Kamran Kazemi dies in Urmia Detention Center under unclear circumstances

Hengaw: Tuesday, March 27, 2025

Kamran Kazemi, a Kurdish detainee from Kermanshah, has died under suspicious circumstances while in custody at the Criminal Investigation Department (Agahi) detention center in Urmia. While security authorities claim he died by suicide, fellow detainees allege he was killed under torture.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Kazemi, 38, died in mid-February 2025 under unclear circumstances during his detention in the Urmia Police Investigation facility.

He had been arrested in late January 2025 on charges of theft from the residence of the director of Urmia Central Prison. Initially detained at the police facility, he was later transferred to the quarantine ward of Urmia Central Prison. Approximately a week later, he was returned to the Criminal Investigation Department.

Police authorities later contacted his family by phone and claimed that Kazemi had died by suicide, allegedly through ingesting pills.

However, multiple detainees who were present at the same time have strongly denied this version of events, stating that Kamran Kazemi died as a result of severe torture while in custody.