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...

Eight Kurdish activists and civilians have been temporarily released on bail in recent days from the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj and Saqqez prison in Kurdistan Province, and Evin Prison in Tehran, Tehran Province. Samira Ahmadi, Safa Aeli, Azad Amini, Omid Moghaddas, Hiwa Tataei, and Hiwa Jahani were temporarily released from Sanandaj and Saqqez prisons on 17 October, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has...

Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer representing the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, has been sentenced to one year in prison and banned from social media for two years by Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The court, presided over by Judge Amouzad, convicted Nikbakht of the charge of "propaganda against the state", the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Nikbakht's lawyer, Ali Rezaei,...

One month after the arrest of Safa Aeli, the uncle of Jina Mahsa Amini, his family remains in the dark about his current status. Aeli's family have made several visits to courts and security authorities in Saqqez and Sanandaj in Kurdistan province over the past month, but have yet to receive a clear answer about his situation or the charges against him. Since his arrest, Aeli...

The second trial session of Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer representing the family of Jina Mahsa Amini, took place on 2 October at Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of "propaganda activities against the state". During the session, which was attended by Saleh Nikbakht and his defence lawyer, Ali Rezaei, Judge Amouzad presented written questions to Mr Nikbakht, who provided answers...

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...