Iranian Kurdish activist jailed for dissent remains in prison

Sherko Jihani, an Iranian Kurdish journalist and human rights activist, continues to serve jail time for political dissent, Amnesty International reported last week. Jihani, a member of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK), was apprehended in late November 2006 in Mahabad, Iran, and has since been taken to an undisclosed prison, where he is believed to be at risk of torture.

Jihani is believed to have been detained for forming a committee to investigate the treatment of a fellow HROK member who was detained and beaten by Iranian authorities in January 2006.

The plight of Iranian Kurds has become even more precarious of late in the wake of massive Kurdish demonstrations in July 2005 that were triggered by the brutal murder of a Kurdish activist. Twenty protestors were reportedly killed by Iranian forces during the demonstrations and others who were involved have received death threats.

For more information and to send an appeal for Jihani’s release, click here.