Hengaw special report: Grave violations in Kurdistan amid Iran-Israel ceasefire
Hengaw – Sunday, June 29, 2025
Following the outbreak of war between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel, a widespread wave of repression and mass arrests has unfolded across the country, with particularly severe consequences in Kurdistan. Kurdish cities have borne a disproportionate share of these crackdowns, including mass detentions, political executions, state-sanctioned killings, and military occupation.
In recent days, more than 300 Kurdish people have been arrested by Iranian security forces. Among them, one person has died under torture, a child and a young man have been killed, and three Kurdish political prisoners have been executed.
Drawing on field data and verified documentation, this report by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights highlights the escalating repression in Kurdistan, including arbitrary arrests, torture, deaths in custody, extrajudicial executions, occupation of public spaces, and the ongoing militarization of Kurdish cities.
Mass arrests in Kurdistan
According to Hengaw’s documentation, over 300 individuals have been detained across Kurdistan. Among the detainees are a significant number of women and teenage girls, including at least 18 girls under the age of 18 in Mahabad and six women in Qasr-e Shirin.
As of the time of publication, Hengaw has confirmed the identities of 69 detainees, listed by province and city:
West Azerbaijan (Urmia) province
Mahabad (19):
Soroush Yousefzadeh, Mehran Khediripour, Pouria Nasiri, Keyvan Mamegoli, Omid Rash, As'ad Rasoulzadeh, Nouraldin Dodkanlou, Shaho Mahmoudi, Soran Safari, Khaled Bakri, Mohammad Bakri, Sa’doun Ghazali, Khabat Kardani, Mohammad Lotfifar, Rahman Mam-Ismaeil, Naser Elyasi, Hejar Asadpour, Keyvan Ashtab, Rebwar Mostafazadeh
Bukan (7):
Esmaeil Esmaeili, Behrouz Yazdanpanah, Anwar Bayzidi, Ayoub Khosrouzadeh, Karim Qaderpour, Behrouz Sharifi, Keyvan Soleimani
Naqadeh (6):
Amin Bashouki, Rahman Khalkhali, Farhad Karimi, Kaveh Qaderi, Saman Seyed-Mahmoudian, Saman Kakemami
Piranshahr (7):
Aryan Mashaikh, Sadegh Mahmoudnejad, Ahmad Mam-Sharifi, Seyed Rahman Hosseini, Yousef Bazargan, Naseh Eizen, Hassan Fallahian
Oshnavieh (6):
Edris Rasouli, Kamran Rasouli, Khaled Bayzidi, Omar Mohammadi, Soleiman Qader Gelvan, Kamal Oghabi
Urmia (4):
Afshin Azizi, Kako Azizi, Bakhtiar Azizi, Alireza Khaledi
Qotour (1):
Amin Sadoui
Kurdistan (Sanandaj) province
Saqqez (3):
Milad Rahimi, Hadi Rahimi, Omid Abdi-Khah
Sanandaj (1):
Jalal Khodamoradi
Divandareh (2):
Fouad Moradi, Abdul Rasouli
Qorveh (1):
Masoud Amiri
Marivan (7):
Ayub Darbarzin, Hemin Ranjbar, Ehsan Osmani, Hamzeh Osmani, Abdollah Bakha, Omid Bakha, Ramyar Rezaei
Ilam province
Dehloran (2):
Kianoush Cheraghi, Akram Sabzi
Kermanshah (Kermashan) province
Mahidasht (1):
Fouad Alikhani
Kuhdasht (1):
Rostam Bagheri
Qasr-e Shirin (1):
Askar Najafi
Killings under torture and direct fire
Hengaw has documented the killing of several Kurds during the crackdown, including a 9-month-old infant, all at the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The identities of three victims have been confirmed:
Fouad Alikhani, 41, from Mahidasht, died under torture on June 22, 2025, while in IRGC custody in Kermanshah.
Azad Ranaei, from Doushan township, was shot and killed at an IRGC checkpoint on June 25, 2025, in Sanandaj.
Sarmad Sajadi, a 9-month-old infant from Marivan, was killed on June 20, 2025, by shrapnel from IRGC air defense operations in the city.
Executions and enforced disappearances of Kurdish people
Three Kurdish political prisoners — Azad Shojaei and Edris Ali (both from Sardasht), and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul (from Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq) — were executed on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Urmia Prison on charges of espionage for Israel.
These executions were carried out secretly and without prior notice. The prisoners' families were denied a final visit, refused the return of their bodies, and were prohibited from holding mourning ceremonies.
Militarization of public spaces in Kurdistan
Hengaw has previously reported on the expanding militarization of Kurdistan, including the deployment of weapons and troops in civilian areas.
These include artillery placements in the Gzan mountains near Bayangan in Paveh County, military convoys deployed to Bukan, and the occupation of school buildings such as Kosar Girls' Elementary School in Sardasht. In Kermanshah, Farabi Hospital has been turned into a storage site for war munitions—an act constituting both a war crime and the use of civilians as human shields. Other documented actions include widespread, violent searches of mobile phones and vehicles in Mahabad, leading to further arrests.
Pressure on conscripts and threats of execution
There has also been increasing pressure on conscripted soldiers, who have been threatened with execution or severe legal punishment if they desert their units. These threats have intensified following the deaths of over 70 Iranian military personnel in Kermanshah Province.
Criminalization of expression and public sentiment
In the wake of the Iran-Israel war, the Kurdistan judiciary sent mass text messages warning people that expressing joy on social media would be treated as a criminal offense. They were threatened with prosecution for any public or online behavior deemed inappropriate by the government during wartime.
Hengaw considers this a clear violation of freedom of expression and an attempt by the Iranian authorities to suppress dissent and control public opinion in Kurdistan.
Hengaw urges global action against rights violations in Kurdistan
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights strongly condemns the widespread repression targeting the Kurdish population. The organization calls on the international community, including human rights bodies and global institutions, to take immediate action in response to these grave violations. It urges the launch of independent investigations into the reported abuses and insists that the Islamic Republic of Iran be held accountable for the ongoing and systematic human rights violations in Kurdistan.
