MESOPOTAMIA NEWS :  A weekly brief of events that occurred in the Kurdish regions of Iran  – 17 April 2019 .  

EAST KURDISTAN (IRAN)

• According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) the total casualties of the border workers (Kolbar) since the beginning of 2019 reached 85, including 21 killed and  64 wounded. On Tuesday the Iranian border guards shot and killed a Kurdish Kolbar, Bahouz Zada near the border crossing of Khoy city between Iran and Turkey. On Sunday, near the same area, another Kolbar, Bahman Rawashani, was killed by the Iranian guard while carrying goods. On Thursday, near Chaldoran County on the Iranian -Turkish border, a group of Kolbars fell into an ambush set up by the Iranian guards resulting severe injury of one.  According to an injured Kolbar, the Iranian regime is now charging the cost of the bullets they use to shoot the Kolbars.

• After the designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist force by the U.S., the Iranian regime launched a campaign in the Kurdish region forcing a number of  Kurdish youth groups to post slogans and photos in support of the IRGC. The Iranian regime’s pressure on the Kurdish population comes after the Kurdish opposition parties supported the U.S. designation of the IRGC as a terrorist group.
• On Thursday, the appeals court of the Islamic Court of Kermanshah reaffirmed the ten year sentence against a Kurdish civilian activist, Kianosh Qaramani, for “membership of an opposition party.” In Quchan city of Khorasan province, the Islamic Revolution Court sentenced a Kurdish man for five months in prison for “cooperation with a Kurdish opposition party.” Prior to the sentence, the 30-year old Mansour Faraj was jailed for two months by the Iranian intelligence office (Ettelaat).  In Bokan, the Ettelaat arrested two Kurdish men, accusing them of membership to Kurdish parties. In Hassan Noran village of Oshnavieh (Shino) city, two members of the local council have been investigated by the Ettelaat for holding Newroz celebration in late March. The Ettelaat issued them warnings to avoid holding any Kurdish-related celebrations. Meanwhile, court hearing of a prominent Kurdish civilian activist Mokhtar Zerae started on Saturday in Sanandaj. Zerae is facing years of imprisonment for “insulting the Supreme Leader.”
• Two weeks after the floods in Iran, the situation in Mamulan and Pol Dakhtar cities of Lorestan province remain unstable. About 5,000 Kurdish workers have been out of work, while hundreds of homes were damaged. The Iranian regime’s response to the affected Kurdish cities has been much slower than the rest of the country. The Iranian regime also prevented aid to the Kurdish cities collected by the Kurds in Khanaqin, Iraqi Kurdistan.