Reports of Arrests in Kurdish Regions of Iran Ahead of the Second Anniversary of Mahsa's Death

Human rights media covering the Kurdish regions of Iran report a "new wave" of arrests in these areas as the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini approaches. Reports indicate that since September 1, at least 20 people have been arrested in the cities of Mahabad, Piranshahr, Oshnavieh, and Dehgolan. Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman from Saqqez, was arrested in late September 2022 over her hijab while traveling to Tehran with her family to visit relatives, and shortly after, news of her death in custody emerged. Her death sparked an unprecedented wave of protests against mandatory hijab laws in Iran, which continued for months despite severe police and judicial crackdowns, and still persists in various forms. Now, as the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death approaches, news has emerged of a new round of arrests in Kurdish regions and increased pressure on the families of victims from the 2021 protests. According to the human rights organization Hengaw, during the five days leading up to Thursday, September 15, ten people were arrested in the Belabanabad area of Dehgolan County in Kurdistan Province, four in Mahabad, three in Oshnavieh, and three in Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan. The reasons for the arrests have not been disclosed, and all individuals have been transferred to unknown locations. Hengaw has listed the names of the detainees as Jamil Mohammadi, Shadman Mohammadi, Foad Mohammadi, Mohammad Mohammadi, Meysam Haji Majid, Samir Mohammadi, Pedram Mohammadi, Mardin Bagheri, and two other Kurdish citizens with the surname Bagheri in Belabanabad, Dehgolan. Adel Kakeh, Omid Ahmadnejad, Diako Azizi, Luqman, and Siamand Zangi were arrested on Wednesday in Oshnavieh, while Sa'dun Sharifi, Vahid Aboubakri, Ali-Hosseinpour, and Soleiman Choupani were arrested in Piranshahr. According to these reports, on September 1, security forces of the Islamic Republic also attacked the residences of two families seeking justice in Mahabad, Ramyar Aboubakri, the 16-year-old brother of Zanyar Aboubakri, a young protester who died during the protests, and Siyavash Soltani, the son of Kobra Sheikhe, another deceased protester. An informed source told the Kurdpa website that the security forces raided at 3 a.m. without a judicial order, and during the arrest of Ramyar Aboubakri, they beat his parents. The news agencies HRANA and the human rights website Kurdpa have also reported on some of these detainees. These arrests come at a time when another young man named Mohammad Mir Mousavi recently died in a police station in Lahijan due to "severe beating" by officers. The Tasnim news agency reported that no one among the detainees in the Mohammad Mir Mousavi case has "accepted the murder charge, and it has been heard that unfortunately, there were no surveillance cameras in part of the police station where this incident occurred." His death, reminiscent of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody, especially after painful images of his body in the morgue were released, provoked widespread reactions on social media and forced police officials to respond. Following the media attention surrounding his death, the police information center explicitly acknowledged that police forces were unable to control their "anger and emotions" during the confrontation with him. In this context, the Tasnim news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, compared the deaths of this young man and Mahsa Amini in police custody, stating that in Mahsa's case, "if the relevant officials had informed and pursued the matter sooner, many events might not have occurred. Now, after two years, another incident of a similar nature has occurred in an unknown police station in the village of Naserkayadeh in Lahijan, which might have had some events, although not necessarily similar or equivalent, if the same procedures had been followed." According to this news agency, no one among the detainees has "accepted the murder charge, and it has been heard that unfortunately, there were no surveillance cameras in part of the police station where this incident occurred." The Islamic Republic's police have indirectly accepted responsibility for this incident by arresting five errant officers and dismissing the police chief of Lahijan, but they have postponed the completion of the matter to the future in their statements. As reported by Tasnim, based on the order of the provincial security council of Gilan, none of the provincial officials, except for the prosecutor, are allowed to interview about this case, and it has been decided that information on this matter will only be published through the official news agency of the judiciary, Mizan.