Iran: Update to Response to Information Request IRN4283 of 8 March 1990 on the situation of Kurds
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 March 1995 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRN20072.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iran: Update to Response to Information Request IRN4283 of 8 March 1990 on the situation of Kurds, 1 March 1995, IRN20072.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac496c.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Office of Asylum Affairs of the Department of State reports in Iran: Profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions that "the Islamic regime deals harshly with rebellious Iranian Kurdish leaders and their militant supporters" (December 1994, 12). According to Amnesty International, members and sympathizers of Kurdish organizations such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Komala are among the people at risk of serious human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran (AI Nov. 1993). The Amnesty International Report 1994 states that two alleged members of Komala were reportedly sentenced to death in March 1993 (1994, 165). Another source indicates that in addition to these two Komala members, "five more members of the Komala party were capture and are being held in incommunicado detention" (LCHR 1993, 175).
Human Rights Watch World Report 1995 points out that, according to Kurdish sources, members of Kurdish opposition groups were assassinated in Turkey and in Baghdad in attacks attributed to the Iranian government (1995, 272).
The Office of Asylum Affairs also indicates that
while Iranian Kurdish applicants for political asylum in the US assert that they fear Iran's Islamic regime because they are Kurds, they often do not fill the above profile of Kurdish political activists, nor do they hold leadership positions in the KDPI which would draw the attention of the Islamic authorities. We are aware of no pattern of action by the regime against Iranians simply because they are Kurds (December 1994, 12).
For additional information on the situation of Kurds in Iran, please consult the attached documents and the Question and Answer Paper series, Iran: Political Opposition (August 1993) and Iran: Chronology of Events June 1989-July 1994 (January 1995) both available at your Regional Documentation Centres.
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Amnesty International. November 1993. Iran: Victims of Human Rights Violations. (Al Index: MDE 13/10/93). London: Amnesty International.
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (LCHR). 1994. Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. New York: LCHR.
Human Rights Watch (HRW). 1995. Human Rights Watch World Report 1995. New York: Human Rights Watch.
Office of Asylum Affairs (OAA), Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. December 1994. Iran: profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions. Washington, DC: United States Department of State.
Attachments
AFP [Paris, in English]. 20 March 1994. "Kurds Accuse Iran of Destroying Villages." (FBIS-NES-94-056 23 Mar. 1994, pp. 22-23).
Amnesty International. November 1993. Iran: Victims of Human Rights Violations. (Al Index: MDE 13/10/93). London: Amnesty International, pp. 1-11.
Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Summer 1994. Vol. 17, No. 4. Robert Olson. "The Kurdish Question and Geopolitic and Geostrategic Changes in the Middle East after the Gulf War," pp. 56-59.
Middle East Report [Washington, DC]. July-August 1994. No. 189, Vol. 24, No. 4. Amir Hassanpour. "The Kurdish Experience," pp. 2-7, 23.
Office of Asylum Affairs (OAA), Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. December 1994. Iran: profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions. Washington, DC: United States Department of State.
