Investigations carried out by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) show that many Kurdish civilians and activists from Iran became victims of human rights violations in May 2023.
The followings are the detailed information collected by the KHRN statistics and documentation centre regarding these violations.
Executions
Iran executed at least 23 prisoners over the past month in Orumiyeh, Sanandaj, Salmas, Kermanshah, Karaj, Mashhad, Khorramabad, and Rasht.
Only one of these prisoners was a woman. Monireh Nourikia, 35, was executed in Mashhad Central Prison for “premeditated murder”.
While 13 prisoners were executed on charges of “premeditated murder”, 10 were executed for drug-related offences.
These are the execution cases on which the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has been informed through its sources. But the number of those executed is likely to be higher.
Femicide
Parastou Shahbazi, an 18-year-old mother of one, was murdered by her husband on 29 May in the village of Miraki in Dehgolan, Kurdistan province.
Killings of civilians
Saman Darvishi, a detained civilian from Harsin, Kermanshah province, was killed on 8 May under torture by prison officers at the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary.
On 1 May, prisoner Nasser Hassanpour, who had been suffering from a pre-existing condition, died as a result of being denied access to medical care in Orumiyeh Central Prison.
Kolbars
In May, at least 13 kolbars were injured and one kolbar died of heart failure in the western border areas of Iran.
At least 11 of these injuries were caused by forces of the Iranian Border Guard Command. One of them fell from a height after being chased by border guards, while the others were shot by these forces.
Landmine explosions
On 8 May, Aziz Morad Shams, a 43-year-old worker was injured in the explosion of the remnants of the Iran-Iraq war in Salas-e Babajani, Kermanshah province, and died the next day in Kermanshah’s Taleghani Hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
Detentions and arrests
Throughout May, Iranian forces arrested at least 42 Kurds. Among them were 16 activists and a Sunni Kurdish cleric.
One of the detainees, Yarsani activist Siavash Hayati, was imprisoned at Kermanshah Central Prison to serve a one-year prison sentence.
Prison sentences
Last month, Iranian courts sentenced at least 23 people to prison terms ranging from suspended sentences to seven years and six months in prison.
In addition, a civilian was sentenced to pay a fine of 50 million Iranian rials – nearly 1,000 USD.
Executions
| Name | From | Charged with | Execution date | Execution location | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamid Emamizadeh | Kuhdasht | Premeditated Murder | 4 May | Parsiloun Prison in Khorramabad | 23 years old |
| 2 | Jalaladdin Rahimian-Azar | Mahabad | Drugs | 4 May | Rasht Central Prison | 23 years old |
| 3 | Faramarz Shakhsi | Sardasht | Drugs | 5 May | Orumiyeh Central Prison | 29-year-old father of two |
| 4 | Salahaddin Majidi | Village of Haftvan in Salmas | Drugs | 6 May | Salmas Prison | |
| 5 | Abdollah Khan-Mohammadi | Village of Haftvan in Salmas | Drugs | 6 May | Salmas Prison | |
| 6 | Babak Aghaei | Tehran | Drugs | 10 May | Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj | Executed after 5 years in prison |
| 7 | Abdolhossein Emami-Moghadam | Kuhdasht | Drugs | 10 May | Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj | Father of one, executed after 13 years in prison |
| 8 | Hossein Panjak | Tehran | Drugs | 10 May | Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj | Executed after 11 years in prison |
| 9 | Mohammad Saber Payamian | Kermanshah | Premeditated Murder | 10 May | Kermanshah Central Prison | 34 years old |
| 10 | Kioumars Menbari | Kamyaran | Premeditated Murder | 14 May | Sanandaj Central Prison | Father of 3 children |
| 11 | Saeid Arjmandi | Khorramabad | Premeditated Murder | 14 May | Sanandaj Central Prison | |
| 12 | Saeid Najafi | Sahneh | Premeditated Murder | 17 May | Kermanshah Central Prison | 28 years old, executed after 5 years in prison |
| 13 | Borzou Cheghazardi | Mahidasht | Premeditated Murder | 17 May | Kermanshah Central Prison | 45 years old, father of 3 children |
| 14 | Mostafa Salehi | Village of Dezli in Sarvabad | Premeditated Murder | 18 May | Sanandaj Central Prison | |
| 15 | Jamshid Karimi | Dehgolan | Premeditated Murder | 18 May | Sanandaj Central Prison | |
