The Iranian authorities have yet to disclose the whereabouts or condition of Hawre Ghoveh and Abdollah Houshmand, two Kurdish civilians from Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, who were arrested ten days ago.
The two men were arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces from the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada base on 28 October while travelling in a Pride passenger car on the Mahabad-Piranshahr road in West Azerbaijan Province, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.
In the days following the arrests, Iranian state media released a video of the car claiming that a member of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) had been killed and two others arrested in a joint operation involving the Ministry of Intelligence and IRGC forces from the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada base, without naming Ghoveh or Houshmand.
On 30 October 31, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported that an armed member of a Kurdish opposition group had been killed and two others arrested during a “complex intelligence operation” backed by the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada base.
Four days later, on 3 November, PJAK confirmed that one of its members, Molan Rostami from Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province, had been killed in an incident that day.
To date, Ghoveh and Houshmand have been denied family visits and legal representation.
Efforts by their families to obtain information about their whereabouts have so far been met with silence from both the security and judicial authorities in Mahabad and Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province.
