Amnesty International Expresses Concern Over the 'Disappearance' of Five Kurdish Citizens

Amnesty International, in a statement, criticized the 'disappearance of Kurdish citizens' and 'retaliatory actions against their families' and called for an end to such actions. This human rights organization reported on an armed conflict between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and several members of the Komala Party in early July, during which Ramin Hosseinpanahi, a member of the Komala Party, was arrested in Sanandaj, but his place of detention remains unknown. The statement from Amnesty International mentioned that one day after Ramin Hosseinpanahi's arrest, IRGC agents raided the home of his parents and arrested his brother Afshin Hosseinpanahi and three other relatives named Anvar Hosseinpanahi, Ahmad Hosseinpanahi, and Zubair Hosseinpanahi. Amnesty International stated that none of these individuals played a role in the conflict with the IRGC and were arrested solely for 'retaliatory purposes and to create an atmosphere of fear and terror.' According to this human rights organization, the arrests were carried out violently, and their fate and place of detention are unknown. The family of Ramin Hosseinpanahi has expressed serious concern over the possibility of his 'torture and extrajudicial execution.' Raha Bahraini, a researcher on Iran at Amnesty International, told Radio Farda: 'Ramin Hosseinpanahi and four other family members have been in detention for nearly ten days, and there is no information about their fate and place of detention. Their worried families have approached various government offices in Sanandaj, Qorveh, and Dehkelan in Kurdistan Province, but officials have refused to confirm their detention or disclose their place of detention, instead subjecting the families to various insults and threats.' Raha Bahraini added: 'According to international law, when officials of a country neither confirm the detention of individuals nor disclose their fate and place of detention, they have committed the crime of enforced disappearance, which is a very serious crime under international law, putting individuals at serious risk of extrajudicial execution, torture, and other serious human rights violations.' Amnesty International has called on the Iranian authorities to provide information about the fate and place of detention of Ramin Hosseinpanahi and his detained relatives. This organization advocating for freedom of expression has also demanded that Ramin Hosseinpanahi, a Kurdish citizen, be granted access to a defense attorney and appropriate medical facilities, as well as a fair trial without the imposition of the death penalty. In its statement, Amnesty International reported on an armed conflict between members of the Komala Party and IRGC forces in Sanandaj on July 2, during which three members of Komala were killed, and the fourth, Ramin Hosseinpanahi, was wounded and transferred to an unknown location. The deceased individuals were identified as Hamed Seifpanahi, Behzad Noori, and Sabah Hosseinpanahi. According to this report, IRGC agents have threatened the families of these three deceased citizens not to hold any mourning or funeral ceremonies for them. Komala is one of the armed opposition groups against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Kurdish region of Iran.