Iranian forces have arrested hundreds of protestors across Kurdish cities, in the west of the country, following the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini.

Amini died on 16 September after she was hospitalized following her arrest and torture by morality police in Tehran.

The 22-year-old Kurdish woman was arrested on 13 September for having worn the hijab “inappropriately” and was beaten by the morality police on the way to a detention facility.

The statistics collected by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) from at least two sources in each city indicate that more than 675 activists and civilians were arrested in Sanandaj, Oshnavieh, Takab, Piranshahr, Sardasht, Bukan, Orumiyeh, Mahabad, Divandarreh, Qorveh, Saqqez, Bijar, Marivan, Baneh, Dehgolan, Marivan, Kamyaran, Paveh, Kermanshah, Eslamabad-e Gharb, Ilam, Abadanan, Tehran and Nowshahr.

There are at least 18 minors among those arrested.

It is important to note that due to the outages and severe disruptions in the internet connections and the highly secure atmosphere in the cities, it is very difficult to obtain accurate information on the detainees.

Of the detained protestors, 29 have been released by signing a pledge or providing bail.

The rest of the detainees are kept in the detention centres of the security police, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the central prisons of various cities.

Among these detainees, there are at least 180 injured civilians who were tortured under detention or were hit by bullets during protests. They have been denied the right to access medical services.

Three Kurdish journalists and writers by the names of Masoud Kurdpour (editor-in-chief of Mukrian News Agency), Jabbar Dastbaz (journalist), and Mozhgan Kavousi (writer and former political prisoner) are also among the recently arrested.

In addition, at least 17 civil rights activists, artists and women’s-rights activists named Zhina Modarres Gorji, Leila Pashaei, Faranak Rafiei, Baran Saedi, Mahrou Hedayati, Azadeh Jamaati, Bahar Zangiband, Shadi Aslani, Avin Rasti, Leila Abbasi, Melika Kavandi, Kazhal Vatanpour, Rezan Ahmadi, Sorayya Khedri, Rozhan Ghaderi, Srvah Rahimi and Hayat Almasi were arrested in Marivan, Sanandaj, Bijar and Ilam.

Some of the protestors who were released recently told the KHRN that they had witnessed security officers “beating detainees with batons and threatening to rape some of them”.

Also, KHRN sources in Sanandaj reported that due to the mass arrests in Kurdistan province, Sanandaj Central Prison’s sports hall has been evacuated and allocated to the detainees.

In the past few days, at least 210 arrested protesters were kept in this place.

In addition, since the number of women detained in Kurdistan province is high, the authorities of the Sanandaj Juvenile Detention Centre transferred the youth from the prison to the military ward, turning the centre into a place where detained women would be held.

Other reports from Sanandaj, Kermanshah and Orumiyeh indicate that due to the high number of detainees, IRGC barracks in these cities are used as detention centres.

The list of 253 arrested protesters by cities as registered by the KHRN:

Kurdistan Province

Sanandaj: Zhina Modarres Gorji (women’s rights activist), Sarya Sharifi (civil rights activist), Faranak Rafiei (civil rights activist), Baran Saedi (civil rights activist), Gashin Mohammadi (women’s rights activist), Mahrou Hedayati (civil rights activist), Azadeh Jamaati ( civil rights activist), Bahar Zangiband (civil rights activist), Rezan Ahmadi (civil rights activist), Rozhan Ghaderi (artist), Soraya Khedri (civil rights activist), Nasser Golparipour (father of the executed Kurdish political prisoner Habibollah Golparipour), Shahriar Oskoui (athlete), Mozaffar Salehnia (labour activist), Amir Gholami (filmmaker), Farhad Sanandaji (filmmaker), Mohammad Abdollahpour, Kaveh Karimi, Shoja Roshan, Lotfollah Ahmadi (labor activist), Reza Sharifeh (Teachers’ union activist), Hossein Saedi (released), Adnan Rahimi (released), Sirvan Amini (released), Jamil Moradi (released), Hiva Rahimi (released), Srwah Shahabi (released), Zana Ahmadi, Diako Ahmadi, Shadi Aslani (social activist), Monireh Mohammadi (social and cultural activist), Parya Mortezaei, Mohammad Kazemi, Matin Asadi, Salah Zamani (labour activist), Bakhtiyar Samadi, Chiyako Beigleri, Arman Nourizad

Bijar: Leila Abbasi (artist and teachers’ union activist), Jafar Valadkhani (teachers’ union activist), Melika Kavandi

Saqqez: Behnam Rahimi, Rebaz Rezaei, Aria Majidpour, Seyyed Sroush Abbasi Shah-Ebrahimi (Yarsani activist), Rizgar Bahrami, Farough Mortezaei, Shorash Talaei

Qorveh: Ahmad Nezamipour (teacher), Soheila Babaei, Hiva Khani

Kamyaran: Hadi Kamangar (civil rights activist), Sirvan Moradi (civil rights activist), Omid Nazarian (civil rights activist), Datam Heshadast, Leila Ghaluzi, Mohammad Mehdizadeh, Zanyar Sabouri, Ako Hosseini, Hamid Yousefi, Milad Kamangar, Anvar Ghorbani, Ehsan Fatehi, Mohammad Parvizi (released), Turan Hosseini, Ako Hosseini (Turan Hosseini’s son), Sirous Nadimi, Khabat Mozafari (teacher and member of Kurdistan-Kamyaran Teachers’ Union, released), Edris Mehdizadeh (teacher, released), Hesam Mehdizadeh (teacher, released), Shayan Emami

Dehgolan: Sirous Abbasi (civil rights activist), Azad Abbasi (civil rights activist), Sirwah Rahmani (civil rights activist), Yadollah Motaei (athlete)

