Kurdistan Human Rights Network

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...

Kurdish prisoners of conscience Arash Gholizadeh and Ardavan Tahourian, who have separately gone on hunger strike in Orumiyeh Central Prison, in West Azerbaijan Province, are demanding access to medical treatment and the right to temporary leave. Gholizadeh, a Kurdish religious prisoner from Orumiyeh, who is in the third year of a 10-year sentence, began his hunger strike on 15 March, in protest at being denied...