Kurdistan Human Rights Network

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has prepared a detailed report on the detentions and arrests of women activists, murdering of women, honour killings, and suicides by women in Iranian Kurdistan between 8 March 2020 and 8 March 2021.

Suicide, honour-killings, and murders of women

In the past year, at least 94 Kurdish women have lost their lives committing suicide. According to information confirmed by the KHRN, 32 of these women were under 18 years old. During this period, at least 18 women were reported killed by their family members in different parts of Iranian Kurdistan. Seven of these were victim of “honour-killing”. Three were killed by their husbands due to family disputes, and eight other were killed by male family members in different ways and for different reasons.

1. Parvin Palani, a 20-year-old single woman from Sarpol-e Zahab, Kermanshah province, was killed by her brother on 30 March 2020.

2. Fatemeh Havasi, a 16-year-old single woman from Sarpol-e Zahab, Kermanshah province, was shot dead by her brother on 31 August 2020.

3. Sargol Habibi, a 31-year-old married mother of two from Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, was stabbed to death by her brothers on 20 November 2020.

4. Vafa Abdollahzadeh, a 43-year-old mother of two from Sardasht, West Azerbaijan province, was killed by her brother and nephew on 7 December 2020.

5. Sonia Dehghan, a 22-year-old mother of one from Sardasht, West Azerbaijan province, was murdered by her brother and cousin on 13 January 2021.

6. Ashraf Nikouei, a 32-year-old mother of three, from the village of Gangachin in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province, was killed by her cousin and nephew on 3 February 2021, after a private video of her and a man that later refused to marry her.

7. Azizeh Haghi, a 33-year-old married mother of four, from Orumiyeh, was murdered by her husband on 24 February 2021.

8. Parang Ghazi, married woman from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province, but residing in Tehran, was beaten to death by her husband on 19 July 2020.

9. Maryam Atmani, married mother of two, from Zangu village of Salmas, West Azerbaijan province, was beaten to death by her husband on 6 October 2020.

10. Hayat Amini, a 22-year-old married mother of two from the village of Khoshalani of Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province, was set on fire by her husband and died on 19 September 2020.

11. S. M., 22-year-old and single from Darrehshahr, Ilam province, was killed by her brother on 7 December 2020.

12. Fatemeh Mohammadi, married from Qaleh Shahin in Sarpol-e Zahab, Kermanshah province, was killed by her husband on 10 May 2020.

13. Golestan Sohrabian, a resident of Qaleh Shahin in Sarpol-e Zahab, Kermanshah province, was attacked and killed by her son-in-law on 10 November 2020, when she was accompanying her daughter, who was on her way to the village police station to file a complaint against her husband.

14. Name unknown, 22-year-old single woman from a village in Dehloran, Ilam province, was killed by her brother on 7 December 2020.

15. Azadeh Morovvati, a 21-year-old married woman from the village of Tilku in the city of Dehgolan, Kurdistan province, was murdered by her husband on 14 December 2020.

16. Name unknown, killed by her husband with a firearm on 14 February 2020 in the western ring road of Sanjabi Square in Kermanshah.

17-18. Laleh (Jaleh) Kazemi, 38, was killed by her husband A. K. with a firearm in front of the Kermanshah city courthouse on 2 February 2020, following the court hearing of their divorce filed by her. Her brother as well as her lawyer Parivash Zafari were also killed by A.K.

Arrests and imprisonments of female activists

According to figures compiled by the KHRN, dozens of Kurdish women activists in Iran have been detained by security forces or summoned to security agencies over the past year. Some of them still remain in detention after months, while others have been imprisoned. Also, Zeinab Jalalian is the only female political prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment in Iran. She has been in prison since 2008.

In the remaining of this report, the names, charges, and latest status of the detained and imprisoned Kurdish women activists, which have been compiled by the KHRN, are published to inform the media and human rights organizations.

1. Zeynab Jalalian was arrested on 26 February 2008 by the intelligence office in Kermanshah and was subjected to severe physical and psychological tortures for about three months in the detention centre of the intelligence office. She was then transferred to the Juvenile Detention Centre of Kermanshah.

