Kurdish political prisoner Hassan Rastegari Majd was flogged with 20 lashes on charges of disrupting a prison order in Orumiyeh Prison, a source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Branch 104 of the second Criminal Court of Orumiyeh sentenced Majd to three months in prison and 20 lashes on charges of disturbing public order. After the prison sentence was finalised for him, the flogging sentence…
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The authorities of Sanandaj Central Prison temporarily halted the execution of a Kurdish death row prisoner on 23 May after his family members and human rights activists held a protest outside the prison. The Kurdish death row prisoner, Hemen Mostafaei, 27, was taken to the prison’s solitary confinement cells in preparation for his execution, but the prison authorities agreed to the demand of his family…
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Over the past few days, a Kurdish political prisoner jailed in Orumiyeh beaten severely and injured by two guards during a visit to the prison clinic. According to Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) Saturday 16 May, Kamran Jafari’s name from Ward 13 of Orumiyeh prison, with several other prisoners were written on the list to go to the prison infirmary due to their illness. But during the…
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Six Kurdish citizens of the village of ‘Ghoreh Saghl’ in the neighbourhood of Oshnavieh(Also known in Kurdish as Shno ) were recently sentenced to death and long jail sentences in Iran after they were charged with “Moharebeh” (Enmity against God) in Iranian Penal Code because of their alleged membership in an Kurdish party. According to information obtained by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), back in June…
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Kamal Ahmadnejad, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death by virtue of Qesas law (Eye for an Eye), has written an open-letter to human rights organisations and to the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights issues in Iran about the tortures he underwent and the fabricated forced confessions he had to make on Iranian Press TV. A reliable source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network that…
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After a two-year-and-a-half silence, the Iranian judicial authorities and central prison of Kermanshah have disclosed information on the fate of a Kurdish political prisoner that the Iranian security forces had arrested 30 months ago. A reliable source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that “on 1 June 2014, Saywan Rahimi, a former political prisoner who previously served a prison sentence, was ambushed by…
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The authorities of Iran’s Mahabad prison have illegally transferred Kurdish political prisoner Rasoul Khezr Mruwat to Mianduab prison without giving a reason for the illegal transfer, a reliable source said in an interview with the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). “On 11 September Rasoul Khezr Mruwat was transferred from Mahabad prison to Mianduab prison on the orders of the prison chief and prosecutor. And this…
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The Iranian security forces arrested a Kurdish student and his father who were said tortured at the Inelegance Ministry’s jails in Orumiyeh for over ten days before being sent to the city’s central prison. A reliable local source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that “the Intelligence [Ministry] officers of Orumiyeh dressed in civilian clothes chased the care of Farhad Peiqami, a Kurdish architecture…
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‘Mohamad Sedigh Kaboudwand, a Kurdish human rights activist and journalist jailed in the ward 350 of the notorious Evin prison of Tehran launched a hunger strike on 8 May 2016 to protest against the new fabricated charges against him and the rejection of his request to benefit from an adjustment of his penalty,” a well-informed source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) “In the visiting…
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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 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
According to KHRN’s findings, Iran executed at least four prisoner in March for “premeditated murder”.
Two of the prisoners were executed in Mahabad Prison, in West Azerbaijan Province, and two in Ilam Central Prison.
*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
In the first half of March, three women were killed by their male family members in Orumiyeh and Kermanshah.
Landmine explosions
In March, landmine explosions resulted in injuries to four people, including two kolbars, in Mehran in Ilam Province, Paveh in Kermanshah Province, and Marivan in Kurdistan Province.
Kolbars and tradesmen
In March, at least five kolbars were shot dead by Iranian border guards, two died of frostbite, two died as a result of falling from the border heights, one was tortured to death by Iranian security forces, one died of a heart attack, one died in a road accident and another died as a result of the overturning of a car chased by police.
A total of 60 kolbars were injured during this period. Of these, 38 were shot by Iranian border guards, nine fell from heights at the border, four were injured in landmine explosions, three were beaten by border guards, two were beaten by Iraqi border guards, two were injured in road accidents, one was injured by stones thrown by border guards, and one was injured in a car that fell from heights at the border.
The identities of three of the kolbars injured in falls from border heights remain unknown and are therefore not included in the table in this report.
Detentions and arrests
Throughout March, Iranian forces arrested at least 20 civilians, including a child and two artists.
At least four of the detained civilians were sent to prisons in Marivan, Saqqez, Naqadeh, and Ilam to serve prison sentences.
Sentences
In the past month, Iranian courts have sentenced at least four people to punishments ranging from three months to 13 years in prison.
Security forces wound two young men
On 21 March, security forces attacked a group of young people in Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, for playing music and having fun. As a result of the forces’ shooting, two Kurdish youths, Mohammad Ahmadian and Arman Basiri, were seriously injured in the leg.
The incident took place in the Eastern Park near the historical site of Tagh-e Bostan.