The New Wave of Arbitrary Arrests of Kurdish Activists and Civilians

10 November 2025

Addressed to:

• The United Nations Human Rights Council
• The UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
• The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD)

This petition concerns a new wave of arbitrary, violent, and extra-legal arrests carried out against Kurdish civil society activists and ordinary citizens in the cities of Piranshahr, Mehabad, Bukan, and Kamyaran between 28 and 30 October 2025.

Agents of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran conducted these arrests.

According to field reports and documentation from reputable human rights organizations, security forces, through night-time raids, destruction of property, and intimidation of families, detained at least ten Kurdish activists and civilians and transferred them to security detention facilities.

Individuals Arrested or Targeted

1. Vahab Mohammadpour – From Piranshahr; previously detained during the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Women, Life, Freedom) uprising.
2. Raouf Farkhi – Uncle of Vahab Mohammadpour; from Piranshahr.
3. Rahim Rahmani – Resident of Zangiawi village near Piranshahr; arrested during a raid involving the use of a drone.
4. Sirwan Shaula – Resident of Mehabad; arrested following a raid on his family home.
5. Jalal Sadafi – Spouse of Sirwan Shaula; detained since December 2024 and currently held in Mehabad prison.
6. Zîlan Kamangar – From Kamyaran; daughter of former political prisoner Hossein Kamangar.
7. Khezr Rasoul Marwat (Şemal) – Civil activist and former political prisoner from Mehabad.
8. Fattah Yousefpour – 52-year-old from Bukan; recently underwent heart surgery.
9. Keywan Seyedahmadi – From Biram village near Mehabad.
10. Avareh Farkhi – Brother of Raouf Farkhi; not yet arrested, but security forces have ordered him to turn himself in and threatened detention.

During these operations, intelligence agents broke household items, created an atmosphere of terror, and produced no judicial warrants from any competent authority.

Families remain unaware of the whereabouts, physical condition, or legal status of their detained relatives.

Legal Framework and Violations

These actions constitute clear violations of fundamental human rights under international law and Iran’s own domestic legal obligations, including:

1. Article 9, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR):

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of their liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.”

2. Article 5, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”

3. Article 14, ICCPR:

The right of all detained individuals to a fair and public hearing by a competent tribunal.

4. Article 32 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran:

Arrest is lawful only with a judicial warrant, and the reason for arrest must be immediately communicated to the detainee.

The actions of the security forces, therefore, violate both Iran’s binding international commitments and its own constitutional guarantees.

A Pattern of Systematic Repression

These arrests are part of a long-standing and escalating pattern of structural repression in Kurdish regions of Iran, intensified since the 2022 “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” uprising.

The pattern is characterized by:

• Preventive mass arrests aimed at instilling collective fear
• Targeting of civil activists, journalists, and their families
• Disregard for due process
• Transfers to undisclosed locations and enforced isolation from family and legal counsel

This petition calls upon relevant international bodies to take the following actions:

Requests to UN Mechanisms

• The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran should urgently document these arrests in the next annual report and formally seek clarification from the Government of Iran.
• The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) should review these cases and designate them as collective arbitrary detention.
• The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) should issue a public and official response to this grave breach of Iran’s international obligations.
• The EU Secretariat and the European Parliament’s Human Rights Committee should pursue this case under existing monitoring mechanisms concerning the human rights situation in Iran.

Requests to the Government of Iran

• Immediately disclose the location and condition of all detainees.
• Provide detainees with prompt access to legal counsel and their families.
• Clearly and transparently communicate the grounds for arrest to families and attorneys.
• Conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the arrests and the conduct of security agents.

Requests to National Oversight Institutions

• The Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament)—specifically the Article 90 Commission and the Islamic Human Rights Commission—must initiate independent and public investigations into these constitutional violations and arbitrary detentions.
• The National Inspection Organization must evaluate and supervise the conduct of intelligence and security forces during these arrests.
• The Presidency and the Ministry of Interior, in their mandated role of safeguarding citizens’ rights, must take a clear position and implement immediate corrective measures.

The recent arrests in Rojhelat (Eastern Kurdistan) represent yet another manifestation of the entrenched and systematic human rights violations committed by Iranian security forces.

This ongoing pattern not only breaches Iran’s international legal obligations but also reveals a deeply rooted culture of impunity regarding violations against marginalized nationalities and peripheral regions.

The international community, along with domestic policymakers and civil society actors, must use all available mechanisms to halt these abuses and ensure that the Government of Iran is held legally accountable.

The signatories of this petition call for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees, an independent investigation into the perpetrators of human rights violations, and firm guarantees of non-recurrence.