| 16 | Firouz Yarinezhad | Kuhdasht | Drugs | 19 May | Khorramabad Central Prison | 37 years old, father of 2 children |
| 17 | Ali Khorramshah | Kuhdasht | Premeditated Murder | 19 May | Khorramabad Central Prison | 39 years old |
| 18 | Saeid Mohammadi | Kermanshah | Premeditated Murder | 23 May | Kermanshah Central Prison | 46 years old |
| 19 | Ali Piri | Orumiyeh | Premeditated Murder | 25 May | Orumiyeh Central Prison | 40 years old |
| 20 | Monireh Nourikia | Mashhad | Premeditated Murder | 28 May | Mashhad Central Prison | 35 years old |
| 21 | Abdolrahman Mozaffari | Qorveh | Premeditated Murder | 28 May | Sanandaj Prison | Executed after 17 years in prison |
| 22 | Ezzatali Sabzi | Karaj | Drugs | 30 May | Karaj Central Penitentiary | 44 years old, father of one |
| 23 | Mohammad Kazemi | Karaj | Drugs | 30 May | Karaj Central Penitentiary |
Femicide
| Name | Location | Date | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parastou Shahbazi | Dehgolan | 29 May | Killed by husband, 18-year-old mother of one |
Killings of civilians
| Name | From | Prison/Detention Centre | Incident date | Accusation | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saman Darvishi | Harsin | The Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary | 8 May | Theft | 31-year-old, killed under torture by prison officers |
Kolbars
| Name | From | Incident location | Incident date | Dead/injured | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gholam Mahmoudian | Salas-e Babajani | Nowsud border areas | 1 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 2 | Zakaria Abdi | Salas-e Babajani | Nowsud border areas | 10 May | Injured | Fell from border heights |
| 3 | Akam Mohammadzadeh | Bukan | Hangeh-ye Zhal border areas | 11 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 4 | Khaled Sedaghat | Salas-e Babajani | Near Azgaleh-Sheikh Seleh road | 11 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 5 | Farough Azizi | Piranshahr | Merga Drezh border area in Piranshahr | 18 May | Injured | 43 years old, father of 3 children |
| 6 | Habib Mohammadi | Marivan | Tateh border areas in Hawraman | 18 May | Injured | Fell from border heights after being chased by border forces |
| 7 | Aref (Last name unknown) | Paveh | Nowsud border areas | 22 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 8 | Mahmoud (Last name unknown) | Paveh | Nowsud border areas | 22 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 9 | Jamal (Last name unknown) | Paveh | Nowsud border areas | 22 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 10 | Feysal Ahmadi | Paveh | Nowsud border areas | 22 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 11 | Unknown | Paveh | Nowsud border areas | 22 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 12 | Unknown | Paveh | Nowsud border areas | 22 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 13 | Unknown | Paveh | Nowsud border areas | 22 May | Injured | Shot by border forces |
| 14 | Salam Esmaeilpour | Bayangan | Nowsud border areas | 25 May | Died | Heart failure |
Landmine explosions
| Name | Location of Incident | Date of incident | Status | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aziz Morad Shams | Salas-e Babajani | 9 May | Killed | 43-year-old security guard of a dam |
Detentions and arrests
| Name | Detention location | Detention date | Activity | Location held and latest status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahmad Gholami | Sivech village in Baneh | 1 May | Civilian | Released on bail |
| 2 | Rasoul Obeydi | Sivech village in Baneh | 1 May | Civilian | Released on bail |
| 3 | Keyvan Zandkarimi | Sanandaj | 7 May | Civilian | Unknown |
| 4 | Hamzeh Sajjadi | Sanandaj | 7 May | Civilian | Unknown |
| 5 | Musa Esmaeili | Piranshahr | 7 May | Civilian | Unknown |
| 6 | Peyman Ahmadian | Divandarreh | 8 May | Civilian | Unknown |
| 7 | Manouchehr Rezaei | Divandarreh | 8 May | Civilian | Unknown |
| 8 | Fatemeh Maghsoudi | Orumiyeh | 9 May | Civilian | Mother of forcibly disappeared PJAK member Edris Feqhi |
| 9 | Farzad Safikhanpour | Sanandaj | 9 May | Teachers' union activist | Released on bail |
| 10 | Fateh Osmani | Sanandaj | 9 May | Retired teacher | Unknown |
| 11 | Ali Latifi | Saqqez | Early May | Civilian | Unknown |
| 12 | Siyavash Hayati | Kermanshah | 13 May | Yarsani activist | Imprisoned at Kermanshah Central Prison to serve 1-year sentence |