Jalalian was sentenced to death on 3 December 2008 on charges of “acting against national security” through membership of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Kermanshah, presided over by Judge Moradi. She then appealed against the sentence and her case was referred to Branch 4 of the Court of Appeals of Kermanshah, but the court upheld the sentence. It was finally approved also by the Supreme Court of Iran in early 2009.

Following the efforts of her family, lawyer, and human rights activists, Jalalian’s death sentence was reduced to life sentence in November 2011, with the pardon of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Later, in December 2014, with the consent of the prosecutor’s office and the intelligence office, she was transferred from Kermanshah to the prison of Khoy, nearest prison to where her family reside.

Zeynab Jalalian has been transferred to four different prisons in the past six months. The transfers took place despite her poor physical condition caused by covid-19 and lack of medical care in prisons. The political prisoner, who suffers from various diseases due to her long imprisonment and harsh prison conditions, has also developed asthma after getting covid-19 in Qarchak prison.

2. Hajar Saeedi was arrested by security forces in Sanandaj on 7 June 2020, and was released on bail after 18 days. She was also summoned and interrogated by the Intelligence Office on the eve of International Workers’ Day in May 2020. This Kurdish woman activist was sentenced to five years in prison – four being suspended – on 12 August 2020 by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, headed by Judge Saeedi, on charges of “acting against national security” by being a member of the Communist Party of Iran (Komala), participating in “illegal” rallies, and communicating with labour activists. During this period, she must present herself to the Intelligence Office of Sanandaj once every four months.

3. Zahra Jamali, a civil activist from the village of Fash in the city of Kangavar in Kermanshah province, was sent to the women’s ward of the Juvenile Detention Centre of Kermanshah to serve her nine-month sentence. She was summoned to the Intelligence Office of Kangavar in March 2019 and interrogated, following the release of a video showing her opposition to the compulsory veil. The next day, after being summoned to the courthouse of this city and filing a lawsuit, she was released on a bail of 25 million Tomans – nearly 1,000 USD. The civil activist was later sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Kangavar to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state”. The sentence was commuted to six months in Court of Appeals. Also, due to the pressures of the Imam of the Friday prayers of Kangavar and the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), another case was filed against Zahra Jamali in the criminal court on charges of “removing the veil in public and promoting corruption and lewdness”. The court sentenced her to 91 days in prison, a fine of two million Iranian Tomans – nearly 80 USD, and attending 548 hours of chastity and veil classes.

4. Somayyeh Namadmal, a former member of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), was arrested on 25 July 2020 in the city of Bukan by agents of the Intelligence Office and transferred to the detention centre of this security institution in Orumiyeh. She was released on bail after a month of interrogation at the detention centre of the Intelligence Office in Orumiyeh. Namadmal had returned to Iran in July 2020 after coordinating with security agencies and receiving a “safe conduct”.

5. Shahnaz Sadeghifar, from Orumiyeh and a former member of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), returned to Iran with her daughter Ainaz Zare in September 2019 after her family coordinated their return with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), but was detained by security forces. On 21 July 2020, Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh, headed by Judge Ali Sheikhlou, sentenced her to 15 years in prison on charges of “acting against national security” through membership in the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK). This sentence was commuted to five years and one day of imprisonment on 22 February 2021 in the Court of Appeals of Orumiyeh.

6. Ainaz Zare, 17, from Orumiyeh and a former member of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), returned to Iran in September 2019 with her mother, Shahnaz Sadeghifar, after her family coordinated their return with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), but was detained by security forces. On 16 November 2019, she was sentenced to five years in prison by Branch 1 of the Criminal Court of Orumiyeh for children and adolescents on charges of “acting against national security” through membership in the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK). After she appealed against the sentence, the court of appeal reduced it to one year in prison. This political prisoner was released from Orumiyeh Central Prison on 26 November 2020.

