For more of the latest Kurdish news, see these sources:

 

ANF English https://anfenglishmobile.com/

Hawar News https://hawarnews.com/en/

Rojhelat http://rojhelat.info/en/

Komun Academy https://komun-academy.com

CHRI https://www.iranhumanrights.org/

Iran Human Rights https://iranhr.net/en/

Kurdistan Press Agency https://kurdpa.net/en

Kurdistan24 https://www.kurdistan24.net/en

Rudaw https://www.rudaw.net/english

Al-Monitor https://www.al-monitor.com

KHRN http://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en

KMMK https://kmmk-ge.org/

Hengaw https://hengaw.net/en

 

NEWS

1. 102 activists and lawyers from Eastern Kurdistan condemn invasion attacks by the Turkish state

2. Turkish air strikes target Asos mountains

3. Poverty more painful than bullets for kolbars in Iran

4. Iran threatens Telegram admins over publishing kolbar news

5. Imposing an imprisonment sentence for four participants of Haidar Ghorbani’s funeral

6. Iran court upholds death sentence for captured HPG fighter Hatem Özdemir

7. Kurdish Milad Jafari Dies Under Suspicious Circumstances in Police Custody

8. Escalation of Civil Society Crackdown; Arrests, Sentences and Summons

9. Turkey: Detained former Kurdish political prisoner faces deportation risk

10. Iran, Turkey make up most agricultural imports to Kurdistan Region

11. Releasing two teenage girls from Mahabad after torturing

12. Iran human rights report cites ‘huge progress’ despite recent violations

13. Debate on Iranian women’s access to soccer games flares up again

14. PJAK co-chair Vejîn: The people of Rojhilat see their existence thanks to leader Öcalan

15. Mesopotamia Ecology Movement: Our territory is facing an apocalypse

16. Denmark forces out asylum-seeking Kurdish woman, her twins

 

OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS

1. From a school wrestling prospect to a kolbar

 

REPORTS

1. Several human rights violations

2. Amnesty says Iranian authorities turned prisons into ‘waiting room of death’ for ill prisoners

3. March 2022: Human rights violations in Iranian Kurdistan

4. A report on the landmine victims during last year in Kurdistan

5. Arrest of 37 Kurdish citizens in March 2022

6. 33 Kolbars were killed and wounded in March 2022

 

———————

NEWS

1. 102 activists and lawyers from Eastern Kurdistan condemn invasion attacks by the Turkish state

24 April 2022 | ANF

102 activists and lawyers from Eastern Kurdistan condemned the invasion attack of the Turkish state in Southern Kurdistan in a statement. The statement said that international law was not applied to stop the ongoing violations carried out by the Turkish state…

https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/102-activists-and-lawyers-from-eastern-kurdistan-condemn-invasion-attacks-by-the-turkish-state-59522

 

2. Turkish air strikes target Asos mountains

22 April 2022 | ANF

The Turkish air force has attacked the Asos Mountains in the border area between southern and eastern Kurdistan. Reconnaissance flights are taking place over the region, where mainly PJAK is active.

https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/turkish-air-strikes-target-asos-mountains-59485

 

3. Poverty more painful than bullets for kolbars in Iran

21 April 2022 | Rudaw

Lying in a bed in one of Baneh’s hospitals in Iran’s Kurdish-majority west, the 22-year- old Mohammed Mawloodi can barely speak to people visiting him after being shot by Iranian border guards a week ago while working as kolbar, the thought of his poverty-struck family however, seems to be more painful than all the bullet wounds on his body.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/21042022

 

4. Iran threatens Telegram admins over publishing kolbar news

21 April 2022 | KHRN

At the same time as the intensification of the Iranian military forces targeting kolbars in the country’s western border areas, the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Sardasht, West Azerbaijan province, have threatened admins of Telegram news channels over publishing information on the shootings.

https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/iran-threatens-telegram-admins-over-publishing-kolbar-news/

 

5. Imposing an imprisonment sentence for four participants of Haidar Ghorbani’s funeral

20 April 2022 | Hengaw

According to a report received by Hengaw Human Rights Organization, in the recent days, four citizens from Kamyaran called Mullah Mohammad Mirza Rahmani, Borhan Kamangar, Sirvan Ghorbani, and Amanj Ghorbani have been sentenced to 91 days in prison each by Branch 101 of Criminal Court 2 of Kamyaran. This sentence has been officially notified to them.

https://hengaw.net/en/news/imposing-an-imprisonment-sentence-for-four-participants-of-haidar-ghorbanis-funeral

 

