The wave of arrests against Kurdish civil society in Iran harshly affects women. Some of the women detained continue to be interrogated in Revolutionary Guard prisons.
The wave of arrests that has hit Kurdish civil society in Rojhilat since January also affects several women. At least six of a total of twelve activists who have been imprisoned along with around a hundred people since the beginning of the year are still in internment camps and prisons run by the notorious Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said. The women still in custody, according to the interviews carried out by the IRGC with families of the detainees are Darya Talebani, Asrin Mohammadi, Azimeh Naseri, Rozhin Mohammadpour, Fariba Ahmadi and Roya Jalali.
Azimeh Naseri was arrested in Bokan on January 9, according to KHRN. After her interrogation was completed, she was transferred to the women’s division of the Central Prison in Ûrmiye on February 3. She is reportedly accused of “collaborating with a Kurdish opposition party”.
Asrin Mohammadi from Sine and Darya Talebani from Mahabad were arrested by Iranian intelligence on January 9. They are still being interrogated by the Revolutionary Guard in Ûrmiye. Both activists have only had one short phone call with their relatives since their arrest. Nothing is known about their current situation, said the KHRN.
Rozhin Mohammadpour and Fariba Ahmadi, who were abducted in Bokan on January 19, are also still being held in Ûrmiye. Their families are denied contact.
There has been no information about the whereabouts of Roya Jalali, an environmental activist from Sine and a member of the “Green Kurdistan Society” organization, since her arrest on February 2. According to relatives, Jalali suffers from MS. Her family is extremely concerned about her health as she has apparently been denied access to medical treatment.
Musicians interrogated and released on bail
Five members of the Kurdish music group Gelaris, Elham Yazdanipour, Samira Farahnaki, Nastaran Yazdanipour, Nazanin Atabaki and Maliheh Moradi, were summoned to the so called “moral police” in Kirmaşan. They have been released on bail after their testimony.
17-year-old poet Arezoo Mostafaei from Merîwan was interrogated for three days by the Revolutionary Guard as part of the wave of arrests. She was later released.
The Iranian state’s pressure and arrests of Kurdish activists are continuing. Environmental activist Faranak Jamshidi, a member of the Green Kurdistan Society, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for “being a member of a Kurdish opposition party”.
