Iran escalates crackdown ahead of ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ anniversary

A composite image of Siavash Soltani at his mother's grave and 16-year-old Ramyar Abubakri, next to his brother Zanyar Abubakri who was shot by Iran's security forces in October 2022
A composite image of Siavash Soltani at his mother's grave and 16-year-old Ramyar Abubakri, next to his brother Zanyar Abubakri who was shot by Iran's security forces in October 2022

As the anniversary of Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom protests approaches, security forces have begun a wave of arrests, repeating a pattern of repression targeting Iranian civil society and families of slain protestors.

This year’s crackdown began in Iran’s Kurdistan province, where at least 17 citizens were arrested in the first week of September, just days ahead of the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody on September 16, 2022, which sparked the nationwide Woman Life Freedom protests.

In an interview with Iran International regarding the recent wave of arrests around the anniversary, Azadeh Davachi, a researcher, writer, and women's rights activist, remarked:

"One of the defining characteristics of dictatorial regimes is their reliance on escalating violence when they feel threatened, particularly in the face of political movements. What we are witnessing now is the government's fear of the potential resurgence of such movements."

Notably, among those arrested this week were relatives of protesters killed during the 2022 uprising, during which Iranian security forces killed at least 550 protesters, including children, and imprisoned over 20,000 people.

On Tuesday, security forces raided the homes of two families who lost relatives to state violence during the protests.

One of those arrested was 16-year-old Ramyar Abubakri, brother of 21-year-old Zanyar Abubakri, who was fatally shot by state security forces on October 27, 2022, in Mahabad, Kurdistan. According to rights group Hengaw, security forces raided the Abubakri family home around 3 am on Tuesday, arresting Ramyar and assaulting several family members, including his parents.

At the same time, security forces also raided the home of Siavash Soltani, son of 52-year-old Kobra Sheikhe-Saqqa, another victim killed by state forces on the same day in Mahabad. Both Sheikhe-Saqqa and Zanyar Abubakri were shot during protests on October 27, 2022, which followed the funeral of another slain protester, Simko Mowloudi.

Rights group Kurdistan Human Rights reported that Soltani was beaten and arrested without a warrant, and both his and Ramyar Abubakri’s whereabouts remain unknown since their arrest on Tuesday.

Hengaw also reported two further arrests in Mahabad, bringing the total of those detained in this city to 4, and 10 individuals were arrested in the city of Bolbanabad in Kurdistan province’s Dehgolan County, where multiple protestors were killed during the 2022 uprising, and 3 arrested in Oshnavieh in West Azerbaijan province.

Similar waves of arrests were reported last year across the country around the same time as the uprising’s anniversary with tens of arrests reported in Iran’s Azerbaijan region and at least 20 arrests in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, Southwestern Iran.

Last year, Human Rights Watch said that Iranian authorities have ramped up their repression of civil society for the first anniversary of Amini’s death, calling on all delegations of UN member states to raise the plight of activists and put it at the center of their engagement.