| 13 | Arman Nasrpour | Dehgolan | 14 May | Civilian | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Dehgolan |
| 14 | Mohammad Danyali | Dehgolan | 14 May | Cultural activist | Taken to a security detention centre in Ilam |
| 15 | Salman Olfati | Gilan-e Gharb | 15 May | Civil rights activist | Unknown |
| 16 | Hajar Saeidi | Sanandaj | 17 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 17 | Habibollah Karimi | Sanandaj | 17 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 18 | Shadman Abdi | Sanandaj | 17 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 19 | Kamal Karimi | Sanandaj | 17 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 20 | Abdollah Kheyrabadi | Sanandaj | 17 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 21 | Eghbal Pishkari | Sanandaj | 17 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 22 | Khabat Mahmoudi | Sanandaj | 17 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 23 | Sirvan Mahmoudi | Sanandaj | 17 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 24 | Amin Gheysari | Baneh | 17 May | Sunni Kurdish cleric | Unknown |
| 25 | Eghbal Shabani | Sanandaj | 19 May | Labour activist | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 26 | Bahiyeh Karimi | Sanandaj | 20 May | Civilian | Detained for several hours during protest against arrest of labour activists |
| 27 | Dler Karimi | Sanandaj | 20 May | Civilian | Detained for several hours during protest against arrest of labour activists |
| 28 | Nasrin Karimi | Sanandaj | 20 May | Civilian | Detained for several hours during protest against arrest of labour activists |
| 29 | Zeynab Karimi | Sanandaj | 20 May | Civilian | Detained for several hours during protest against arrest of labour activists |
| 30 | Sivan Karimi | Sanandaj | 20 May | Civilian | Detained for several hours during protest against arrest of labour activists |
| 31 | Kiyan Poshkari | Sanandaj | 20 May | Civilian | Detained for several hours during protest against arrest of labour activists |
| 32 | Golaleh Poshkari | Sanandaj | 20 May | Civilian | Detained for several hours during protest against arrest of labour activists |
| 33 | Mahnaz Mohammadian | Sanandaj | 20 May | Civilian | Detained for several hours during protest against arrest of labour activists |
| 34 | Hezha Omidi | Ilam | 21 May | Cultural activist | Unknown |
| 35 | Omid Falahi | Marivan | 21 May | Civilian | Unknown |
| 36 | Arman Manbari | Sanandaj | 21 May | Athlete | Detained after being summoned to Islamic Revolutionary Court |
| 37 | Nasser Rezaei | Ahvaz | 22 May | Civilian | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Dehloran, Ilam |
| 38 | Sherko Menbari | Sanandaj | 23 May | Civilian | Unknown |
| 39 | Seyyed Fariborz Shah-Ebrahimi | Sahneh | 23 May | Yarsani activist | Unknown |
| 40 | Seyyed Farhad Zalnouri | Sahneh | 23 May | Yarsani activist | Unknown |
| 41 | Bashir Nouri | Sanandaj | 24 May | Civilian | Taken to Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Sanandaj |
| 42 | Mokhtar Menbari | Sanandaj | 29 May | Civilian | Unknown |
Prison sentences
| Name | Resident of | Charged with | Date sentenced | Issuing court | Sentence | Explanation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ebad Habibi | Sanandaj | Propaganda against the state | Early May | Branch One of Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj | 1 year suspended imprisonment | Civil rights activist | |
| 2 | Bapir Barzeh | Piranshahr | Propaganda against the state | 2 May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | 1 year in prison | Former political prisoner | |
| 3 | Seyyed Jalal Akbari | Sarvabad | Propaganda against the state | 10 May | Special Clerical Court in Hamadan | 2 year suspended imprisonment | Imam of a mosque in the village of Degagah in Sarvabad | |
| 4 | Mohammad Abbaszadeh | Ilam | Blasphemy and spreading lies | 10 May | Branch 101 of Criminal Court Two in Ilam | 6 months and one day imprisonment, payment of 24 million Rials fine and supplementary punishment | Artist | |
| 5 | Fateh Majidi | Baneh | Propaganda against the state | 10 May | Branch 101 of Criminal Court Two in Baneh | 4 months of imprisonment, 2 months of which suspended | ||
| 6 | Saeid Mohammadi | Baneh | Propaganda against the state | 10 May | Branch 101 of Criminal Court Two in Baneh | 4 months of imprisonment, 2 months of which suspended | ||
