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85+ detained in Iranian Kurdistan
[NRTtv] More than 85 ethnic Kurds have been arrested in Iran’s West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan provinces over the past three weeks, a watchdog said on Saturday (January 30).Six of the detainees have been released on bail and at least 79 others are still in custody, reported Hengaw Organization for Human Rights which reports on human rights abuses in the Iranian Kurdistan. Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), another watchdog, cited the families of the detainees as saying that the detentions were carried out arbitrarily and without court orders. KHRN said the detainees are in the custody of the IRGC intelligence at West Azerbaijan’s Urmia prison, while the prosecutor general in Urmia and other cities had told them they are unaware of the arrests or that any arrest warrants were issued. At least 205 political and civil activists, journalists, environmentalists have been arbitrarily apprehended without court orders or subjected to beatings and torture since the beginning of 2020, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK). Iran has tense relations with its minorities, including Arabs, Kurds, Azeris and Baluch, and has accused them of aligning with neighboring countries and the US. Related: West Azerbaijan: 2020-08-25 Iran Guards say three US-linked infiltrators killed West Azerbaijan: 2020-05-31 Three Iranian soldiers killed in clashes along border West Azerbaijan: 2019-11-28 Crackdown Intensified in Kurdish Areas of Iran Posted by: badanov 2021-02-01 |
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