Kurdistan Human Rights Network

Four Kurdish civilians, Soleyman Salek, Osman Delsouz, Hazhar Delsouz and Akam Khezrzadeh, have been collectively sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison by the Criminal Court Two of Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan Province, on charges of "membership of a group or organisation with the aim of disturbing national security". Salek, 71, from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, while Khezrzadeh,...

Iranian security forces arrested four Kurdish civilians in the cities of Oshnavieh and Shahin Dej in West Azerbaijan Province on 11 May and took them to undisclosed locations, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Loghman Haji-Khosh, a civilian from the village of Kohneh Qaleh in Oshnavieh, was summoned by telephone to the Ministry of Intelligence in the city before being arrested. At the same...

Iranian border guards fatally shot kolbar Salar Ahmadi on 9 May in the Qandil mountainous region between Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Ahmadi was shot when border guards opened fire on a group of kolbars with DShKs on the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan. The body of the kolbar, from Nalas in West...

Security forces today arrested five Kurdish civilians in the cities of Bukan and Shahin Dej, West Azerbaijan Province, allegedly in connection with their participation in Newroz (also known as Nowruz in Persian) celebrations. Edris Haji-Rasoulpour, the brother of Mohammad Haji-Rasoulpour, who was killed during the Women, Life, Freedom anti-government uprising in Bukan, was arrested without a warrant during a raid on his home in the...

Security forces arrested Abdollah Barzegar, the Imam and prayer leader of the village of Kaneh Mashkeh of Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province, on 7 May and took him to an undisclosed location. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that security forces raided Barzegar's home at 03:00 local time on 7 May and arrested him without a judicial warrant. The specific charges against the Sunni Kurdish...