Hengaw’s August 2026 report on rights violations against Kurds in Iran

Hengaw – Tuesday, September 8, 2026

At least 13 Kurdish prisoners were executed across Iran in August 2026, while 75 Kurdish individuals were arrested and 38 received prison sentences, including six who were also sentenced to flogging. During the same month, four kolbars were killed and three injured, two individuals were injured in landmine explosions, one Kurdish man was shot dead by Iranian forces, and four cases of femicide were recorded. The figures are based on data compiled by the Statistics and Documents Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

The report details the identities of those affected and the circumstances of their cases.

Execution of 13 Kurdish prisoners

At least 13 Kurdish prisoners were executed in prisons across Iran in August, accounting for 14.5% of the 89 executions recorded nationwide during the month.

Of the 13 Kurdish prisoners, one had been sentenced to death on charges of “espionage for Israel,” seven for “premeditated murder,” three for “drug-related offenses,” and two for “armed robbery.”

1. Omid Behzad, from Urmia, was executed in Urmia Central Prison on charges of “espionage for Israel.”

2. Payam Pakzad, from Bojnurd, was executed in Zanjan Central Prison on charges of “premeditated murder.”

3. Kaveh Rafoosheh, from Sanandaj, was executed in Sanandaj Central Prison on charges of “premeditated murder.”

4. Donya Mohammadi, from Ilam, was executed in Ilam Central Prison on charges of “premeditated murder.”

5. Khodadad Mohammadi, from Ilam, was executed in Ilam Central Prison on charges of “premeditated murder.”

6. Mohsen Darabi, from Kermanshah, was executed in Isfahan Central Prison on charges of “drug-related offenses.”

7. Mohammadreza Rezaei Kankat, from Delfan, was executed in Khorramabad Central Prison on charges of “drug-related offenses.”

8. Ardalan Sabzi, from Maku, was executed in Maku Central Prison on charges of “premeditated murder.”

9. Sajjad Shirzadi, from Kermanshah, was executed in Karaj Central Prison on charges of “premeditated murder.”

10. Mohsen Zarouni, from Kuhdasht, was executed in Ilam Central Prison on charges of “drug-related offenses.”

11. Saeed Najafi, from Kuhdasht, was executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on charges of “armed robbery.”

12. Hamid Najafi, from Kuhdasht, was executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on charges of “armed robbery.”

13. Mostafa Vosoughi, from Delfan, was executed in Khorramabad Central Prison on charges of “premeditated murder.”

One Kurdish man shot dead by Iranian forces

Pouya Naderi, a 29-year-old Kurdish man and follower of the Yarsan faith, was shot dead by Iranian forces in Kermanshah in August.

Seven Kurdish kolbars killed or injured

At least seven Kurdish kolbars were killed or injured along the borders of Kurdistan in August. Four were killed and three injured. Border Regiment forces shot six of the kolbars, while one was injured in a landmine explosion.

Five of the seven cases occurred along the Baneh border, with one each along the Marivan and Sardasht borders.

1. Goran Khezri, from Baneh, was shot and injured by Border Regiment forces along the Baneh border on August 4, 2026.

2. Bakhtiar Amini, from Baneh, was injured in a landmine explosion along the Baneh border on August 5, 2026.

3. Hassan Mostafazadeh, from Rabat, was shot and injured by Border Regiment forces along the Baneh border on August 5, 2026.

4. Mohammad Tohidpanah, from Saqqez, was shot dead by Border Regiment forces along the Baneh border on August 10, 2026.

5. Mousa Zibapour, from Piranshahr, was shot dead by Border Regiment forces along the Baneh border on August 13, 2026.

6. Milad Tabad, from Marivan, was shot dead by Border Regiment forces along the Marivan border on August 18, 2026.

7. Yousef Mamehpour, from Sardasht, was shot dead by Border Regiment forces along the Sardasht border on August 18, 2026.

Two individuals injured by landmines in Kurdistan

Two individuals were injured in August by landmines left from the eight-year Iran-Iraq War or mines planted in recent years by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Kurdistan’s border areas.

1. Bakhtiar Amini, a kolbar from Baneh who is also included in the kolbar figures above, was injured in a landmine explosion along the Baneh border on August 5, 2026.

2. An individual from Paveh, whose identity remains under investigation, was injured in a landmine explosion in Paveh on August 31, 2026.

Arrest of 75 Kurdish individuals

At least 75 Kurdish individuals were arrested by Iranian security agencies across multiple cities in August, according to data recorded by the Statistics and Documents Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. They accounted for 64% of all arrests recorded across Iran during the month.

Those arrested included at least eight women and one child.

