As the anniversary of the Woman, Life, Freedom Uprising approaches, there have been reports of significant deployments of special police forces and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) units in Orumiyeh, Bukan, Mahabad, Saqqez, Divandarreh, Sanandaj, Marivan, Kamyaran, Javanrud, Kermanshah, Eslamabad-e Gharb, Ilam and Abdanan.
According to information gathered by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), in recent days, thousands of anti-insurgency personnel from police forces and various IRGC bases in other provinces have been sent to these cities.
The deployed forces are currently on standby at military and security installations.
In addition, surveillance cameras have been installed on most of the main streets of these cities in recent weeks on the orders of security services in Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah and Ilam provinces, a move that further underscores the heightened security measures.
As part of these developments, the Intelligence Organisation of the IRGC, the Ministry of Intelligence and the security police have summoned and intimidated hundreds of individuals who were temporarily detained over the past year for participating in anti-government protests in Mahabad, Bukan, Saqqez, Marivan, Kamyaran, Sanandaj and Divandarreh.
These individuals were forced to sign written pledges promising not to take part in the upcoming anniversary protests of the uprising. They were threatened and warned of severe consequences, including imprisonment and substantial fines if they disobeyed these orders.
Based on interviews with some of these individuals, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that the security interrogators have compelled some of them to change their social media profile pictures to that of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for several months.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Intelligence has contacted families who lost loved ones in last year’s protests and informed them that they are not allowed to hold commemoration ceremonies for their deceased relatives. Some members of these grieving families have reportedly received death threats.
According to statistics compiled by the KHRN, a total of 50 Kurdish civilians and activists have been arrested by security forces in Marivan, Saqqez, Sanandaj, Divandarreh, Baneh, Bukan and Oshnavieh this week alone.
