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 continues crackdown on Kurdish Afrin solidarity rallies
Iranian security forces have continued to arrest protesters who had attended rallies that condemned Turkish attacks on the Kurdish Afrin region in northwestern Syria.
Two Kurds in Bukan were arrested for having taken part in such Afrin solidarity rallies.
The Iranian authorities have so far provided no information on the fate of the two detained protesters.
The Iranian Kurdish protesters have called on Turkey to end its deadly attacks that have left hundreds of Syrian Kurdish civilians, including dozens of children, killed over the past two months
Dozens of Iranian Kurdish civil society activists were also arrested after they took part in Afrin solidarity rallies in the cities of Marivan and Kamyaran, according to KHRN sources.
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Dozens detained for Afrin solidarity rallies across Iran’s Kurdish cities
KHRN has learnt that at least eight people have been arrested in Iran’s Kurdish Kamyaran city for having taken part in a local protest that condemned Turkish attacks on Syrian Kurds and called for solidarity with the Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin.
KHRN activists and sources have only identified one of the detained, Mansour Seifi, who is also known as Mansur Kormanaj.
He is from the village of Drooyan near the city of Kamyaran.
Members of the security forces raided his home at the village and took some of his personal belongings as well after they searched the house.
Kamyaran judicial authorities had charged the detained Kurds before they were taken to an unknown location.
Meanwhile, the Iranian security forces in Kurdish Marivan released nine civil society activists on bail after their detention for having taken part in an Afrin solidarity demonstrations.
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Twelve injured after football match turns into Afrin protest in Bukan
Iranian security forces wounded at least 12 Kurdish football fans after a match between Sardar Bukan and Bandar Abbas teams at Kthe hatam al-Anbiya Stadium of Bukan turned into a protest against Turkish attacks on Syrian Kurds of Afrin.
An eyewitness said a football fan had gone to the pitch at the end of the game and that police and security forces had beaten him up.
Other fans had gone to the pitch to help the person who had been beaten up by the security forces, while other fans had began to shout out slogans against Turkish attacks on Syrian Kurds.
Police used batons and tear gas wounding at least 12 people at the sports stadium.
The city’s governor and a local MP have also issued statements on the incident.
Read more:
http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/law-enforcement-forces-beat-sardar-bukan-teams-football-fans/
Kurdish female political prisoner in letter reveals torture
A Kurdish female political prisoner imprisoned for life, Zeynab Jalalian, has sent a letter from her prison to mark International Women’s Day and reveals that she was severely tortured while held at a pre-trial detention in Iran’s mainly Kurdish Kermanshah city.
In her letter, a copy of which was sent to KHRN, she says: “They tore apart my clothes, blind-folded me, chained my arms and legs to the bed and terribly tortured me. My feet were terribly swollen as a result of being flogged with cables. They tortured me so much that I felt numb, I lost control.”
She adds: “I, Zeynab Jalalian, am a woman who has witnessed hundreds of crimes of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran inside jail and witnessed slander, insult, torture and, worst of all, the execution of tens of my fellow prisoners. Is there any inferior pain than witnessing such things?”
Read the full letter here:
http://kurdistanhumanrights.net/en/a-letter-from-zeynab-jalalian-on-international-womans-day/
Iran forces arrest seven Kurds over Newroz celebrations in Marivan
The Iranian authorities prevented residents of the village of Nay near the city of Marvan from celebrating Newroz New Year in a Kurdish a traditional way and arrested seven villagers who had attempted to hold such a celebration in public.
Iranian security forces had fired tear gas to disperse a local crowd who had gathered for the celebration on 20 March.
The village youths had tried to resist and confronted the security forces for several hours.
A group of organisers On 22 March had gathered with the locals to celebrate the event but police and security forces had once again fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse the locals, including children.
The security forces have since detained seven villagers for having tried to organise the local Newroz party their way.
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