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 shoot dead a Kurdish tradesperson in Orumiyeh

Iranian armed forces have opened fire on two civilian Kurdish tradesmen and killed one of them while the other escaped in the Al-Wassan area of Orumiyeh Province.

The Kurdish tradesmen had no illegal items in their possession, sources told KHRN.

The live-round shooting had killed 28-year-old Iranian Kurdish tradesperson Rebar Nami Erbilan on the spot.

He was married and has left behind two young children.

The Iranian troops had left his body abandoned in the area after the shooting.

The locals and his relatives had found Erbilan’s dead body the following day after they had searched the area for several hours, according to local sources.

Read more: http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/a-kurdish-tradesman-killed-by-iranian-military-forces-in-orumiyeh/

 

Iranian Kurdish activist sentenced to over eight years in prison

An Islamic Revolutionary Court has sentenced a Kurdish activist to over eight years behind bars on anti-state propaganda charges.

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj sentenced Kurdish activist Afshin Hussein Panahi to eight-and-a-half-years in prison.

He and his relatives Ahmad and Zubair Hussein Panahi were tried together at the Branch 3 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj.

However, court documents show that only Afshin Hussein Panahi has been sentenced.

The court charged him with propaganda against the state and cooperation with an outlawed Kurdish political party.

Afshin Hussein Panah is known to have participated in NGO activism.

He was previously imprisoned for one year on charges of having made propaganda against the state.

Meanwhile, his family has heard no information about the fate of his brother Ramin Hussein Panahi.

Ramin Hussein Panah, a member of the outlawed Kurdish Komala party, was captured after he was wounded in clashes with Iranian IRGC forces.

Read more: http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/afshin-hussein-panahi-sentenced-to-8-and-a-half-years-of-imprisonment-still-no-news-about-the-fate-of-ramin-hossein-panahi/

 

Suicide rises among women in Iran’s Kurdish areas

A 60-year-old Kurdish woman has committed suicide in the Paeh area and recent reports show a rise in suicide among women in Iran’s Kurdish areas.

The 60-year-old woman had suffered from depression and committed suicide through self-immolation, a source told KHRN.

Prior to this incident, two other Kurdish women committed suicide in the Sanandaj area also due to depression, sources said.

Unemployment, lack of adequate services and development has contributed to a rise in depression illnesses among women in Iran’s Kurdish areas, according to KHRN sources.

Nonetheless, another reason behind the spread of deadly depression is also the regressive Kurdish traditional cultural norms that no longer answer the needs of the new generation of Kurdish women in Iran.

Read more: http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/iran-a-woman-commits-suicide-through-self-immolation-in-paveh/