For more of the latest Kurdish news, see these sources:
ANF English https://anfenglishmobile.com/
Al-Monitor https://www.al-monitor.com
CHRI https://www.iranhumanrights.org/
Esta https://esta.krd/en
HANA https://hana-hr.org/
Hawar News https://hawarnews.com/en/
Hengaw https://hengaw.net/en
HRANA https://www.en-hrana.org
Iran Human Rights https://iranhr.net/en/
KHRN http://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en
KMMK https://kmmk-ge.org/
Kurdistan Press Agency https://kurdpa.net/en
Kurdistan24 https://www.kurdistan24.net/en
Rudaw https://www.rudaw.net/english
NEWS
- Hengaw alerts that the life of Four inmates in Sanandaj, convicted of insurrection are in imminent risk
- Hamzeh Darvish Receives 14-Year Exile Prison Sentence
- Under pressure, Soheila Mohammadi, a political prisoner, ended her strike by opening her sewn lips
- Wildfire in Mariwan continues to rage
- 8 Kolbers were injured by border regiment troops In Nosud
- Kurdish political woman prisoner goes on hunger strike in Urmia Central Prison
- Kurdistan battling alarming forest fires, activists allege human involvement
- Iran demands U.N. to disarm Iranian-Kurdish opposition parties in Iraq
- 11 Baluchi men executed in Iran as morality police returns to streets
- Khorramabad: The execution of at least three prisoners, including a child, has been carried out
- Journalists Shafiei and Sultanbeigi sentenced to four years in prison in Iran
- 42 people were arrested in the village of Aqdara، Takab
- Iran: Unprecedented heat wave triggers emergency holidays
- Javanrud; Arrest of Yaser Nouri, Environmental Activist by Security Forces
- Waran Mohammad Nejad, a graduate and cultural advocate, was sentenced to imprisonment
- No news from actor Sadeghi 11 days after his detention
- Elementary school closed over social media posts in
- Iran intensifies crackdown on women defying hijab laws: Amnesty
- 7 Kurdish activists injured extinguishing field fire in Mariwan
- Four police officers killed in South East Iran
- We have not tried to use Kurdistan Region as battlefield for our fight against Iran: KDPI spox
- Kurdish political prisoner Zeynab Jalalian denied medical care
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Rajai Shahr Prison Closure; Intentional Destruction of Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity
- U.S. Denounces Iranian Restrictions on Women
- Political Executions Surge in Iran as Government Seeks to Silence All Dissent
- Lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh Sentenced to Prison for Letter to UN Secretary-General
- Final declaration of the Kurdish conference in Lausanne
- Jailed Rapper Tortured, Forced into Psychiatric Center After Demanding Justice
- New details of the government’s assassination of Mousa Esmaeili have emerged, revealing that he was killed one day after being arrested and as a result of ‘multiple brain injuries and internal bleeding’ under torture
REPORTS
- Hengaw’s in-depth report on Devastating and Expanding Wildfires in Forests and Meadows of Marivan
- At least 225 people arrested in Iran in July
- 225 citizens arrested by the Iranian government forces in July 2023
- July 2023: Human rights violations in Iranian Kurdistan
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NEWS
- Hengaw alerts that the life of Four inmates in Sanandaj, convicted of insurrection are in imminent risk
09 August 2023 | Hengaw
Concerns have been raised by human rights activists regarding the potential execution verdicts for four individuals accused of “moharebeh” (enmity against God) during the past year’s nationwide protests in Sanandaj.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2023/08/hengaw-alerts-that-the-life-of-four-inmates-in-sanandaj-convicted-of-insurrection-are-in-imminent-risk
- Hamzeh Darvish Receives 14-Year Exile Prison Sentence
09 August 2023 | HRANA
This decision was reached based on a verdict issued by presiding Judge Ahmad Darvish Goftar on July 30. According to the judgment, Darvish has been sentenced to five years for “assembly and collusion against national security,” five years for “assisting in deliberate destruction to defy the regime,” two years for “insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran,” and two years for “insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
https://www.en-hrana.org/hamzeh-darvish-receives-14-year-exile-prison-sentence/
- Under pressure, Soheila Mohammadi, a political prisoner, ended her strike by opening her sewn lips
09 August 2023 | Hengaw
Suheila Mohammadi, a Kurdish political prisoner in the Central Prison of Urmia, ended her hunger strike by opening her sewn lips under the pressure and threats of the intelligence department.
- Wildfire in Mariwan continues to rage
08 August 2023 | ANF
Devastating forest fires have been blazing for days in the Kurdish settlement areas of Iran, particularly affecting the nature reserves in Mariwan. In the area surrounding Lake Zrêbar (Zarivar) in the west of the city alone, around 500 hectares of vegetation were destroyed by the flames, according to the environmental organisation Chya Sabz.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/wildfire-in-mariwan-continues-to-rage-68691
- 8 Kolbers were injured by border regiment troops In Nosud
08 August 2023 | HANA
According to the reports received by the colleagues of Hana human rights organization: on the evening of Sunday, August 6, 2023, more than 8 Kolbers were shot by the forces of the border regiment in the border zone of Nosud and were seriously injured.
https://hana-hr.org/content/20230810-8-kolbers-were-injured-by-border-regiment-troops-in-nowsud
- Kurdish political woman prisoner goes on hunger strike in Urmia Central Prison
07 August 2023 | ANF
Soheila Mohammadi, is a Kurdish political woman prisoner from Salmas. She was sentenced to 5 years in prison for membership in the PJAK in Iran and has been in prison for 3 years. She has now started a protest in the Urmia Central Prison.
