Arrest of 50 Kurdish citizens in January 2022

Hengaw: In January 2022, at least 50 Kurdish citizens were arrested for political, civil or religiously motivated activities by forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Citing the registered statistics of the human rights organization Hengaw, at least 40 Kurdish citizens were arrested in January 2022 by forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran for political activities and cooperation with Kurdish parties. In addition, eight Kurdish citizens were arrested for civil law activities and two others for religiously motivated activities. With 36 arrests, the majority of the arrests were carried out by the Ettelaat (Iranian Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Service). The Iranian judiciary in January sentenced seven Kurdish activists to prison for political or civil activities. 

Arrests by allegation: 

Political activism: 40 arrests (80%) 
Civil activism: 8 arrests (16%) Religious activism: 2 arrests (4%) 

Arrests by province: 

West Azerbaijan Province: 25 arrests 
Kurdistan Province: 21 arrests Kermanshah Province : 4 arrests 

Arrests by: 

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC): 8 cases 
Ettelaat (IRGC Secret Service): 36 cases 
Court: 6 cases 

Place of arrests: 

Home: 30 arrests 
On the street: 4 arrests 
At work: 5 arrests 
In court: 6 Arrests
Ettelaat station (IRGC intelligence): 4 arrests 
IRGC station: 1 arrest