Kurdistan Human Rights Network

Ebrahim Nasseri, a philanthropist known for his contributions to school construction, was arrested on 19 May after being summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence in Bukan, West Azerbaijan Province. Nasseri was detained and taken to an undisclosed location following a telephone summons, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Details of the charges against him or his current whereabouts remain unknown.

The whereabouts of civil rights activist and Kurdish language teacher Susan Hassanzadeh remain unknown six days after her arrest in Bukan, West Azerbaijan Province. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that security forces beat and arrested Hassanzadeh at her family home on 15 May without a court warrant and took her to an undisclosed location. Despite persistent efforts by her family, including visits to...

Seven prisoners were executed in the central prisons of Orumiyeh and Salmas in West Azerbaijan Province in the early hours of 18 May, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. The prisoners, Kaveh Bashengheh, Parvin Mousavi, Asghar Hajizadeh, Ramin Lavandpour, Parviz Ghassemi, Mansour Nasseri, and Yousef Saeidi, had all been sentenced to death on drug-related charges. On 16 May, Hajizadeh and Bashengeh were transferred to...

Kurdish political prisoner Hatem Ozdemir, who holds Turkish citizenship, has again been sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court on charges of "enmity against God" (moharebeh). This decision follows a previous death sentence by Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Khoy, West Azerbaijan Province, on charges of "armed insurrection" (baghi), which was overturned by the Supreme Court in March 2023. Ozdemir's trial took...

The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, 17 May, serves as a reminder of the history of oppression and violence faced by queer individuals in many societies and countries, where their gender identity and sexual orientation have been pathologised and criminalised. It also commemorates the struggle and resistance of queer people to destigmatise and decriminalise their identities and orientations, fighting for equal rights. In...