| 7 | Sohrab Avizkan | Mahabad | Assembly and collusion with the intention of disrupting national security and disrupting public order and peace | Mid May | Islamic Revolutionary Court in Mahabad | 3 years of imprisonment and 3 years of exile to Zanjan | ||
| 8 | Mohammad (Shirzad) Azar-Barzin | Piranshahr | Carrying a home-made Molotov cocktail, disobeying a government official, participating in disturbing public order and peace | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | Total of 22 months and 17 days of imprisonment, payment of two million Rials in fine, 40 lashes | ||
| 9 | Vafa (Abdollah) Rasouli-Azar | Piranshahr | Intentionally burning the banner of the secret service, disobeying government officials, participating in disturbing public order and peace. | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | Total of 25 months and 48 days of imprisonment and 40 lashes | ||
| 10 | Abdolsami Rasouli | Piranshahr | Participating in the destruction and looting of wheat stores and participation in disrupting public peace and order | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | Total of three years, seven months and 32 days of imprisonment and 40 lashes | ||
| 11 | Taha Rasoulian | Piranshahr | Disturbing public order and peace | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | 3 months imprisonment and 40 lashes | Sentence converted into a fine of fifty million Rials | |
| 12 | Sina Dashmir | Piranshahr | Disturbing public order and peace | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | 3 months imprisonment and 40 lashes | Sentence converted into a fine of fifty million Rials | |
| 13 | Ahmad Abdollahpour | Piranshahr | Disturbing public order and peace | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | 3 months imprisonment and 40 lashes | Sentence converted into a fine of fifty million Rials | |
| 14 | Mohsen (Mostafa) Ghaderi | Piranshahr | Disturbing public order and peace | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | 3 months imprisonment and 40 lashes | Sentence converted into a fine of fifty million Rials | |
| 15 | Chia Shahid-Aghdam | Piranshahr | Unauthorized movement from the borders of the country | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | Payment of 50 million Rials fine | ||
| 16 | Abdollah Ghanbarivand | Piranshahr | Participation in making 20 pieces of hand-made Molotov cocktails | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | 6 months imprisonment and payment of 2 million Rials fine | ||
| 17 | Mahmoud Ghanbarivand | Piranshahr | Supervising the production of a shotgun etc. | Mid May | Branch 102 of Criminal Court Two in Piranshahr | Total of 7 years and 6 months of imprisonment | Reduced to 4 years of imprisonment, half of which is suspended | |
| 18 | Madeh Karami | Huyeh village in Sanandaj | Propaganda against the state and disturbing the public mind | 21 May | Special Clerical Court in Hamadan | 1 year of imprisonment, suspended for 2 years | Imam of the village of Huyeh in Sanandaj | |
| 19 | Khadijeh Mehdipour | Ilam | Spreading lies in cyberspace with the intention of disturbing public opinion | 23 May | Branch 103 of Criminal Court Two in Ilam | 3 months and 1 day in prison | Former political prisoner | |
| 20 | Abdoljabbar Lotfi | Sanandaj | Propaganda against the state and disturbing the public mind | 24 May | Special Clerical Court in Hamadan | 7.5 months of imprisonment, 74 lashes and revocation of clerical status | Teacher and imam at the Ershad mosque in Sanandaj | |
| 21 | Fakhraddin Ebrahimi | Orumiyeh | Damaging glass of the security door of Court of Appeals | Late May | Branch 113 of Criminal Court Two in Orumiyeh | 1 year imprisonment and 2 years suspended imprisonment | Son of executed Kurdish political prisoner Mohyeddin Ebrahimi | |
| 22 | Omar Soleimani | Baneh | Membership of a Kurdish opposition party to the Iranian government and propaganda against the state | Late May | Branch 101 of Criminal Court Two in Baneh | 2 years suspended imprisonment | Labour activist | |
| 23 | Rebwar Talebi | Baneh | Membership of a Kurdish opposition party to the Iranian government | Late May | Branch 101 of Criminal Court Two in Baneh | 3 months imprisonment and 1 year suspended imprisonment | ||
| 24 | Mohammad Sharifpour Bayandareh | Baneh | Membership of a Kurdish opposition party to the Iranian government | Late May | Branch 101 of Criminal Court Two in Baneh | 4 months imprisonment and 1 year suspended imprisonment |
