pushed her’ after an argument.
Additionally, Iranian security forces arrested at least 15 activists and civilians, including Mohammad Geravand, a relative of Armita Geravand, during the teenager’s funeral at the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran on 29 October.
Femicide
At least four women have been killed by their male family members in Sardasht, Piranshahr, Bukan and Orumiyeh in the past month.
Kolbars and tradesmen
In October, at least three kolbars were shot dead and 13 others injured by Iranian border guards in the western border areas of the country.
Landmine explosions
On 17 October, Peshawa Aliyar, a civilian from Baneh, was killed by a landmine explosion in Sulaimaniya, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Work-related accidents
On 20 October, Martin Hossein-Panahi, a 16-year-old child labourer, was killed in a factory accident in Sanandaj.
Detentions and arrests
Throughout October, Iranian forces arrested at least 29 activists and civilians, at least two of whom were imprisoned.
Prison sentences
Last month, Iranian courts sentenced at least 11 people to prison terms ranging from four months to 10 years.
Also, civilian Gholamreza Rasaei and Kurdish political prisoner Nayeb Askari were sentenced to death.
Askari, who was previously sentenced to death in absentia by the Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, on charges of “armed insurrection” through membership of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), was sentenced to death again following a retrial request and several in-person court sessions at the same branch.