Labour activist Jalil Mohammadi, a member of the Coordination Committee for the Establishment of Workers’ Organizations, was arrested by security forces on 3 December, local sources told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Mohammadi was arrested at his workplace in Sanandaj and taken to an unknown location. No information has been released concerning the whereabouts of the activist. Mohammadi has also been summoned and detained many times over the past few years…
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Labour activist Yashar Darulshafa, who had been sentenced to five and a half years in prison in 2010, was detained by the security forces and taken to an unknown location on 21 November, a source the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). “About 20 security forces members raided on the house of a friend of Yashar Darulshafa and broke the door to arrest him. Darulshafa was…
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Labour activist Tawfiq Mahmoudi was summoned to Sanandaj Criminal Court Branch 4 to serve his one-year sentence recently, a source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). The Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj sentenced Mahmoudi to one year in prison on 11 May which has recently been upheld by the Kurdistan Regional Court of Appeal. Mahmoudi was arrested at his workplace in Sanandaj on 9 March last year and was…
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A Kurdish activist from Javanrood was taken to Dieselabad Prison in Kermanshah on October 20 to endure his four years sentence, and a labour activist was arrested and taken to “an unknown location,” a source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Kurdish activist Yaser Nouri was arrested on June 22 2015 and interrogated for about three months at the Ministry of Intelligence Detention…
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Kurdish Human Rights Network has been informed that a Kurdish labour activist has been arrested on Monday Oct 14, 2019. Faramarz Shariati from Sanandaj was arrested at his workplace by security forces on Monday Oct 14, 2019. At the time this report was published, despite frequent follow-up of Shariati’s family and their visits to the security and judicial authorities, no precise information has been provided as…
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Labour activist Kamran Sakhtemangar was transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison to serve his prison term on October 3, a source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Earlier on Aug 29, 2019, the Sanandaj Intelligence agents went to Sakhtemangar’s home to arrest, however, he was not home at that time. The security forces seized some of his family’s personal belongings, including cell phones and…
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A workers’ rights activist was taken to Sanandaj Central Prison on September 23 to serve his prison sentence, a source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). The prosecutor of Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj sentenced activist Khalil Karimi to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state” in November last year. He was charged for having participated in May…
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Two labour activists, “Seyed Ali Hosseini” and “Kamran Sakhtemangar”, were arrested by security forces in Saqqez and transferred to the Sanandaj Intelligence Bureau on Sept 4, 2019. Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has obtained information that security forces detained Sayed Ali Hosseini in his private garden near the village of Saqqez, along with another labour activist known as Kamran Sakhtemangar, on September 4. The two activists…
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Yaser Amini Azar, a Kurdish teacher and Teachers’ union activist, was sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad. This teacher was arrested by security forces in Mahabad and transferred to Ministry of Intelligence Detention Centre in Orumiyeh when he was returning home from school on Wednesday, May 7, 2019. He had been interrogated for a week about his guild activities…
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In its monthly reports, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) highlights cases of human rights violations in Kurdistan and violations of the rights of Kurdish civilians in different regions and cities across Iran.
This report includes all cases recorded and reported by KHRN from across Iran through its own sources and verification mechanisms from 1 March to 31 March.
The restrictive environment for independent human rights organisations in Iran, coupled with the pressures faced by individuals subjected to human rights violations and their families, make it difficult to publish accurate and comprehensive reports.
It is therefore important to note that the statistics and information presented in this report do not cover all cases of human rights violations. This report is the result of examining news and reports published by the KHRN and fact-checking of reports published by other human rights organisations and news websites.
Executions
According to KHRN’s findings, Iran executed at least four prisoner in March for “premeditated murder”.
Two of the prisoners were executed in Mahabad Prison, in West Azerbaijan Province, and two in Ilam Central Prison.
*Explanation: The KHRN, recognizing the fundamental right to life, publishes and records news and execution statistics without regard to the ethnic background of individuals and the location of the execution. All cases reported to the organisation by credible sources are published after thorough fact-checking.
Femicide
In the first half of March, three women were killed by their male family members in Orumiyeh and Kermanshah.
Landmine explosions
In March, landmine explosions resulted in injuries to four people, including two kolbars, in Mehran in Ilam Province, Paveh in Kermanshah Province, and Marivan in Kurdistan Province.
Kolbars and tradesmen
In March, at least five kolbars were shot dead by Iranian border guards, two died of frostbite, two died as a result of falling from the border heights, one was tortured to death by Iranian security forces, one died of a heart attack, one died in a road accident and another died as a result of the overturning of a car chased by police.
A total of 60 kolbars were injured during this period. Of these, 38 were shot by Iranian border guards, nine fell from heights at the border, four were injured in landmine explosions, three were beaten by border guards, two were beaten by Iraqi border guards, two were injured in road accidents, one was injured by stones thrown by border guards, and one was injured in a car that fell from heights at the border.
The identities of three of the kolbars injured in falls from border heights remain unknown and are therefore not included in the table in this report.
Detentions and arrests
Throughout March, Iranian forces arrested at least 20 civilians, including a child and two artists.
At least four of the detained civilians were sent to prisons in Marivan, Saqqez, Naqadeh, and Ilam to serve prison sentences.
Sentences
In the past month, Iranian courts have sentenced at least four people to punishments ranging from three months to 13 years in prison.
Security forces wound two young men
On 21 March, security forces attacked a group of young people in Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, for playing music and having fun. As a result of the forces’ shooting, two Kurdish youths, Mohammad Ahmadian and Arman Basiri, were seriously injured in the leg.
The incident took place in the Eastern Park near the historical site of Tagh-e Bostan.