Kurdish political prisoners in Orumiyeh Central Prison, West Azerbaijan Province, have been subjected to severe ill-treatment and torture by prison guards, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.
Shaker Behrouz, who had previously been sentenced to death for “armed insurrection” (baghi) but whose sentence was overturned in 2023, began a hunger strike on 18 April in protest at a new case against him. The authorities responded by transferring him to solitary confinement.
On the same day, Keyvan Rashozadeh and Ardavan Tahourian, two other Kurdish political prisoners on hunger strike, were also tortured by prison guards in solitary confinement.
Behrouz, whose previous death sentence for “armed insurrection” (baghi) was overturned and the sentence for “retribution in kind” (qisas) was dropped with the consent of the plaintiff’s family, has completed his five-year sentence for “membership of an opposition party”.
However, under pressure from the Ministry of Intelligence, a new case has been opened against him, allegedly for his involvement in clashes between the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces in 2017.
A source familiar with Behrouz’s case told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that about two months ago he was transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence for four days of interrogation, during which he was accused of involvement in clashes between the PDKI and the IRGC in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan Province, in 2017, which resulted in the death of two IRGC members.
Despite denying the charges during interrogation and while awaiting release, Behrouz remains imprisoned pending trial on the new case filed against him by the Piranhshar Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office.
Additionally, on 18 April, on the orders of prison director Peyman Khanzadeh, prison guards raided the political and religious prisoners’ section of Orumiyeh Central Prison and beat several political prisoners, including Keyvan Rashozadeh and Ardavan Tahourian.
Rashozadeh, who was transferred to solitary confinement on 17 April, began a hunger strike the following day in protest at his physical assault by prison guards and the denial of his conditional release.
Similarly, Tahourian, a 60-year-old Kurdish political prisoner who sufferes from heart disease and diabetes, has been on hunger strike since 15 April, demanding access to medical services and medical leave.
