Rights groups call on Iran to revoke Kurdish activist’s death sentence News
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Rights groups call on Iran to revoke Kurdish activist’s death sentence

Over 26 human rights organizations, including the Kurdistan Human Rights Network and Centre for Human Rights in Iran, issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling for the immediate revocation of the death sentence imposed on Kurdish women’s rights activist Pakhshan Azizi. This sentence, handed down by the Iranian judiciary, has sparked international outrage, with the organizations calling it “a blatant violation of human rights principles and standards as well as international conventions and treaties.”

Azizi, 40, was arrested by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence in Tehran on August 4, 2023 and subsequently transferred to Evin Prison’s Ward 209, a notorious facility known for housing political prisoners. She was held in solitary confinement for months, during which time she was allegedly subjected to torture, both physical and psychological, to coerce confessions. In July 2024, the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced her to death on charges of “armed insurrection” and “membership of opposition groups.”

Her lawyers have maintained that Azizi has no involvement in any armed groups, emphasizing that she spent years working in refugee camps in Syria’s Rojava region, providing humanitarian aid to those displaced by ISIS violence. They further argue that her arrest, detention, and trial were marred by severe violations of due process, pointing to the forced confessions extracted under duress as evidence that the charges against her are fabricated. 

Azizi’s case is not unique but part of a broader pattern in Iran, where political dissidents, particularly from marginalized ethnic groups like the Kurds, are frequently targeted for their political activism.

The rights organizations’ statement was unequivocal in its condemnation:

We strongly condemn the issuance of the Iranian judiciary’s death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish woman activist and social aid worker. This sentence is not only a blatant violation of human rights principles and standards, but it is also a clear manifestation of the systematic repression of freedom of expression and the right to life in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The joint statement also appealed to the broader international community to intervene:

We urge the United Nations, governments around the world, and human rights organizations to take immediate and effective action … The global community should use all legal, political, and diplomatic mechanisms to prevent the issuance and execution of such inhumane sentences by Iran’s judiciary.

While there is potential for Iran to face diplomatic pressure, Iran’s leadership has historically shown a reluctance to respond to external pressure, particularly on issues it frames as matters of internal security.

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