In a communiqué released through their website, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan reports on the arrest of at least 86 Kurds in the Bokan region of Kurdistan in Iran after participating in a general strike. No official statements have been released by Iranian authorities to confirm or deny this report.
86 civilians have allegedly [...]
From Reporters Without Borders:
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) firmly condemns the 11-year prison sentence imposed on Kurdish journalist Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand on 22 June for “activity against national security.” The organisation has also learned that the daily Tehran Emrooz was closed on 21 June, a few days after running several articles criticising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s economic [...]
The lives and safety of 2 more Kurdish activists in Iran are in danger…
Hana Abdi - charged for her involvement in Kurdish and women rights faces charges of 5 years in prison. Just this year, at least one other Kurdish activist has reportedly died in Iranian prison under torture.
Ronak Safarzadeh - charged for her involvement [...]
Human Rights Watch last week called on Iranian authorities to grant three political prisoners access to much-needed proper medical attention.
They are being held in the notorious Evin Prison, a security unit where Human Rights Watch has previously documented abuses. Cleric Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi, journalist and activist Mohammad-Sadiq Kaboudvand, and prominent human rights advocate Emad Baghi [...]
From Amnesty International:
A Kurdish boy, believed to be 16 or 17 years old at the time of execution, was executed in Iran on Tuesday. Mohammad Hassanzadeh was hanged in Sanandaj prison following his conviction for the murder, when aged about 15, of another boy, then aged 10.
A 60-year-old man, Rahim Pashabadi, also convicted of murder, [...]
Kurdish Media reports on recent statements from members of Iraqi Parliament:
London (KurdishMedia.com) 05 June 2008: As the result of the Turkish and Iranian bombardments for the last two years, 450 southern Kurdish families have been displaced, two MP’s of the Kurdistan bloc in the Iraqi Assembly stated in a press conference in Baghdad. It was [...]
From the Agence France-Presse (AFP):
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — Iranian shelling of five villages in Iraqi Kurdistan close to the border wounded at least two civilians Wednesday, a security official told AFP.
The pre-dawn bombardment of the villages near the town of Sayed Sadiq lasted two hours, said General Jabari Yawar, a spokesman for the peshmerga, the [...]
Alliance for Kurdish Rights (AKR) is concerned for the well-being and safety of civilians in the Kurdistan Federal Region in Iraq after months of heavy bombardments by the Turkish and Iranian militaries. On May 4th, 2008, the LA Times reported the destruction of another border village town, Rezga, as a result of cross-border airstrikes and [...]
The Leadership Council for Human Rights is outraged and saddened by the world’s lack of concern for the death in detention of Kurdish political activist Kaveh (Kawa) Azizpour, as information has emerged suggesting that torture by Iranian authorities caused the cerebral stroke that led to his passing.
Mr. Azizpour, 25, was originally arrested two years ago [...]
The authorities continued to suppress dissent. Journalists, writers, scholars, and women’s rights and community activists were subject to arbitrary arrest, travel bans, closure of their NGOs and harassment. Armed opposition, mainly by Kurdish and Baluchi groups, continued, as did state repression of Iran’s minority communities. Discrimination against women remained entrenched in law and practice. Torture [...]