6. Iran court upholds death sentence for captured HPG fighter Hatem Özdemir

14 April 2022 | ANF

The People’s Defense Forces (HPG) fighter, Hatem Özdemir, who was captured by Iran in 2019, is to be executed. The sentence handed out to the fighter, detained in a prison in the eastern Kurdish city of Urmiye, was upheld.

https://anfenglishmobile.com/human-rights/iran-court-upholds-death-sentence-for-captured-hpg-fighter-hatem-Ozdemir-59303

 

7. Kurdish Milad Jafari Dies Under Suspicious Circumstances in Police Custody

13 April 2022 | IHR

Milad Jafari, a 25-year-old Kurdish man has died under suspicious circumstances in the custody of Shapour police station after being arrested by the police. According to his relatives, “he was tortured to obtain confessions, was bleeding from the nose and mouth, and there were bruises on his chest.”

https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5163/

 

8. Escalation of Civil Society Crackdown; Arrests, Sentences and Summons

18 April 2022 | IHR

There has been an intensification of the crackdown on civil society in Iran over the last week. Six civil and workers’ rights activists, Amir Amirgholi, Amir Abbasi, Mohammad Irannejad, Sara Asgari, Nasrollah Amirlou and Morteza Seyedi were arrested. Rasoul Bodaghi, a civil activist and member of the Teachers’ Union was sentenced to five years imprisonment, and civil activist, Soheil Arabi has been summoned to serve his two-year sentence.

https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5166/

 

9. Turkey: Detained former Kurdish political prisoner faces deportation risk

11 April 2022 | KHRN

Turkish police have detained on 7 April a former Kurdish woman political prisoner, who holds Iranian citizenship, in Kayseri, central Turkey, and have transferred her to the city’s centre for the deportation of asylum seekers.

https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/turkey-detained-former-kurdish-political-prisoner-faces-deportation-risk/

 

10. Iran, Turkey make up most agricultural imports to Kurdistan Region

11 April 2022 | Rudaw

The majority of agricultural products in the Kurdistan Region are imported as demand has increased in Ramadan, with around 70 percent coming from neighboring Iran and Turkey, head of Erbil’s fruit and vegetable market told Rudaw on Monday.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/110420222

 

11. Releasing two teenage girls from Mahabad after torturing

11 April 2022 | Hengaw

According to a report received by Hengaw Human Rights Organization, two teenage females from the village of “Kuse Kariz” in Mahabad, Parisa Sepahi, 17, and Kavyar Eliassy, 18, ​​have been released from the detention center of the Intelligence Agency in the recent days.

https://hengaw.net/en/news/releasing-two-teenage-girls-from-mahabad-after-torturing

 

12. Iran human rights report cites ‘huge progress’ despite recent violations

10 April 2022 | Rudaw

Iran submitted on Saturday its midterm report to the United Nations (UN) on the country’s human rights situation, boasting of significant progress, but recent reports by watchdogs documenting human rights violations in the country prove the contrary.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/10042022

 

13. Debate on Iranian women’s access to soccer games flares up again

08 April 2022 | Al-Monitor

The incidents of March 29 in the northeastern city of Mashhad  rekindled a dormant debate on the right of Iranian women to attend soccer matches as spectators. Iran’s national football team, which previously qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, was slated to play Lebanon in its final World Cup qualifier showdown last Tuesday. Nearly 2,000 women purchased tickets to watch the game at the Imam Reza Stadium, but in front of the venue gates, they were abruptly told they couldn’t watch the match.

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/04/debate-iranian-womens-access-soccer-games-flares-again

 

14. PJAK co-chair Vejîn: The people of Rojhilat see their existence thanks to leader Öcalan

03 April 2022 | ANF

PJAK co-chair Zilan Vejîn said that the people of Rojhilat see their existence thanks to Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, and added that PJAK has been fighting on a national and Apoist line for 19 years.

https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/pjak-co-chair-vejin-the-people-of-rojhilat-see-their-existence-thanks-to-leader-Ocalan-59075

15. Mesopotamia Ecology Movement: Our territory is facing an apocalypse

02 April 2022 | ANF

The Mesopotamia Ecology Movement issued a written statement on deforestation policies, drawing attention to the ecological massacres in the region and in Turkey .. while Iraq/ Basra’s reed beds are destroyed, Iran’s Urmia Lake is dried up, and Syria’s woods are bombed…

https://anfenglishmobile.com/articles/search?q=Iran&page=2

 

16. Denmark forces out asylum-seeking Kurdish woman, her twins

01 April 2022 | KHRN

Denmark forcibly deported a Kurdish woman, who holds Iranian citizenship, and her two children, on 29 March after their application for political asylum was rejected by the Danish government.