7. Faranak Jamshidi, an environmental activist and member of the Green Society of Kurdistan, was arrested by security forces in Sanandaj on 28 June 2020. After four and a half months of detention, she was released from prison on 10 November 2020 with a bail of 200 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 8,000 USD. On 2 February 2021, Jamshidi was sentenced to four years in prison by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Saeedi, on charges of “membership in a Kurdish opposition party.”

8. Zara Mohammadi, director of the Nozhin Cultural Association, was sentenced to five years in prison by a court of appeal in Kurdistan province in February 2020. She had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Saeedi, on charges of “forming a group and association with the aim of disrupting national security”. This Kurdish language teacher was arrested by security forces at her house in Sanandaj on 23 May 2019. She was detained for about seven months in harsh conditions, during which she was pressed to make forced confessions during interrogation sessions. Zahra Mohammadi was temporarily released on 2 December on a bail of 700 million Iranian Tomans – 28,000 USD.

9. Mehraban Keshavarzi, a student and theatre actress, was sent to Evin Prison in Tehran on 19 August 2020 to serve a sentence of three months and one day in prison. This theatre student of the University of Fine Arts was previously arrested by the forces of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in September 2015 and was released on bail after about a month. On 15 April 2017, she was sentenced to one year in prison by Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Judge Moghiseh, on charges of “propaganda against the state”. On 13 January 2020, Branch 54 of the Court of Appeal of Tehran Province commuted this sentence to three months and one day of imprisonment.

10. Parvin Advaei, a women’s rights activist, was arrested on 27 July 2019 after her house in Marivan was raided by forces of the Intelligence Office. She was then transferred to the detention centre of the Intelligence Office of Sanandaj. Two months later, after completing her interrogation, she was transferred to the women’s ward at the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj. She was finally released on 24 October on a bail of 500 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 20,000 USD – pending trial. The activist was then sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Marivan to five years in prison on charges of “acting against national security” for collaborating with the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK). The court of appeals reduced the sentence to two years in prison. On 20 January 2020, Advaei was sent to the women’s ward of the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj to serve her sentence. The political prisoner was released from prison on 6 April 2020, after the announcement of amnesty by the judiciary.

11. Sahar Kazemi, an environmental activist, was arrested by security forces at her home on 9 August 2018, and transferred to the detention centre of the Intelligence Organisation of Sanandaj. Three months later, Mahvash Amiri and Madeh Fathi, her mother and husband, were also arrested after they were summoned to the Intelligence Office of Sanandaj. Kazemi was released on 24 November 2018, after her father’s death, for participating in the funeral, and was arrested again a week later. In February 2017, she was sentenced to five years in prison by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj, presided over by Judge Saeedi, on charges of “acting against national security”. The sentence was reduced to 20 months in prison on appeal. Kazemi was released from prison on 12 March 2020 after serving her sentence.

12. Andisheh Sadri, an art graduate from Sanandaj, was arrested by security forces in Tehran on 6 October. After her arrest, she was transferred to Ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison and interrogated on charges of “assembly, collusion, and propaganda against the state”. On 24 October, the civil activist was transferred to Sanandaj Women’s Prison for the continuation of her interrogation and filing a case. After the end her interrogation by the officers of the Intelligence Office of Sanandaj, Sadri was released on bail on 9 November.

13. Neda Pirkhezranian, a social activist from Marivan, was arrested by security forces at her house in Tehran on 6 October. Her father Loghman Pirkhezranian was also arrested for objecting the arrest of his daughter. Neda Pirkhzranian was released on bail after 34 days in a security detention centre in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

14. Anisa Jafari-Mehr, a graduate of Linguistics and a member of the Writers’ Board of the Literary and Artistic Quarterly “J”, was arrested by the intelligence forces of the IRGC on 23 November 2020 at her family home in Eslamabad-e Gharb in Kermanshah province. She was released on a bail of 350 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 14,000 USD – on 9 December after the end of her interrogation period. On 18 February, Jafari-Mehr and her lawyer presented themselves at the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Eslamabad-e Gharb, to give their final defence. At the hearing, which was presided over by Judge Malayeri, the literary activist was charged with “propaganda against the state”. She had previously been accused of “acting against national security” by collaborating with Kurdish opposition parties.

