The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has arrested “more than 40 Kurdish activists and civilians” in the cities of Sanandaj, Kamyaran, Marivan, Saqqez, Baneh and Divandarah over the past months for “political and religious activities,” local sources told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). The KHRN has learned that detainees are all currently held at the Ministry of Intelligence Detention Centre “undergoing interrogation and pressure.” The KHRN…
Read more
According to the information obtained by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), more than 40 Sunni civilians in various cities of Kurdistan have been arrested by security forces on charges of religious activities during the past seven months. These people from Sanandaj, Kamyaran, Marivan, Baneh and Saqqez are all currently being held at the Ministry of Intelligence Detention Centre in Sanandaj. A number of these detainees…
Read more
Ten detained Iranian Kurdish activists are under pressure to make false confessions, with influential imams and officials demanding their immediate execution. Recent changes to the administrators and security apparatus of Iran’s Kurdestan province and other Kurdish populated regions are the main factors behind the alarming security measures used to crack down on Kurdish activists. The arrests were made following militarisation of Kurdish cities, towns and villages in Iran, where Kurdish…
Read more
Since the victory of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Revolution, Kurdistan has always witnessed massive civil protests for various reasons. Recent protests concerned the execution of political prisoners, support for the referendum on the independence of the Iraqi Kurdistan, Iran’s attack on the headquarters of democratic parties in the Kurdish region, the high rate of inflation and education reformation. According to Article 27 of the Constitution…
Read more
Since 2008, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have destroyed a large part of Shaho and Kosalan areas known as protected areas by building military bases in the highlands of Shaho and Koshelan mountains in addition to carrying out massive military operations on the pretext of fighting the forces of Kurdish parties. The Protected areas of Shaho and Kosalan with an area of 57,236…
Read more
The “Week in brief” by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) is a weekly review of the most important human rights news and developments from and about Iran’s Kurdish areas. Lawyer says Kurdish death row political prisoner faced torture, unfair trial Ahmadi Niaz, lawyer of Kurdish death row political prisoner Ramin Hossein Panahi, has said in a statement that the Iranian authorities had mistreated Panahi in prison…
Read more
The “Week in brief” by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) is a weekly review of the most important human rights news and developments from and about Iran’s Kurdish areas. This item covers the most important human rights news reported in the past two weeks on 15 and 16 April from Iran’s Kurdish region. Iran’s IRGC gunman kills four in Divandarreh A local member of the Islamic Revolutionary…
Read more
The “Week in brief” by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) is a weekly review of the most important human rights news and developments from and about Iran’s Kurdish areas. Iranian Kurdish woman to serve six months in jail for anti-state propaganda Iranian Kurdish activist Runak Aghayi has been taken to Mahabad prison to serve her six-month jail sentence, which was approved by the Oroumiyeh Court…
Read more
The “Week in brief” by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) is a weekly review of the most important human rights news and developments from and about Iran’s Kurdish areas. Iran court sentences Kurds to several years in prison on propaganda charges The Sanandaj Appeal Court has approved a prison sentence of eight-and-a-half years for Afshin Hossein Panahi and a five-year jail sentence for his relative Ahmad…
Read more
The Special Clerical Court in Hamadan, in north-west Iran, has sentenced Sunni Kurdish cleric Hossein Ali-Moradi to 16 months in prison. Ali-Moradi, who is…
Read More
Prisoners Eghbal Fathollahi, Mohsen Emraei, and Shahram Mohammad-Beygi were executed today on charges related to “drug trafficking” and “premeditated murder” in Ghezel Hesar Prison…
Read More
Habib Rezaei, a 52-year-old kolbar who was seriously injured by gunfire from Iranian border guards in the border area of Nowsud, Kermanshah Province, is…
Read More
At least three prisoners previously sentenced to death for drug-related offences were today transferred to solitary confinement for execution in Ghezel Hesar Prison in…
Read More
Kurdish prisoner of conscience Ayoub Karimi is facing imminent execution in Ghezal Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, after his family’s final visit. On…
Read More
Iranian border forces opened fire on a group of kolbars in the border area of the city of Nowsud, Kermanshah Province, on 26 November,…
Read More
Iranian border guards fatally shot Farough Alizadeh, a 17-year-old kolbar from Rabat, Sardasht County, West Azerbaijan Province. The incident took place on the morning…
Read More
One year after Kurdish civilian Osman Mama was arrested and forcibly disappeared during the anti-government uprising of Women Life Freedom, there is still no…
Read More
Asaad Hasanpour, a 25-year-old kolbar from from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, who was wounded by Iranian border guards in the Hangeh-ye Zhal border area of…
Read More
Death row Kurdish prisoner of conscience Ayoub Karimi was moved to solitary confinement in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, on 21 November,…
Read More
Death row prisoners Mohammad Andishkouh and Moslem Jamshidi were executed today on drug-related charges in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj, Alborz Province. The two…
Read More
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.