Nowruz summons and arrests continue in Kurdish areas; 19 people are detained in Sanandaj

Since the beginning of 1401 (2022 AH), a number of citizens of the Kurdish regions of Iran have been arrested for participating in Nowruz ceremonies, and according to the latest reports, "19" of these individuals are still being detained in Sanandaj.

According to Mohsen Razavi, a member of the leadership council of the "Kurdish United Front", since March 1, 2019, security agencies have summoned some cultural activists and taken a pledge from them not to be active during Nowruz, and in the city of Ilam they had also said that they could hold Nowruz ceremonies on the condition that "men and women be separated."

According to reports published by human rights websites active in western Iran, in the weeks before the start of the New Year, the district and governorate administrations had issued a notification to the executive authorities of Kurdish cities, prohibiting the holding of Nowruz ceremonies in these areas, the use of the Kurdish flag, the robe, the red rose, mixed dancing and marching of men and women, and had emphasized the use of symbols of the Iranian government in New Year ceremonies.

Mohsen Razavi said that, in continuation of pressure from security agencies, the arrest of citizens in Kurdish areas began on March 19, and in the city of Sanandaj alone, 30 people were arrested, 11 of whom have been released in recent days.

According to a member of the leadership council of the "Kurdish United Front", summons of cultural activists have continued in recent days, and in addition, other people have been arrested in the cities of Piranshahr, Oshnavieh, Piranshahr, Salmas, and Khoy, but no statistics have been provided on the number of people arrested in these cities.

According to Mr. Razavi, most of the arrested individuals, who range from a 14-year-old girl to a 75-year-old woman, were accused of wearing a "jamaneh," a type of Kurdish headscarf, comparable to the agal chaff.

On April 25, a number of political, civil, and cultural activists in Kurdistan issued a statement, emphasizing the need to release the detained individuals and the need to "change the approach towards human cultural rights and remove formal and informal restrictions."

Source: Radio Farda