15. Mozhgan Kavousi, a writer and cultural activist, was arrested on 17 November at her family home in Nowshahr, Mazandaran province, and transferred to the detention centre of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Sari. She was released on bail of 100 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 4,000 USD – on 18 December, after appearing in the Islamic Revolutionary Court of this city. The Kurdish writer was then sentenced by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Nowshahr to 33 months in prison for “membership in parties opposing the Islamic Republic,” to 30 months in prison for “incitement to disrupt public order,” and to six months in prison for “propaganda against the state.” She was arrested in Nowshahr on 19 May to serve a three-year prison sentence and was sent to prison in Nowshahr. In July 2020, she was transferred from Nowshahr Prison to Evin Prison in Tehran.

16. Somayyeh Kargar, a Kurdish social activist from Ilam and a graduate of philosophy at the University of Tabriz, was arrested on 16 October at her house in Tehran. She suffers from a rare disease that has severely reduced her vision. This social activist was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin in early February after four months of interrogation in Ward 2A of Evin Prison in Tehran, and is still denied of medical care and the right to access her medication.

17. Farideh Veisi, a civil activist, was arrested on 14 January 2020 at her workplace, Zanest Educational Institute, and then transferred to the detention centre of the Intelligence Office of Sanandaj. She was released on bail after two months and was sentenced to one year in prison by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj in January of this year, which will be suspended for three years.

18. Fatemeh Davand was arrested in Bukan on 16 November 2019 during a popular protest following an increase in gasoline prices and then transferred to the detention centre of the Intelligence Office of Orumiyeh. She was pressed for 10 days to make forced confessions for collaborating with Kurdish opposition parties. Her forced confessions were published in the media of the Islamic Republic of Iran. She was released from prison on 25 March 2020 on a bail of 500 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 20,000 USD. Davand was sentenced to a total of five years and 30 lashes in two cases by Branch 103 of the Bukan 2^nd Criminal Court and Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad on charges of “disrupting public order by participating in riots,” “removing the veil,” and “assembly and collusion against national security.” She was transferred to the women’s ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison on 6 August to serve a 45-month prison sentence and execution of 30 lashes.

19. Darya Talabani, a civil activist and English language teacher, was arrested by the forces of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Mahabad on 9 January 2021, at the same time as the start of widespread wave of arrests of Kurdish activists. She was released on bail on 15 February by the end of her interrogation in the detention centre of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Orumiyeh.

20. Asrin Mohammadi, an art graduate from Sanandaj and a resident of Tehran, was arrested by forces of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Mahabad on 9 January, at the same time as the start of widespread wave of arrests of Kurdish activists. He was released on bail on 18 February by the end of her interrogation in the detention centre of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Orumiyeh.

21. Azimeh Naseri, a civil activist from Bukan, was arrested by forces of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Mahabad on 9 January, at the same time as the start of widespread wave of arrests of Kurdish activists. She was transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison after a few weeks of interrogation in the detention centre of the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC in Orumiyeh.

22. Rozhin Mohammadpour, from Bukan, was arrested by forces of the Intelligence Office on 19 January and transferred to the detention centre of the Intelligence Office in Orumiyeh. She is still being interrogated, being denied the right to make calls to or have visits from her family.

23. Roya Ahmadi, a citizen of Buchan, from Bukan, was arrested by forces of the Intelligence Office on 19 January and transferred to the detention centre of the Intelligence Office in Orumiyeh. She is still being interrogated, being denied the right to make calls to or have visits from her family.

24. Elham Yazdanipour, the lead musician of the Glaris music band, was summoned in late January 2021, along with four other members of the band Samira Farahnaki, Nastaran Yazdanipour, Nazanin Atabaki, and Malihe Moradi to a public prosecutor’s office for their joint performance with a female singer. Nearly a month before this summoning and after the release of a music video on the occasion of Yalda night, all the members of Glaris music band were summoned twice by phone to the Islamic “morality police” station of Kermanshah. After the processes of interrogation and inquiry, they were forced to make a written commitment not to use female singers in their performances and music videos.