https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/denmark-forces-out-asylum-seeking-kurdish-woman-her-twins/

 

OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS

1. From a school wrestling prospect to a kolbar

21 April 2022 | Rudaw

Taking one last puff of his cigarette, 30-year-old Payam Rawshani reminisces about his school days as an unbeatable athletic prospect and his dreams of competing in an international tournament, as he prepares to take the treacherous path of the mountains, transporting packages as a kolbar.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/210420221

 

REPORTS

1. Several human rights violations

23 April 2022 | Kurdpa

Between 03 and 23 April 2022 at least 13 human rights violations have been reported from Iranian Kurdistan.

https://kurdpa.net/en/news?Category=Human%20Rights

 

2. Amnesty says Iranian authorities turned prisons into ‘waiting room of death’ for ill prisoners

12 April 2022 | Rudaw

A rights watchdog on Tuesday released a damning report accusing the authorities in Iran of deliberately withholding life-saving medications from fatally ill prisoners, resulting in the death of more than 90 people held in custody over the past decade.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/12042022

 

3. March 2022: Human rights violations in Iranian Kurdistan

05 April 2022 | KHRN

In March, Iranian security forces detained dozens of Kurdish activists and the individuals who organise annual Newroz (also Nowruz in Persian) celebrations in the Kurdish cities and villages in Iran.

https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/february-2022-human-rights-violations-in-iranian-kurdistan/

 

4. A report on the landmine victims during last year in Kurdistan

04 April 2022 | Hengaw

According to statistics recorded by Hengaw Human Rights Organization’s Statistics and Documentation Data Center, from April 2021 to April 2022, at least 50 citizens were killed on the borders of Kurdistan by landmines and explosives left over from the 8-year Iran-Iraq war and new mines planted by the Revolutionary Guards.

https://hengaw.net/en/news/april-4-2022-/-a-report-on-the-landmine-victims-during-last-year-in-kurdistan

 

5. Arrest of 37 Kurdish citizens in March 2022

03 April 2022 | Hengaw

According to registered statistics in the Documentation Centre of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, during March 2022, at least 37 Kurdish citizens were arrested by the Iranian government’s security agencies on charges of political and civic activities.

https://hengaw.net/en/news/arrest-of-37-kurdish-citizens-in-march-2022

 

6. 33 Kolbars were killed and wounded in March 2022

01 April 2022 | Hengaw

According to registered statistics recorded in the Documentation Centre of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, during March 2022, at least 33 Kolbars and salesmen were killed and wounded on the borders of Kurdistan, 43% of whom have victimized by direct fire from the Iranian armed forces.

https://hengaw.net/en/news/33-kolbars-were-killed-and-wounded-in-march-2022

 

Peace in Kurdistan

Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question

Email: estella@gn.apc.org

https://www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peaceinkurdistan1/

Contacts Estella Schmid: 07846 666 804 & Melanie Gingell: 07572 430903

Patrons: John Austin, Baroness Blower of Starch Green, former GS NUT, Prof Bill Bowring, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, Jeremy Corbyn MP,  Maggie Cook, UNISON women activist; Prof Mary Davis, Lord Dholakia, Simon Dubbins, UNITE International Director,  Jill Evans, former MEP, Desmond Fernandes, Lindsey German, Convenor STWC, Melanie Gingell, Christopher Gingell, Prof Dr. Michael Gunter, Secretary-General, EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC), Rahila Gupta, journalist, Nick Hildyard, policy advisor,  Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru, James Kelman, Bruce Kent, Jean Lambert, former MEP, Dr Les Levidow, Open University, Elfyn Llwyd, John McDonnell MP; Aonghas MacNeacail, Scottish Gaelic poet, Mike Mansfield QC, David Morgan, journalist, Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, GFTU, Dr. Jessica Ayesha Northey, Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Kate Osamor MP, Margaret Owen OBE, Ali Gul Ozbek, Former Councillor and Mayor of Haringey; Gareth Peirce, Dr Felix Padel, Maxine Peake, actor, Dr Thomas Phillips, Liverpool John Moores University, Trevor Rayne, writer, Joe Ryan, Bert Schouwenburg, International Trade Union Adviser; Tony Simpson, Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Stephen Smellie, PIK Trade Union Liaison Officer, Jonathan Steele, journalist,  Steve Sweeney, journalist,  Gianni Tognoni, General Secretary Permanent People’s Tribunal, Dr Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Dr Federico Venturini, Associate Researcher, University of Udine, Italy; Dr Tom Wakeford, Dr Derek Wall, Julie Ward, former MEP, Kariane Westrheim, Chair, EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC); Hywel Williams MP.