Kurdistan (Sanandaj) Province – 20 cases, including one child, one woman, and 18 men

Marivan: Saman Khosravi, Hawre Parvazeh, Saro Roshani, Arya Maroufi, Peshtiwan Tartar, Zanyar Asvar, Shakhawan Khavari, Azad Norouzi, Zanyar Tavana, Pouya Kakeh Mohammadi, Zanyar Ghaderi, Shirzad Abdi, Hadi Rabouseh

Sanandaj: Avat Karimi, Dariush Rahimi, Danial Mohammadi

Divandarreh: Kurdia Hamidi, 16, Maryam Moradian, Sirus Hamidi

Kamyaran: Jamal Rostami

West Azerbaijan (Urmia) Province – 46 cases, including six women and 40 men

Mahabad: Shirzad Payaniani, Seyed Latif Sabri, Esmail Soleimani, Farzin Khediripour, Mohammad Vatmani, Karim Rasouli, Shirin Masoudi, Seyran Arabi, Afshin Tavasoli, Ali Rasoulnejad

Bukan: Sedigh Karimi, Omid Chaubaz, Rahman Khouzan, Loghman Ghorbani, Hadi Azizi, Zakaria Badsar, Esmail Badsar, Hossein Yousefi, Hemin Manijeh

Oshnavieh (Shno): Masoud Alani Kohneh Qaleh, Hadi Khezri, Sanan Farasati, Rahman Azarakhsh, Sadoun Dastari, Mouloud Rousta, Kamran Jangali

Piranshahr: Matin Rasouli, Nazanin Hosseinpour, Ayoub Hamzeh, Soran Mahmoudi, Mohammad Danesh Maye, Loghman Seydeh

Miandoab: Shwaneh Divazi, Mohammad Hajizadeh, Nima Rasoulzadeh, Zaher Ghorbani, Mansour Karbalai

Urmia: Ayvaz Behnamoun, Shaban Ahmadoush, Ebrahim Ahmadoush, Befrin Ahmadoush

Qotur: Bahman Modirzadeh

Sardasht: Rahim Hassanpour

Chaldoran: Zahra Pirdehghan

Maku: Parvin Rasegh Ghezelbash

Naqadeh: Salam Azari

Ilam Province – eight cases, including one woman and seven men

Asmanabad: Amin Naseri, Yaser Havasizadeh, Rouhollah Gholami, Younes Bakri

Malekshahi: Mehdi Roshani

Mehran: Arian Tarvand

Darreh Shahr: Milad Alaeinasab

Abdanan: Razieh Hashemi

Razavi Khorasan Province – one man

Mashhad: Shaho Zirk

Prison and flogging sentences issued against 38 Kurdish individuals

At least 38 Kurdish individuals were sentenced to a combined 135 years, two months, and one day in prison in August, according to data recorded by the Statistics and Documents Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Six were also sentenced to a combined 301 lashes.

Those sentenced included at least three Kurdish women and 35 Kurdish men.

1. Abdullah Houshmand, from Mahabad – seven years and one month.

2. Abdulrahman Ghoveh, from Mahabad – seven years and one month.

3. Abdullah Ghoveh, from Mahabad – five years.

4. Qader Kharamanfar, from Mahabad – five years.

5. Jalal Sadafi, from Mahabad – five years.

6. Ali Maroufi, from Mahabad – five years.

7. Aram Mabzouleh, from Mahabad – five years.

8. Yousef Tal, from Mahabad – five years.

9. Rebwar Rasouli, from Mahabad – five years.

10. Ayoub Rasouli, from Mahabad – five years.

11. Osman Jahanifar, from Mahabad – five years.

12. Rahman Dana, from Mahabad – five years.

13. Salar Shams Borhan, from Mahabad – five years.

14. Zanyar Seyed Ahmadi, from Mahabad – five years.

15. Nazanin Elyasi (Golaleh), from Mahabad – two years.

16. Kamal Masoudi, from Mahabad – five months.

17. Soheil Arabi, from Bijar – five years.

18. Zahra Rabbani, from Bojnurd – seven months and 16 days.

19. Manijeh Khoshnoud, from Bukan – three months.

20. Iman Kazemi, from Bojnurd – three months and 74 lashes.

21. Mohammad Mohammadi, from Qorveh – four years and nine months.

22. Mostafa Gholami, from Qorveh – three years.

23. Zahed Khaledian, from Qorveh – three years.

24. Vahed Khaledian, from Qorveh – three years.

25. Shahrokh Mostafaei, from Qorveh – one year and nine months.

26. Fereydoun Almasi, from Qorveh – one year and nine months.

27. Rasoul Ghorbanpour, from Qorveh – one year.

28. Saman Ganji, from Qorveh – one year.

29. Davoud Rezaei, from Qorveh – one year.

30. Reza Dehghani, from Qorveh – one year and 41 lashes.

31. Abuzar Moradhaseli, from Qorveh – one year and 31 lashes.

32. Anvar Alipanah, from Qorveh – one year and 50 lashes.

33. Amir Khaledian, from Qorveh – one year and 74 lashes.

34. Ebrahim Rahmanpour, from Naqadeh – three years, two months, and 15 days.

35. Hazhir Yaghoubi, from Qorveh – one year and 31 lashes.

36. Saman Ghaderi, from Urmia – 14 years.

37. Abolfazl Rostami, from Qasr-e Shirin – five years.

38. Erfan Moradi, from Qasr-e Shirin – five years.

Four femicides recorded

At least four Kurdish women were killed in Sanandaj, Saqqez, Kermanshah, and Piranshahr in August, according to data recorded by the Statistics and Documents Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

Latifeh Mohammadzadeh, 40, from Saqqez, was killed by her former husband.

Atousa Jafari, 27, from Sanandaj, was killed by her former husband.

Hana Rakan, 16, from Kermanshah, was killed by her father.

Niloufar Mojaver, from Piranshahr, was killed by a man who had deceived her with the promise of marriage.

Of the four femicides, at least three women were killed in circumstances described as family disputes, while one was killed with rape as the motive.