Self-Immolated Kurdish Prisoner Sent To Solitary Cell After Hunger Strike

A Kurdish political prisoner who self-immolated at the Central Prison of Orumieh, was transferred to solitary confinement after going on hunger strike.

According to Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Hassan Omarpour, 29, who went on strike to protest his prison conditions and the prosecutor's harsh treatment of his family who have also been intimidated since his imprisonment, has been deprived of all his fundamental rights since Sunday.

Omarpour was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March last year on the charge of "cooperating with Israeli intelligence and espionage."

A year earlier, he and nine other citizens were arrested on similar charges. Following several months of torture in solitary cells, four were executed in January, according to Hengaw.

Omarpour self-immolated in February in response to prison guards attacking him and his inmates.

Kurds continue to come under disproportionate oppression in Iran along with minorities such as the Bahai and Baluch.

Of last year’s record numbers of executions, large numbers were Kurds and minorities.