Anger against the Iranian regime’s policies of arbitrary arrests and executions have mounted in recent weeks and months. The protests [4 October 2016] took place after Iranian authorities raided numerous houses in Mahabad, detaining leading Kurdish civil rights activists with no justification.
 

UNPO News, Oct. 6, 2016 – Hundreds of Kurds took to the street in western Iran on Tuesday to protest against the “oppressive practices” of Iranian authorities.  Activists organised protests in the cities of Mariwan and Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. A Kurdish rights activist told ARA News: “The [protests’] main goal was to break the silence and express our outrage about the arbitrary arrests and mass executions in Iran.”
Tuesday’s protests came just one day after the Iranian security forces raided a number of houses in Mahabad and its countryside, and arrested dozens of Kurdish activists. “Iranian forces stormed houses in Mahabad city and the village of Qere Gul, and arrested dozens of civilian activists. This has raised the people’s outrage,” a Kurdish political activist told ARA News. “We took to the street today to express our condemnation to such suppressive practices.”
According to this activist, who has previously been arrested by Iranian paramilitary forces, most of the arrestees are being tortured regardless of the charge.  “And a majority of those detained by the authorities are being executed. This has been taking place in Iran on a daily basis,” he said.