Kurdistan Human Rights Network

Sakineh Parvaneh, a Kurdish political prisoner serving a sentence of seven years and six months in Mashhad Prison, was transferred to the women's ward of Evin Prison in Tehran on 3 April for unspecified reasons. She had previously requested to be transferred to Quchan Prison in Razavi Khorasan Province because her family lives in the city. Parvaneh was arrested by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic...

Nayeb Askari, a Kurdish political prisoner facing the death penalty, has been returned to the general ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison after one day in solitary confinement, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Askari was placed in solitary confinement on 27 March after a verbal altercation with prison officers. The move was ordered by the prison director as a form of punishment. However,...

Kurdish political prisoner Kamran Ghassemi temporarily ended his hunger strike on 14 March after officials at Orumiyeh Central Prison in West Azerbaijan Province agreed to consider his demands. Ghassemi began the strike on 5 March in protest at the refusal of prison officials and the Ministry of Intelligence to grant him leave and conditional release. After announcing his hunger strike, Ghassemi was placed in solitary confinement...

Kurdish political prisoner Kamal Sharifi is now in his 16th year of a 30-year sentence in Minab Prison in Hormozgan Province. Despite battling various health problems acquired during his imprisonment, Sharifi has been consistently denied temporary leave and conditional release. Throughout his lengthy imprisonment, Sharifi has only been allowed one family visit. His health has been a major concern, and he has suffered two major health crises...

Kurdish political prisoner Kamran Ghassemi has entered the eighth day of his hunger strike in solitary confinement in Orumiyeh Central Prison, West Azerbaijan Province, in protest at the refusal of prison officials and the Ministry of Intelligence to grant him leave and conditional release. Ghassemi was transferred to solitary confinement after announcing his hunger strike on 5 March and has since been denied the right...

Arsalan Khodkam, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment, was temporarily released today after spending nearly six years behind bars in Orumiyeh Central Prison in West Azerbaijan Province. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Khodkam has been struggling with sight problems in recent months as a result of being denied access to specialist medical services. Prison authorities informed him in October 2023...

Kurdish political prisoners Motalleb Ahmadian and Sakineh Parvaneh have begun hunger strikes in protest at the recent execution of four Kurdish political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Ahmadian began his hunger strike on 29 January, the same day as the execution of Pezhman Fatehi, Mohammad Faramarzi, Vafa Azarbar and Mohsen Mazloum. Despite initially planning a...

Kurdish political prisoner Sakineh Parvaneh, currently serving a seven and a half year sentence in the women's section of Mashhad Central Prison, is being denied medical care and her communication with her family is being restricted, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Despite suffering from respiratory and heart problems, Parvaneh is being denied access to medical services due to opposition from the Intelligence...

Kurdish prisoners of conscience Anvar Khezri, Kamran Sheikheh, Khosrow Besharat, Davoud Abdollahi, Farhad Salimi and Ayoub Karimi, held at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Alborz Province, are facing an imminent threat of execution, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. One of the co-defendant of these prisoners, Ghassem Abasteh was executed on charges of "spreading corruption on earth" (efsad-e fel arz) took place on...