- The Iranian regime executed two Kurdish political prisoners, Sabir Sheik Abdullah and Diako Rasolzada, on July 14. Abdullah and Rasolzada were charged with “membership of Kurdish opposition parties” in 2010 and were also accused of bombing a military parade in Mehabad. The Iranian regime has now executed approximately 15 Kurdish political prisoners since March 2020.
- Iranian authorities arrested six Kurds for political activism last week. Iranian security forces arrested a Kurdish environmental activist named Fateh Mohammadi in Javanrud (Jwanru).
- Additionally, Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) arrested three Kurdish men identified as Abu Baker Abdi, Pahrouz Bayzidi, and Kewan Shwani in Oshnavieh and held them without charge. Ettela’at also arrested a Kurdish man named Reza Ramazani for “insulting Iran’s sacred figures” in Kermanshah Province’s Eslamabad-e-Gharb city. Finally, Iranian authorities arrested a 16-year-old named Matin Khola in Mehabad.
- A Kurdish political prisoner from Piranshahr named Abdulwahed Ara committed suicide in Naqadeh on Saturday. Ara was sentenced to 11 years in prison for “membership of an opposition Kurdish party.” Before his suicide, Ara, like other political prisoners, was denied the temporary release that the Iranian regime has granted some prisoners to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic.
- Iranian and Turkish security forces killed three Kurdish border porters (Kolbars) last week. Last Tuesday, Islamic Republic of Iran Army (Artesh) personnel shot and killed a shepherd named Yousif Ahmadi near Sardasht in an act the Kurdish Human Rights Association (KMMK) claimed was perpetrated without cause or warning. Likewise, Iranian authorities ambushed a group of Kolbars near Kermanshah Province’s Nowdeshah District and killed a Kolbar named Ayat Yousifi. Concurrently, Iranian border guards wounded three Kolbars near Urmia. Iranian border guards also killed a Kolbar named Ibrahim Abubaker near Piranshahr and shot a number of horses and mules used by Kolbars to transport cargo in the Hawraman region. Meanwhile, Turkish border guards attacked a group of Kolbars and killed a man named Ziad Asbati near the Chaldiran District. The Iranian regime has now killed 37 Kolbars and wounded at least 99 in 2020.