Another Kurdish Political Prisoner Executed In Iran

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According to BBC Persian, the family of Mansour Arwand has confirmed that the 39-year-old Kurdish political prisoner was recently executed by the Iranian regime. Adding to the family’s distress, authorities have allegedly refused to hand over the body of Mr. Arwand and denied the family’s requests for memorial services.

While some sources claim Mr. Arwand was executed around June 13 or 14, others say the execution took place at the end of May and that his family was not notified until mid-June.

Mr. Arwand was arrested in June 2011 in his home in Mehabad, Eastern Kurdistan (northwestern Iran) and remained in custody for months. In September 2012 he was sentenced to death by the Mehabad Islamic Revolutionary Court for “enmity against God” and working with Kurdish opposition groups.

On November 20, 2014 Mr. Arwand began a hunger strike with other political prisoners in Urmiye Prison to put pressure on authorities to improve their conditions in prison but was transferred to another prison in Mehabad. He was eventually moved to a prison in Miandoab, a city northeast of Mehabad. Some sources claim it was here that Mr. Arwand was executed, while others say he was moved to an unknown location.

Mr. Arwand suffered from bad health including renal infection and asthma, most likely worsened by the torture he was inflicted in prison. According to HRANA, the brother said Mr. Arwand was tortured during interrogations and that a former cellmate had claimed Mr. Arwand’s toe nails had been pulled out.

Mr. Arwand leaves behind two daughters.

Sirwan Arwand, a brother of Mr. Arwand, was part of a video to raise awareness about the unjust trial process of Mr. Arwand and the plight of Kurdish political prisoners in Iran who often suffer under vague charges, unfair trials, torture and many times ultimately execution.