Kurdistan Human Rights Network

A group of civil rights activists, law experts, and lawyers have issued a statement on 21 April, condemning the recent military aggression of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The statement said that by "invading" the region, Turkey violated the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq and committed a "crime of aggression". "We call on governments and international bodies, and...

Kurdish literary and cultural woman activist Zahra (also Zara) Mohammadi presented herself today at the court of Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, to serve a five-year prison sentence. The court's Enforcement of Judgements Office arrested the activist and transferred her to the Juvenile Detention Centre in Sanandaj. Mohammadi had been accused of allegedly "forming groups and societies with the aim of disrupting national security" over her activities, which...

The five-year prison sentence of the Kurdish language teacher Zahra (also Zara) Mohammadi has been upheld. Authorities have asked that she turns herself in to serve her sentence. The ruling came after the Chief Justice of Iran's northwestern Kurdistan province rejected Mohammadi's lawyers' appeal for her retrial under Article 477 of the Iranian Islamic Criminal Code. On 2 January, the Nozhin Socio-Cultural Association, which is headed...

Turkish police has detained nine Iranian Kurdish asylum seekers and 57 others from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq near Istanbul on 21 August. On 24 August, authorities have deported these civilians to Syria’s north-western Azaz, raising concerns about their fate. The nine asylum seekers officially entered Turkey from Iran in the past few months and were trying to reach Europe by boat. Reportedly, the names of these...

Turkish border forces have opened fire on and killed a young kolbar named Aziz Mohammadzadeh this morning in the border areas of Chaldoran in West Azerbaijan province. A source in the city of Chaldoran confirmed the news to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Turkish border forces “targeted a group of kolbars” and killed Mohammadzadeh, said the source. The kolbar’s body was transferred to the city of...