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…
Read moreHassan Omarpour, a Kurdish prisoner serving a 10-year sentence in Orumiyeh Central Prison, began a hunger strike on 14 April to demand a retrial and to protest insults against his family by the prosecutor of Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Omarpour was transferred to solitary confinement on 15 April following the start of his hunger strike and…
Read moreKurdish civil rights activist Khadijeh Mehdipour was detained by the Morality Police at Tehran’s Nabard metro station on 16 April for wearing non-conforming clothing. Mehdipour, a former political prisoner originally from Eyvan-e Gharb in Ilam Province who lives in Tehran, was released after a few hours in custody. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Morality Police officers beat Mehdipour during her arrest and…
Read moreMunicipal authorities in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, today sealed off a bookstore called Zhira, citing “non-compliance with Islamic hijab”, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. The bookstore, run by Zhina Modares Gorji, a former political prisoner and women’s rights activist, was closed under Articles 27 and 28 of the Guild Regulation Law. On 15 April, the authorities notified Modares Gorji of the impending closure, giving…
Read moreKurdish civilian Bahman Naderi has been sentenced to six months in prison and a fine of 80 million rials (nearly 115 USD) by Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, on charges of “propaganda against the state”. Naderi, from Kermanshah, was arrested by agents of the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Kermanshah on 12 September 2023,…
Read moreWhereabouts of Kurdish retired teacher and civil rights activist Salman Olfati, who was arrested by the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Gilan-e Gharb, Kermanshah Province, on 12 April, remain unknown. Olfati, 60, was arrested on a street in Gilan-e Gharb and taken to an undisclosed location. IRGC intelligence agents also conducted a raid on the activist’s family home without presenting a…
Read moreTwo kolbars were killed by gunfire from Iranian border guards in separate incidents in the border areas of Bitush in Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province, and Bastam in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, on 13 April. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that a group of kolbars in the mountainous areas of Bitush village in Sardasht were targeted by border guards, resulting in the death of…
Read moreSaman Oveysi, a 21-year-old Kurdish civilian, has been detained following a telephone summons to the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, in recent days. Details of Oveysi’s place of detention and the specific charges against him remain unknown at this time. Over the past three weeks, at least 19 Kurdish civilians and activists have been arrested in the…
Read moreKamal Lotfi, the father of Reza Lotfi, one of the protesters killed during the anti-government uprising of Women, Life, Freedom in Dehgolan, Kurdistan Province, was arrested on 9 April and taken to an undisclosed location. This is Lotfi’s second detention, following his first arrest by security forces in April 2023, from which he was later released on bail. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned…
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