Kurdistan Human Rights Network

The 2023 Sakharov human rights prize was awarded to Jina Mahsa Amini and the Jin Jiyan Azadi (Women Life Freedom) Movement at a ceremony in the European Parliament today. As Iranian security forces prevented the Amini family from leaving the country, Saleh Nikbakht, the family's lawyer, attended the ceremony on their behalf. Mozhgan Eftekhari, Jina Mahsa Amini's mother, conveyed her message at the ceremony through Mr...

Amjad Amini, the father of Jina Mahsa Amini, the posthumous winner of the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, issued a statement on 9 December revealing that the recent travel ban imposed on him and his family was ordered by the Ministry of Intelligence. On 8 December, security forces at Tehran's Emam Khomeini Airport prevented the Amini family from travelling to France to attend...

Khosrow Fathi, the son of Habibollah Fathi, a victim of the Jin Jiyan Azadi (Woman Life Freedom in Kurdish) uprising, was released from prison in Divandarreh, Kurdistan province, on 2 October on bail of 7 billion rials – nearly 14,000 USD – after spending 18 days in detention. Fathi was arrested in Divandarreh on 15 September by agents of the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic...

On the anniversary of the death of Mohsen Gheysari, one of the victims of the Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom) uprising in Ilam, Ilam Province, at least four civilians, Mohammad Hossein Gheysari (Mohsen's brother), Ali Shirkhani, Mahmoud Sadeghi, and his daughter Hedi Sadeghi, were beaten and arrested by security forces following a memorial service in Ilam on 21 September. Mohammad Hossein Gheysari and Mahmoud...

Iranian security forces continue to prevent commemorations marking the anniversary of the government's killing of civilians during last year's Jin Jiyan Azadi (Woman Life Freedom in Kurdish) uprising. The first anniversary of the killing of at least 17 civilians was disrupted on 21 September as security and military forces maintained a heavy presence in Ilam, Kermanshah, Eslamabad-e Gharb, Quchan, Divandarreh, Qazvin, Shahriar, Varamin and Karaj. The...