Iran regime detained 12,000 Kurds last year

Official Iranian statistics show that more than 12,000 ethnic Iranian Kurds have been arrested and imprisoned last year.
The state-run news agency ISNA reported on April 17 that the Provincial Director of Iranian Kurdistan’s Bureau of Prisons confirmed that there had been an influx of Kurdish inmates. Accordingly, Director of Prisons Assadollah Gorjizadeh stated that “statistics indicate nearly 60% of the imprisoned people were the heads of their families, which is tearing apart the social fabric of Kurdish society in Iran”.
The systematic marginalization of ethnic minorities, particularly of the Kurds, is a policy the regime has maintained since its inception. Moreover, this repression has continued during Hassan Rouhani’s Presidency. In fact, under his administration, there has been a notable increase in the rate of executions of ethnic minorities.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has adopted a plan for the autonomy of Iranian Kurdistan, specifying that “the administration of all affairs of the autonomous region of Kurdistan,” except for those related to foreign policy, national defense, national security, foreign trade and customs, “fall within the authority of the autonomous institutions.”
The treatment of religious and ethnic minorities has been a priority for the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, who has observed Iran extensively and brought to light his concerns about the regime’s restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, and treatment of religious and ethnic minorities.