- Kurdistan battling alarming forest fires, activists allege human involvement
07 August 2023 | KHRN
After several days of relentless efforts by environmental activists and teams dispatched from various cities in Kurdistan, the raging wildfires that devastated the forests of Marivan, Kurdistan province, continue to pose a significant challenge.
Kurdistan battling alarming forest fires, activists allege human involvement
- Iran demands U.N. to disarm Iranian-Kurdish opposition parties in Iraq
05 August 2023 | ESTA
According to the official IRNA news agency, Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq, Kazem Al-e-Sadegh, has conveyed concerns to the U.N. special envoy to Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, regarding the Iranian Kurdish groups who have bases in the Kurdistan Region.
- 11 Baluchi men executed in Iran as morality police returns to streets
03 August 2023 | Al-Monitor
Coinciding with the return of Iran’s morality police to the nation’s streets to enforce the mandatory hijab for women, Iranian authorities appear intent on continuing an execution spree targeting this week the Baluch minority.
- Khorramabad: The execution of at least three prisoners, including a child, has been carried out
02 August 2023 | Hengaw
The death sentences of two prisoners from Kuhdasht, including 19-year-old Mohammad Javad Akbari and Kianoush Timuri, and another prisoner named Sharif Akbari from Nurabad, were carried out in Parsilon prison in Khorramabad.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2023/08/khorramabad-the-execution-of-at-least-three-prisoners-including-a-child-has-been-carried-out
- Journalists Shafiei and Sultanbeigi sentenced to four years in prison in Iran
02 August 2023 | ANF
Journalists Saeedeh Shafiei and Nasim Sultanbeigi have been sentenced to four years in prison in Iran for their reporting on the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” revolution. After their detention, they are not allowed to leave the country for two years.
- 42 people were arrested in the village of Aqdara، Takab
01 August 2023 | HANA
In the morning of Sunday, June 31, 2023, the security forces of the special unit attacked the houses of the people of Agdare village of Takab city and arrested many people and destroyed the people’s property.
https://hana-hr.org/content/20230810-42-people-were-arrested-in-the-village-of-aqdara-takab
01 August 2023 | Al-Monitor
Iranian authorities declared Tuesday and Wednesday emergency holidays to mitigate the “health” implications of the ongoing heat wave gripping almost the entire nation, with average temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Javanrud; Arrest of Yaser Nouri, Environmental Activist by Security Forces
30 July 2023 | Kurdpa
On Saturday, July 29th, Yaser Nouri, an environmental activist from Javanrud, was arrested by security forces and taken to an undisclosed location.
https://kurdpa.net/en/news/2023/07/31
- Waran Mohammad Nejad, a graduate and cultural advocate, was sentenced to imprisonment
29 July 2023 | Hengaw
Waran Mohammad Nejad, a graduate student from Sanandaj who was arrested during the revolutionary movement of “Jin, Jian, Azadi,” has been sentenced to imprisonment by the Revolutionary Court of Sanandaj. She is an active member of the Nojin NGO, a cultural-social association in Sanandaj.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2023/07/waran-mohammad-nejad-a-graduate-and-cultural-advocate-was-sentenced-to-imprisonment
- No news from actor Sadeghi 11 days after his detention
28 July 2023 | ANF
Actor Mohammad Sadeghi, who was battered and detained during a live broadcast in which he criticized the oppression policies against women in Iran, has not been heard from for 11 days.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/culture/no-news-from-actor-sadeghi-11-days-after-his-detention-68514
- Elementary school closed over social media posts in
27 July 2023 | KHRN
The license for Artina Preschool and Sports Elementary School in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, has been revoked, and it has been permanently closed by the province’s Supervision Council of Schools and Nongovernmental Centres.
https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/elementary-school-closed-over-social-media-posts-in-sanandaj/
- Iran intensifies crackdown on women defying hijab laws: Amnesty
26 July 2023 | Rudaw
Iran has been intensifying its crackdown on Iranian women and girls defying the country’s strict hijab laws, Amnesty International warned in a new report released on Wednesday. Widespread antigovernment protests engulfed Iran in September 2022 following the death of Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in police custody over allegedly violating the Islamic republic’s hijab laws.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/26072023
- 7 Kurdish activists injured extinguishing field fire in Mariwan
25 July 2023 | ANF
7 Kurdish activists were seriously injured while responding to a field fire in the city of Mariwan in Rojhilat (East Kurdistan) in Kurdistan province of Iran. According to reports from the ground, the field fire raging in the region of Kaniya Mîran for days was started by ‘Revolutionary Guards’.
