The “Week in brief” by Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) is a weekly review of the most important human rights news and developments from and about Iran’s Kurdish areas.
Iran forces arrest Kurdish anti-government protesters in Kermanshah
Iranian security forces and plainclothes agents of the intelligence ministry have abducted and detained dozens of protesters who had demonstrated against government’s economic policies and demanded the release of political prisoners.
The anti-government protests have continued to grow the city of Kermanshah similar to how the protests have swept across other Iranian cities.
Local sources in Kermanshah have told the KHRN that the protesters have continued holding rallies in the centre of the city and that most of the participants are young people under the age of 25.
The police forces have shot tear gas and used batons to beat up protesters at the rallies mainly held at the city’s Azadi Square.
A family member of one a 17-year-old detained protester said that the Iranian authorities have refused to disclose information on their son’s whereabouts after he was arrested during one of the anti-government rallies.
Other sources said the detained protesters have not been allowed to contact their families from prison as of yet.
Kurdish workers rally to demand delayed salaries in Marivan
Over 200 workers of the Marivan municipality council gathered outside the council’s building to protest against delayed payment of salaries by the local authorities, sources based in the area told KHRN.
One of the workers who had taken part in the protest told KHRN that the workers have not been paid for nine months and that they have been quite until now because local government officials had promised to pay them.
The protester added that representatives of the workers were invited to meet officials of the municipality council after the protest and that the local officials promised to pay the salaries as soon as possible.
The local government officials are expected to quickly resolve this issue given the growing anti-government protests currently taking shape across the country.
Iranian forces kill Kurdish tradesperson in Mahabad
The law enforcement forces of the Islamic Republic, also known as NAJA, have shot dead Kurdish tradesperson Rahim Soleimanzadeh in the city of Mahabad.
The NAJA forces opened fire on his vehicle and killed him after they suspected him of carrying items that might have been illegally exported.
Soleimanzadeh was married and has now left two children behind, according to local sources.
The NAJA forces had taken his body to a forensic medical department of Mahabad before the body was finally buried in the city on 25 December.
Iranian Kurdish activist remain missing several days after arrest
Kurdish workers rights activist Ezat Nasri has remained missing after Iranian forces arrested him at the central square of the city of Saqqez on 23 December.
His family members and relatives have appealed to the Iranian judicial and intelligence authorities but they were given no information on why he was detained and where he has since been imprisoned.
A source told KHRN that the Iranian authorities had detained and interrogated Nasri several times over the past few years for having taken part in events that had marked international women’s and workers’ days.
Read more:http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/concern-over-the-fate-of-the-labor-activist-detainee/
