At least 32 Kurdish citizens and activists were arrested in July
In July of this year, at least 32 Kurdish citizens and activists were arrested by security forces in cities in western Iran.
According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, at least 32 Kurdish citizens were arrested in July of this year in the cities of Kamyaran, Sanandaj, Marivan, Saqqez, Takab, Shahindej, Oshnavieh, Mahabad, and Maku, and most of them have been transferred to security detention centers in the cities of Saqqez, Sanandaj, and Urmia and are under interrogation.
According to relatives of some of these detainees, the families' efforts to find out about the status of the detainees have been fruitless so far, and during this period, the detainees have not been able to make phone calls or meet with their families.
A recently released Kurdish citizen also told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network: "Following the recent clash between IRGC forces and members of a Kurdish opposition party in the Chaldaran region, a large number of citizens of this region have been arrested and are currently being interrogated at the IRGC's Al-Mahdi detention center in Urmia."
Based on available information, the arrested individuals are accused of "collaborating with one of the Kurdish opposition parties to the Iranian government."
On July 12 and 13, five Kurdish citizens named "Ramazan Soltanian", "Jalal Surman", "Rahim Ahmadpour", "Amir Tapora", and "Bahman Khosravi" were arrested by security forces in the cities of Urmia, Shahin Dej, Takab, and Sanandaj.
On the other hand, eight Kurdish citizens, namely "Ali Esmaeili", "Sohrab Ghaderzadeh", "Selim Shixe Nejad", "Heiman Esmaeili", "Omid Ghaderi", "Khaled Kavalani", "Asad Hassanpour", and "Younes Hassanpour", were arrested in their cities of residence on July 8th and 10th.
In a report last month, Amnesty International called 2018 the Islamic Republic's "year of shame" and announced that more than seven thousand people, including participants in demonstrations, students, journalists, women's rights activists, environmental activists, labor activists, and ethnic and religious minority rights activists, have been arrested in Iran this year.
Source: Voice of America