- Four police officers killed in South East Iran
24 July 2023 | ANF
Unidentified gunmen killed four police officers in south-eastern Iran on Sunday. Tasnim reported that a police patrol was ambushed in the provinces of Sistan and Balochistan. The news agency, which is considered the mouthpiece of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, spoke of a “terrorist attack”.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/four-police-officers-killed-in-south-east-iran-68449
- We have not tried to use Kurdistan Region as battlefield for our fight against Iran: KDPI spox
24July 2023 | Rudaw
Spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) said that Tehran’s demand for the group to lay down its weapons and cease its activities on the border areas needs to come with a security guarantee for the party’s members and institutions, stressing that the KDPI uses arms to defend itself, not to attack Iran.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/interview/24072023
- Kurdish political prisoner Zeynab Jalalian denied medical care
23 July 2023 | ANF
Iran’s only woman political prisoner serving a life sentence, Kurdish activist Zeynab Jalalian, has been threatened and coerced into making forced confessions and expressing remorse by interrogators from the Ministry of Intelligence.
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Rajai Shahr Prison Closure; Intentional Destruction of Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity
07 August 2023 | IHR
State media have reported the evacuation and closure of Rajai Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison. This is while the prison is the site of the mass atrocities committed throughout the 1980s and the 1988 prison massacre of political prisoners. Last year, a Swedish court sentenced Hamid Noury to life imprisonment for his role in the massacre at the prison.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6130/
- U.S. Denounces Iranian Restrictions on Women
07 August 2023 | K24
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller spoke strongly on Wednesday against the Iranian government’s restrictions on Iranian women. The death last September of the young Kurdish woman, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini…
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/32223-U.S.-Denounces-Iranian-Restrictions-on-Women
- Political Executions Surge in Iran as Government Seeks to Silence All Dissent
02 August 2023 | CHRI
Politically motivated executions are increasing dramatically in Iran, with at least 17 mostly young men hung in blatantly unlawful prosecutions over the last 10 months. The Islamic Republic has executed individuals for political reasons since its inception—including for the peaceful expression of dissent…
Political Executions Surge in Iran as Government Seeks to Silence All Dissent
- Lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh Sentenced to Prison for Letter to UN Secretary-General
27 July 2023 | IHR
Mohammad Seifzadeh, a veteran lawyer and one of the founders of the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran, has been sentenced to a year behind bars for a letter he signed to António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, calling for a reaction against the Islamic Republic’s execution machine.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6079/
- Final declaration of the Kurdish conference in Lausanne
24 July 2023 | ANF
The results of the two-day conference organised by Kurdish representatives on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne were announced in Lausanne at the Beaulieu Congress Centre. More than 600 delegates from the four parts of Kurdistan participated in the conference…
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/final-declaration-of-the-kurdish-conference-in-lausanne-68460
- Jailed Rapper Tortured, Forced into Psychiatric Center After Demanding Justice
24 July 2023 | CHRI
The forced psychiatric hospitalization of jailed rapper Saman Yasin in Iran shortly after he demanded due process and justice for his case highlights the Iranian government’s continued weaponization of medical treatment in order to suppress dissent, in flagrant violation of international and Iranian law.
- New details of the government’s assassination of Mousa Esmaeili have emerged, revealing that he was killed one day after being arrested and as a result of ‘multiple brain injuries and internal bleeding’ under torture
30 July 2023 | Kurdpa
Based on new details obtained from the burial permit of the Kurdish political prisoner, Mousa Esmaeili, it has been revealed that he was killed as a result of “multiple brain injuries and internal bleeding,” “severe brain and abdominal internal organ damage,” and “multiple high-velocity projectile impacts” just one day after his arrest by the Intelligence forces in Urmia.
https://kurdpa.net/en/news/2023/07/30
REPORTS
- Hengaw’s in-depth report on Devastating and Expanding Wildfires in Forests and Meadows of Marivan
07 August 2023 | Hengaw
Over the past week, an extensive wildfire has been raging in the forests of Marivan, despite relentless efforts from environmental defenders, activists, and volunteers. The fire’s depth and scope are alarming, yet relevant government agencies have not taken effective measures to control it.
- At least 225 people arrested in Iran in July
03 August 2023 | ANF
At least 225 people were arrested in Iran in July alone, with the rate of arrests increasing by 34 percent compared to June.
According to Mesopotamia Agency (MA), at least 131 of those arrested are Kurds and 19 are Baluchi.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/human-rights/at-least-225-people-arrested-in-iran-in-july-68618
- 225 citizens arrested by the Iranian government forces in July 2023
02 August 2023 | Hengaw
Based on the statistics registered in the Statistics and Documents Center of Hengaw, during July 2023, at least 225 citizens were arrested by Iranian government forces in Iran, and this figure has increased with 57 cases, equivalent to 34%, compared to June 2023, when 168 citizens were arrested.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2023/08/225-citizens-arrested-by-the-iranian-government-forces-in-july-2023
- July 2023: Human rights violations in Iranian Kurdistan
01 August 2023 | KHRN
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network’s (KHRN) recent investigations have revealed numerous cases of human rights violations against Kurdish civilians and activists from Iran in July 2023.