Amnesty International expresses concern over the "disappearance" of five Kurdish citizens
Amnesty International issued a statement criticizing the "disappearance of Kurdish citizens" and "retaliatory attacks on their families," and called for an end to such actions.
This human rights organization reported an armed clash between Revolutionary Guard officers and several members of the Komala party in early July. During this clash, Ramin Hossein Panahi, a member of the Komala party, was arrested in the city of Sanandaj, but his whereabouts are unknown.
Amnesty International's statement states that one day after Ramin Hossein Panahi's arrest, IRGC officers raided his parents' home and arrested his brother Afshin Hossein Panahi, as well as three other relatives, Anwar Hossein Panahi, Ahmad Hossein Panahi, and Zubair Hossein Panahi.
Amnesty International says that none of these individuals played a role in the clashes with IRGC officers and were detained solely for the purposes of "revenge and creating an atmosphere of fear and terror."
According to this human rights organization, the arrest of these individuals was carried out with violence and their fate and whereabouts are unknown.
Amnesty International's statement states that Ramin Hossein Panahi's family has expressed deep concern about the possibility of his "torture and extrajudicial execution."
Raha Bahreini, Iran researcher at Amnesty International, told Radio Farda about this:
"Ramin Hossein Panahi and four other members of his family have been in detention for nearly ten days, and there is no information about their fate or whereabouts. Their concerned families went to various government offices in the cities of Sanandaj, Qorveh, and Dehkalan in Kurdistan Province, but the authorities refused to confirm their arrest or announce their whereabouts, and instead subjected the families to various insults and threats."
Raha Bahraini added: "According to international law, when the authorities of a country are neither willing to confirm the arrest nor to announce their fate and whereabouts, they have committed the crime of enforced disappearance. According to international law, this is a very serious crime and places individuals at serious risk of extrajudicial execution, torture, and other serious human rights violations."
Amnesty International has called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to provide information about the fate and whereabouts of Ramin Hossein Panahi and his detained relatives.
The freedom of expression organization also called for Kurdish citizen Ramin Hossein Panahi to have access to a lawyer and appropriate medical facilities, as well as a fair trial without resorting to the death penalty.
Amnesty International continued its statement by reporting a clash between members of the Komala party and IRGC forces in Sanandaj on July 2nd. According to the report, three Komala members were killed during the clash, and a fourth member, Ramin Hossein Panahi, was injured in the clash and taken to an unknown location.
The names of the killed individuals are Hamed Seifpanahi, Behzad Nouri, and Sabah Hosseinpanahi.
According to this report, IRGC officers have threatened the families of the three killed citizens to refrain from holding any funeral or mourning ceremonies for these individuals.
Komala is an armed opposition group of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Kurdish region of Iran.
Source: Radio Farda
