Kurdistan Human Rights Network

A year ago, Mahsa Jina Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, died in the custody of the morality police after being arrested over alleged “improper” hijab in Tehran. Her death ignited a wave of national protests that further challenged the Islamic Republic’s autocratic rule and exposed its human rights violations, including systematic violation of women’s rights. Her death inspired a powerful slogan, that originated...

Widespread general strike On 16 September 2023, coinciding with the first anniversary of Iran's killing of Jina Mahsa Amini and the beginning of the Jin Jiyan Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom) uprising, many cities in Kurdistan commenced their day with a widespread general strike. This general strike had been called for by Kurdish opposition parties and had garnered support from activists and civilians in Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Human...

Fardin Jafari, a 27-year-old civilian with mental disability, is in a critical condition after being shot in the head by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sniper near Aichi cemetery in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, on the afternoon of 16 September. The shooting took place on the anniversary of the government's killing of Jina Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who is buried in the Aichi...

As the anniversary of the Woman, Life, Freedom Uprising approaches, there have been reports of significant deployments of special police forces and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) units in Orumiyeh, Bukan, Mahabad, Saqqez, Divandarreh, Sanandaj, Marivan, Kamyaran, Javanrud, Kermanshah, Eslamabad-e Gharb, Ilam and Abdanan. According to information gathered by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), in recent days, thousands of anti-insurgency personnel from police forces...

Amjad Amini, the father of Jina Mahsa Amini, has been summoned and interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, four times in the past two weeks. A relative of the Amini family revealed that the most recent summons was on 11 September, during which Mr Amini was questioned for one hour. During the interrogation, the relative told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN),...

The parents of Jina Mahsa Amini have announced that they will commemorate the first anniversary of their daughter's death at her grave in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province. In a statement posted on the Instagram account of Jina Mahsa Amini's father, Amjad Amini, Mojgan Eftakhari and Amjad Amini addressed their "esteemed compatriots" and "dear sisters and brothers" to announce the details of the event. The Amini family said...

Kurdish journalist Nazila Maroofian has revealed in a phone call from Tehran's Evin prison that she was sexually assaulted and physically beaten by security forces during her latest arrest, the fourth since last year's anti-government protests. Maroofian, who was arrested on 30 August during a violent raid by security forces on her home in Tehran, said in an audio recording of a phone call that...

Iranian security forces today arrested Jina Mahsa Amini's uncle Safa Aeli in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province and took him to an undisclosed location, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Aeli was arrested without a court warrant at 13:00 local time as he was returning home when security forces raided his house. During the search, the forces confiscated some of his personal belongings and identification documents...

The first court session of Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer representing the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, took place on 29 August in Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of "propaganda activities against the state". Judge Amouzad asked Nikbakht questions about a formal complaint filed by the Ministry of Intelligence, supported by an indictment issued by the Tehran Public and Revolutionary...