Marivan: Amjad Saedi (released), Rebwar Kamranipour (released), Khabat Veysi, Shahriar Afsari, Avin Rasti (women’s rights activist), Mojtaba Bartani, Sina Iranipour, Foad Delanginz

Divandarreh: Smko Mohammadian, Soran Mohammadian, Aboubakr Ghoreishi, Momen Ghoreishi

Baneh: Hadi Kia (cultural activist), Galavezh Khakipour, Somayyeh Ketabi, Sheyda Salimi

West Azerbaijan Province

Orumiyeh: Amir Abdoli, Mehran Pazeshi, Sisou Omarzadeh, Pano Abdollahzadeh, Omid (last name unknown), Towhid (last name unknown), Reza Sufi, Yousef Salamat, Kivan Jajouyi, Aran Tibash (civil rights activist and former political prisoner), Peyman Mirzazadeh (singer and former political prisoner), Armin Nabizadeh, Fereydoun Nabizadeh, Shorash Eslam Sakani (Balu village), Salim Mirzaei (Balu village), Mohammad Valizadeh (from Bukan, student at University of Orumiyeh), Dariush Kheyri (Balu village), Mehrdad Ebrahimi (youth kickboxing champion in Iran), Peyman Ebrahimi, Omran Mirzaei (Balu village), Mohsen Kalashi (Balu village), Nobakht Tafsili (Balu village), Kamran Mansouri (Balu village)

Oshnavieh: Ayoub Haghighi, Kamyar Shamati, Ayoub Esmaeilian, Ramin Khosravi, Haji Mohammad Peyghami, Omid Hosseinpour, Jafar Hosseinpour, Seyed Vahab Habibi, Musa Mam-Ali, Siamand Azarian, Shahram Maarouf Mola, Farzad Tahazadeh, Mowloud (last name unknown), Fardin Khosh-Khahash , Mamosta Anvar Rastgar (Imam), Matin Mihankhah (14-year-old child), Rahim Azizi, Keyvan Azarang, Vahab Azarang, Yaqub Mojavar, Shirzad Tahazadeh, Amin Khaleghi (14-year-old child), Kamal Esmaeili, Farzad Rasulpour, Osameh (last name unknown), Kamyar Maroufi, Shahram Bengini, Aboubakr Irandoust, Kambiz Shahi, Faryad Ahmadpour

Naqadeh: Masoud (Soran) Abdollahzadeh, Manouchehr Abdollahzadeh, Sohrab Sohrabi, Kiyan Abdollahpour, Hemin Ghassemi, Abdollah Khoshkalam, Ali Hanifi, Samad Hosseini, Hadi Dirmina

Takab: Bahman Faraji

Piranshahr: Ashkan Pirnia (student), Zanyar Nasiri, Saeid Karimi, Fardin Mam-Khezrpour, Aboubakr Barzinji, Shahab Lavjeh, Chia Bazergani, Jalal Sattarzadeh, Ali Heidarzadeh, Sharif Ghaderzadeh, Fardin Kamla, Mohammad (Shahram) Ghaderpour, Mohammad Nozari, Ebrahim Mohammadi, Esmaeil Nabi, Behzad Mostafapour, Ehsan Abdollahzadeh, Zanyar Nasri (minor), Hassel Ghadou

Bukan: Diako Mehr-Navaei, Kaveh Faghih-Amiri, Masoud Kordpour (Editor-in-Chief of Mukrian News Agency), Mohammad Valizadeh (Student at University of Orumiyeh)

Sardasht: Behnam Ghaderi

Mahabad: Saber Abdollahtash, Younes Chokali, Amir Abdollazadeh, Mohsen Nik-Manesh (graphic design student at Tabriz University of Art), Saeid Roghani (hospital medical staff), Aso Gorouhani (hospital medical staff)

Kermanshah Province

Kermanshah: Sadegh Olfati

Dalahu: Siavash Hayati (Secretary of the United Kurdish Front and the spokesperson of the Consultative Assembly of Yarsan Activists)

Paveh: Arvin Eghbali, Golareh Moradi, Soren Asaadi (released), Nima Naderi, Karo Hosseini, Anas Valadbeigi, Javad Mowloudi, Kamran Karimi, Peyman Karimi, Loghman Kiyani, Rebwar Fatehi, Hazhar Sharifi, Ehsan Sadeghiani, Milad Gholami, Sina Naderi, Danesh Karimi, Parsa Hosseini, Akar Salimi, Azhvan Sadeghi, Sirvan Ansari, Omran Ahmadi, Peyman Ahmadi , Milad Ansari, Soma Naghshbandi, Vahid Ansari, Mosleh Sharifi, Anis Maghsoudi, Peshawa Rahbari, Shayan Fatehi, Mohammad Fathi, Kamyab Salehi, Mobin Shafiei, Ramin Ahmadi, Kaveh Amini, Mahan Fathi (minor), Ramin Ahmadi, Parsa Hosseini, Akar Salimi

Ilam Province

Ilam: Mashallah Morshedi, Mohsen Morshedi, Taleb Morshedi, Hamed Vahdati, Miad Morshedi, Vahid Latifnezhad (athlete), Kajal Vatanpour (from Gilan-e Gharb and law student at Ilam University), Aref Omidi

Abdanan: Farshad Nasiri, Hassan Saffar, Shima Biranvand, Hadi Vafaei, Pouria Mahmoudnezhad, Ali-Asghar Alvandi, Ahmad Yareh, Omran Gheysari, Amir Jamshidi, Iman Nazari, Alireza Darvishi, Armin Hemmati

Tehran Province

Tehran: Zanyar Mohammadnezhad, Nima Soltani (from Baneh, student), Sarvin Heydari (student)

Mazandaran Province

Nowshahr: Mozhgan Kavousi