Although two months has passed since the arrest of one of the Yarsani activists (resident of Mehr Shahr in Karaj) whose family have repeatedly inquired about his whereabouts, there is no information available on his fate.
“On December 29, Seyyed Peyman Pedrood (a Yarsani Activist and resident of Karaj) disappeared after leaving home. After his family’s follow-up, an unofficial source reported of his arrest by a security agency.” An informed source told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
According to the source, he had previously been arrested for civil activities in support of the rights of Yarsanism followers. Despite his family’s concern over his fate and their follow-ups, so far no official organisation has informed them about his arrest, whereabouts or the accountable institution.
Yari (also known as Ahle Haqq) is a religion founded by Soltan Eshagh in Kurdistan’s Hawraman region in the 13th century. Followers of the Yarsani religion mostly live in the cities of Kermanshah, Lorestan, Hamedan and a few villages near Miandoab. Jamkhane is the Yarsani place of worship, where they play the Tambourine and read Kalamkhani, verses of their holy book.
This religion has not been recognised by the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, so the followers of this religion are always deprived of their citizenship rights such as employment in governmental offices and top posts, continuing their further education and parliamentary candidate-ship.
