3 More Kurdish Individuals were Arrested by Iranian Forces: The Number of Detainees Rise up to 13 Cases 

Hengaw, Thursday, May 2, 2024

With the arrest of at least three more Kurdish individuals identified as Rahim Rafati, Omid Rashidpak, and Fakhreddin Modarresi in Oshnavieh (Shno), West Azerbaijan province (Urmia), the number of detentions in this city has reached 13 over the past three days.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Thursday, May 2, 2024, the intelligence forces of the Revolutionary Guards raided the private residences of Omid Rashidpak from "Aliabad" village, Fakhreddin Modarresi from "Dehshams" village, and Rahim Rafati from Oshnavieh and took them into custody.

According to informed sources in Oshnavieh, the detentions took place without any judicial warrant, and these individuals were violently transferred to undisclosed locations by the intelligence forces of the IRGC.

Earlier, Hengaw published a report regarding the detention of 10 other individuals in Oshnavieh. The identities of these individuals have been verified as: Yousef Haji Khosh, Salah Ghazi, Hesam al-Din Mahmoudi, Mohammad Sultanpour, Ghafoor Sheikh Mohammadi, Jafar Rasouli, Hassan Rasouli, Mowloud Rosta, Hadi Laweh, and Ako Ebrahimi.

Hengaw has learned that these individuals have been taken into custody due to their participation in Nowruz-related ceremonies, and the detentions were carried out in a violent manner.

Until the preparation of this news, there was no information available about these individuals' fates and whereabouts. There is a possibility of increasing the number of detentions.