Iranian Kurds 'victims of repression'
Iran repressing Kurds, report says
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Wednesday, 30, Jul 2008 08:28
Kurds living in Iran are suffering "intensifying" levels of repression, human rights group Amnesty International has warned.
A report published today, Iran: Human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority, examines religious and cultural discrimination against the minority.
These are especially bad in the areas of housing, education and employment, Amnesty says. Kurdish parents are banned from giving their children certain names, while use of language in Kurdish education is often thwarted.
Worse still, the report notes, Kurdish women suffer a "double discrimination" because of their gender. It documents cases of forced or early marriages, honour killings and domestic violence committed within Iran's "deeply patriarchal society".
The country's 12 million Kurds make up 15 per cent of its population. They, like Ahwazi Arabs and the Baluchi minority, have previously been the subject of concern from human rights groups.
"Iran is becoming increasingly wary of its ethnic minority communities and state repression towards Kurds is intensifying," Amnesty International UK's campaigns director Tim Hancock said.
"The Iranian authorities should take action to stop violence against women in the home and in the community but this just isn’t happening."
Amnesty has been barred from entering Iran by the country's government for 28 years. It has not received "adequate response" from Tehran despite raising many of the issues contained in this report before.
Mr Hancock added: "We urge the Iranian authorities to take concrete measures to end the discrimination faced by Kurds and all other minorities in Iran."