25. Arezoo Mostafaei, a 17-year-old poet from Marivan, was summoned on 4 February to the Intelligence Office of Marivan for interrogation, and was released on bail three days later.

26. Zeinab Esmaeili, a member of the Peace Mothers group, was sentenced in absentia by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj on 21 November to a total of six years in prison on charges of “membership in dissident groups” and “propaganda against the state.” After appealing against the verdict, the court commuted the sentence to one-year suspended sentence. Esmaeili was arrested by security forces at her home in the city of Dehgolan in Kurdistan province on 27 February 2020 and was released on bail after a month in detention at the Intelligence Office of Sanandaj. During this time she was denied access to medication and visits by her family.

27. Avashin Zagros, a Syrian Kurdish citizen and member of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), was arrested by security forces on 11 October, after being wounded near Marivan. She was shot in the leg during her arrest and was transferred to a detention centre in Sanandaj for interrogation despite needing medical treatment. This raised concerns by her family about her health. More than four months after her arrest, no information has yet been obtained about her situation.

28. Sinur Khalifani, from Mahabad, joined the Islamic State (IS) in Syria in 2014 with her husband. She left the IS after two years and returned to Iran. She was detained by security forces in Javanroud and released on bail after about three months in detention. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2017 on charges of membership in the IS, and in 2018 she was transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison to serve her sentence. The prisoner was transferred from the women’s ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison to the detention centre of the Intelligence Office in January, and no information has yet been obtained about her situation.

29. Sakineh Parvaneh, Kurdish from Quchan and a resident of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, was arrested by security agents on 6 November 2019 under the pretext of meeting with her family in the city of Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She was transferred to a secret detention centre of the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in eastern Tehran. She spent three months in detention there under the most severe conditions of interrogation and physical torture. Parvaneh’s lawyer Payam Derafshan said on 25 May 2020 that his client had been sentenced to five years in prison and three years ban from membership in political groups on charges of “membership in groups or factions opposing the state with the aim of disrupting national security”. In April 2020, Parvaneh was transferred from Evin Prison to Qarchak prison in Varamin for writing and chanting slogans. After four days in solitary confinement in this prison, she was transferred to Aminabad Psychiatric Hospital in Rey. Parvaneh was returned to Evin Prison on 4 July with bruises and beating marks on her body. Later in August, a court sentenced her to two years in prison in on charges of “disrupting prison order”. This political prisoner was transferred from Qarchak prison to Quchan and Mashhad prisons in the past few months.

30. Robabeh Jalali, an activist from Sanandaj, was arrested by security forces of Sanandaj in January 2021, and was released on bail from the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj after several weeks of interrogation.

31. Golestan Palani, from Sarpol-e Zahab, was arrested by security forces last year on charges of membership in the Islamic State (IS) and has been held in the Juvenile Detention Centre of Kermanshah for months. She was transferred to Orumiyeh Central Prison for interrogation in November 2020 and returned to Kermanshah Prison a few weeks later.

32. Soheila Hijab, a law graduate from Kermanshah, was arrested on 24 May 2019 by the intelligence forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). She was first taken to one of the organisation’s safe houses and then to the women’s ward of Evin Prison. After eight months of detention, she was released on a bail of three billion Iranian Tomans – nearly 119,500 USD. On 18 March 2020, Hijab was sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state”, “assembly and collusion”, “disturbing public opinion with the intention of creating chaos”, and “forming an illegal group”. According to the Law on Consolidation of Sentences, five years of this sentence is enforceable. She was arrested by the security forces on 24 May, after being summoned to Branch 36 of the Court of Appeals of Tehran, and was transferred to Qarchak Prison.

33. Roya Jalali, a member of the Green Society of Kurdistan, was arrested by security forces at her family home in Sanandaj on 2 February. Security forces resorted to violence during her detention. This environmental activist was released on a bail of 100 million Iranian Tomans – nearly 4,000 USD – from the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj on 3 March, by the end of her interrogation.