Iranian intelligence ministry in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province, has told in a phone call to the Kurdish civilian Yasser Mangouri’s family that their forces shot and killed him during his detention on 17 July.

Although the news on Yasser Mangouri’s detention circulated shortly after 17 July, the phone call came nearly two months later, on 12 September.

Over the past two months, as there was no information on Yasser Mangouri’s fate, his family had repeatedly appealed to security institutions and the judiciary.

However, no institution or authority was willing to accept responsibility for detaining the Kurdish civilian and answering his family about his condition.

In recent days, there have been unconfirmed reports that Yasser Mangouri may have been killed in the detention centre of the Ministry of Intelligence in Orumiyeh.

A member of the Mangouri family spoke to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) and said the intelligence ministry had informed them that security forces had shot and killed Yasser Mangouri during his detention.

“On the night of 17 July, Yasser left the house after receiving a phone call, and we did not hear from him since. Of course, the same night after Yasser left his home in the Sarqabran area of Piranshahr, a sound of gunfire was heard. And the next day, casings of bullets fired by several people were found at the scene. But we did not think that this shooting had anything to do with Yasser leaving the house. We thought that Yasser had been arrested and was being held in one of the secret detention centres of the security agencies.”

Speaking on the family’s efforts to receive information on their son’s whereabouts, the family member said:

“During all this time, we repeatedly appealed to the security institutions and judicial authorities in Piranshahr and Orumiyeh. In the first weeks, they said they were completely unaware of his arrest and fate. They then told us that Yasser had probably gone to Iraqi Kurdistan. Some time ago, the possibility of his death had become stronger in our minds, until on Sunday, the office of the intelligence ministry in Piranshahr contacted us and told us that security forces had shot and killed Yasser during his detention, on 17 July.”

Yasser Mangouri was 30 years old, married, and the father of two children.

There is ’a history’ of civilian killings by security institutions – Fatemeh Karimi

Fatemeh Karimi, director of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), condemned the killing of Yasser Mangouri and other civilians by Iranian security and military institutions and said:

“Unfortunately, there is a history of civilians being killed by security and military officers during detention or under detention. There are several cases in which legal action by families and lawyers has yielded no results, and even families have been threatened to remain silent.”

Pointing to the fact that neither Mangouri’s body nor a forensic report on his death was returned to his family, Karimi said:

“As the Kurdish civilian’s body has not been returned to his family, the cause of his death remains unclear. The judiciary must investigate the time, place, and cause of Yasser Mangouri’s death. The person or persons involved in his death should be tried and punished. His body should be handed over to the family, and the security agencies should stop threatening the family.”

Although Karimi says she is not optimistic, as in previous cases, about the possibility of prosecution and achieving an outcome, she hopes that the Islamic Republic of Iran can be held accountable by reporting this “state murder” to international institutions.

Karimi added that Yasser Mangouri’s case could be pursued through the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.