Iran fiercely crackdown on mass Kurdish pro-independence rallies

Iranian security forces have detained dozens of Kurds following widespread public rallies across cities and towns of Iran’s Kurdish region, which cheered an independence referendum held by neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan on 25 September.

Iran’s Kurds poured into the streets on the eve of 25 September chanting slogans in support of the Iraqi Kurdish independence vote.

Iranian intelligence agents and security forces were taken by surprise at the sheer number of people gathering across Kurdish cities and towns, so the clampdown was not an immediate response.

However, the mass arrest of the participants has begun and continues to grow. Around 100 Kurds have since been detained or questioned, mostly civil society activists.

The presence of government troops in the main Kurdish cities and towns is alarming, local sources have said.

KHRN has obtained names and photos of some of the detained.

The situation has remained tense because Iranian troops and undercover police are all over the streets of the Kurdish areas, according to KHRN sources.

Read more: http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/iran-continued-arrests-of-kurdish-citizens-and-high-security-alert-in-various-cities-of-kurdistan/

 

Iranian Kurdish labour activist detained in Sanandaj

Iranian security forces have arrested Kurdish labour activist Saleh Nia in the city of Sanandaj.

The detained is a member of the board of directors of the Union of Free Workers of Iran.

He was arrested on 26 September and the whereabouts of his detention centre has continued to be a mystery, since his family relatives have made several requests but the Iranian authorities have not given any information on where he is being detained.

He was arrested for 19 days on charges of disseminating propaganda against the Iranian government in 2016.

He was released on bail before he was acquitted at a Sanandaj court.

Read more: http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/a-labour-activist-arrested-in-sanandaj-by-iranian-security-forces/

 

Detained Kurdish Yarsani activist remain missing in Iran

An exiled Iranian Kurdish Yarsani activist has remained missing after his arrest on 30 August.

He had an extremely brief telephone conversation with his family members to inform them of his detention at the hands of the Iranian authorities, and nothing has since been heard from and about him.

Followers of Yarsanism religion have long been persecuted in Iran because the constitution of the Islamic Republic does not recognise it as a religion, which was established in the Kurdish Hawrman region in the 13th century.

Read more: http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/a-kurdish-yarsan-activist-arrested-in-north-of-iran/

 

Two prisoners hanged on murder charges in Iran’s Orumiyeh

Two prisoners were executed in Orumiyeh on 26 September, according to KHRN information.

Meanwhile, two other prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement cells in the same prison on 25 September for execution at a later date.

However, they were taken back to their prison wards due to leniency of the families of the victims, “blood owners” (oliya-e dam).

Read more: http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/iran-two-prisoners-hanged-on-murder-charges-at-orumiyeh-central-prison/