On 10 October 2024, marking the World Day against the Death Penalty, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has documented the execution of at least 138 Kurdish prisoners in various prisons across Iran over the past year. These executions, which took place between 10 October 2023 and 9 October 2024, highlight the Islamic Republic of Iran’s alarming use of the death penalty as a tool…
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This report addresses the violations of the human rights of Kurdish civilians in Iran during the Iranian year 1402 (21 March 2023 – 19 March 2024). As in previous years, the rights of Kurdish people have continued to be violated due to their language, religions, culture, genders, sexual orientations, and class and political affiliations by the Islamic Republic’s discriminatory laws and repressive and violent…
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This 2023 report details human rights violations of the Kurds in Iran. As in previous years, the violations span across the spectrum of linguistic, religious, cultural, gender, sexual orientation, class, and political discrimination under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The repressive and violent actions were employed by the security, military, judicial and executive institutions of the government. The statistics outline the number…
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This annual report covers the human rights situation of Kurds in Iran from 21 March 2022 to 21 March 2023. As in previous years, the violation of the rights of Kurdish people on the basis of their language, religion, culture, gender, sexual orientation, class, political choices, etc. continued due to the discriminatory laws of the Islamic Republic and the repressive and violent actions of…
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This report addresses the human rights situation in 2021 in relation to the Kurdish people in Iran. As in previous years, the rights of Kurdish people have continued to be violated due to their language, religions, culture, genders, sexual orientations, and class and political affiliations by the Islamic Republic’s discriminatory laws and repressive and violent crackdowns by its security, military, judicial, and executive institutions. The…
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Paris, 1 March 2021 – The data compiled by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) suggest that in 2020, at least 52 Kurdish civilians, who were left with no other choice but to carry goods on their backs – also known as kolbari – between the border areas of Iran, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and Turkey to earn a living for their families, have…
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Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN): At least 2,000 Iranian Kurdish civilians and activists were arrested from 21 March 2019 to 21 March 2020, in the provinces of Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Ilam and Kermanshah. The largest number of mass arrests was related to the November 2019 protests in the cities of Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Marivan, Javanrood, Orumiyeh, Ilam and Bukan, following the sudden rise in gas…
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The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) releases the second issue of its Annual Report on human rights violations and state-sponsored violence against Kurdish Kolber workers and shopkeepers in Iran. Click here for download full report as PDF This report is intended to detail for public opinion, international human rights and NGOs the fate of some of the most forgotten developments in Iran’s Kurdish society. We in the…
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Kurdistan Human Rights Network – 2015 Annual report on violation of human rights of Kolber workers in Iran Click here for download full report as PDF An introduction to Kurdish Kolber workers in Iran Kolber is a Kurdish name for workers and tradespersons, who for a small sum of money risk their lives to transport packs of various foreign items on their own back or on the…
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A group of civil, human rights, political and media activists from Kurdistan have issued a statement calling for the immediate annulment of the death…
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Prisoner Farman Afristam, a prisoner sentenced to death for “premeditated murder”, was executed in the early hours of 7 January in Dizel Abad Prison…
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Two Kurdish women, Kosar Darabi and Zahra Shahbazi, have been killed by their husbands in Kermanshah and Ilam, respectively, within the past week. Darabi,…
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Branch 39 of Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence issued against Kurdish political prisoner Pakhshan Azizi. Azizi’s lawyer, Amir Raeisian, informed Sharq…
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Security forces today arrested former Kurdish political prisoner Afshin Hossein-Panahi in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. He was…
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Iran executed Ashkan Kazemi, Mohammad Shahidi, and Mozaffar Shahsavari, three prisoners sentenced to death on charges of “premeditated murder”, in the early hours of…
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Sirvan Parvizi, a Kurdish blogger and satirist from Ilam, Ilam Province, was provisionally released on bail today after two days in detention. Judicial authorities…
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Ali Atin and Reza Seyyedi, two prisoners from Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province, convicted of “rape”, were executed in Mahabad Prison in the early hours…
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Mohammad Azizi, a 35-year-old Kurdish civilian from Qasr-e Shirin, Kermanshah Province, was fatally shot by law enforcement officers at the Parvizkhan border terminal in…
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Seven Kurdish civil rights and labour activists have been temporarily released on bail after being summoned to Branch Two of the Public and Revolutionary…
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Pouria Javaheri, a Kurdish civilian from Kamyaran, Kurdistan Province, who was arrested during the anti-government Women, Life, Freedom uprising in 2022, has begun a…
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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 December to 31 December.
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 at least 15 prisoners in December, seven on drug-related charges and eight for “premeditated murder”, according to KHRN’s findings.
The executions took place in Ilam Central Prison, Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Mahabad Prison, Jiroft Prison, Miandoab Prison, Orumiyeh Central Prison and Yazd Central Prison.
Two of those executed were women and one was a 70-year-old man.
*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 December, at least one kolbar was shot dead and another was injured by Iranian border guards.
Another kolbar lost his life due to frostbite in Baneh in late December.
Civilian killings
In mid-December, at least two Kurdish civilians were killed by the Law Enforcement Forces in Javanrud and Tehran.
Detentions and arrests
Over the past month, Iranian forces arrested at least 62 individuals, including three children.
At least three of the detained civilians were sent to Oshnavieh and Naqadeh prisons to serve prison sentences.
Sentences
During this period, Iranian courts sentenced at least eight people to punishments ranging from one month in prison to five years and 15 days of imprisonment.