Human rights situation during Hassan Rouhani’s second four-year presidential term in Iranian Kurdistan

Hengaw: Simultaneously with the Iranian presidential election, Hengaw has prepared a statistical report on human rights violations in Iranian Kurdistan During Hassan Rouhani's second four-year presidential term.

According to the statistics registered in the Statistics and Data Documentation Center of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, from June 2017 to June 2021 and During Hassan Rouhani's second four-year presidential term, at least 256 Kurdish citizens were executed. More than 909 Kolbars and local Kurdish tradesmen also known as “Kasibkar” were killed and wounded.

Execution of 256 Kurdish citizens:

According to statistics registered in the Statistics and Data Documentation Center of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, since June 2017 at least 256 Kurdish citizens have been executed in Iranian prisons During Hassan Rouhani's second four-year presidential term.

Of those executed, 11 were women and 245 were men. Also, 7 of them were under the age of 18 years old at the time of committing the crime.

In the last four years, 20 Kurdish citizens have been executed for political and religious activities, 183 citizens for premeditated murder, 51 citizens for drug trafficking-related crimes, and 2 citizens for rape.

During this period, the execution of at least 7 Kurdish citizens was carried out in public in the cities of Khuy, Ilam and Salmas, and Islamabad-e-Gharb,

909 Kolbars and Tradesmen killed and wounded:

According to statistics registered in the Statistics and Data Documentation Center of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, During Hassan Rouhani's second four-year presidential term, at least 909 Kolbars and tradesmen were killed and wounded on the borders of Kurdistan, of whom 274 were killed and 662 injured.

Nearly 78% of the Kolbars and tradesmen who were killed or wounded were directly shot by the Iranian Armed Forces (185 killed and 522 wounded).

Also, at least 14 Kolbars under the age of 18 years old were killed and 9 were injured during this period.

416 Kurdish civilians killed and injured:

According to statistics registered in the Statistics and Data Documentation Center of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, at least 36 civilians have been killed and 37 others wounded by direct fire from the Iranian security forces in different cities of Iranian Kurdistan over the past four years.

Also At least 43 Kurdish citizens were killed and more than 300 were injured during the November 2019 protests over the raising of gasoline prices.

Detention of 2690 Kurdish citizens:

According to statistics registered in Statistics and Data Documentation Center of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, During Hassan Rouhani's second four-year presidential term, at least 2,690 Kurdish citizens were arrested by the security services of the Islamic Republic of Iran, of which 163 were female activists and 62 were juveniles under the age of 18 years old.

Also during this period, 24 teachers and university professors, 67 media activists, 66 student activists, and 7 lawyers were arrested in different cities of Iranian Kurdistan.

Of those arrested, 1,777 were arrested on charges of political activities and collaborating with Kurdish opposition parties, 368 on charges of civil rights activities, 202 on charges of religious activities, and 143 on charges of labor or Kolbars rights activities.

Kurdish activists were sentenced to more than 2,600 years in prison and 23 death sentences

According to statistics registered in Statistics and Data Documentation Center of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, During Hassan Rouhani's second four-year presidential term, at least 710 Kurdish activists have been sentenced to a total of 2,632 years and 11 months in prison for political, religious, civil, and labor activities over the past four years, and one citizen has been sentenced to life in prison.

Also, during this period, 23 Kurdish political and religious activists have been sentenced to death by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

During this period, 85 Kurdish activists were sentenced by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to a total of 5,302 lashes.

The situation of prisoners in Kurdistan

According to statistics registered in Statistics and Data Documentation Center of Hengaw Human Rights Organization, During Hassan Rouhani's second four-year presidential term, at least 77 Kurdish prisoners died in prisons in Iran and other cities in Kurdistan.

According to the statistics, out of a total of 77 prisoners who died, 14, or more than 18%, were political prisoners.

22 prisoners have died under torture. Also, 31 prisoners died due to lack of medical care or delay in transfer to medical centers. 6 suicides were recorded, 3 were directly fired by security forces, and three were suspected deaths.

Despite claims by Islamic Republic officials regarding the independence of the Judicature, the Ministry of Intelligence of Hassan Rouhani's government is one of the main violators and defendants of fundamental human rights violations in Kurdistan. He also emphasizes that despite some differences between the security services in other parts of the country in Kurdistan, there is full coordination in the gross repression of civil rights and individual freedoms between the security services.