Habib Shahsavari is the commander of the Martyrs Corps of West Azarbaijan province, who previously held various positions in the corps of this province and also in the northwest of the country. He and the subordinates under his command during his responsibilities, especially during the command of the IRGC in West Azarbaijan province, at least in the areas of freedom of speech, the rights of prisoners, and the right to protest, have violated the human rights of citizens, and the defendants detained in IRGC intelligence detention centers in this province, were tortured. In addition, during his command, illegal violence and shooting at civilians caused their deaths.What follows is only a part of the human rights violations that have occurred directly or indirectly by this army commander and his subordinates, which have been reflected in the media. Freedom of expression:There are many cases of citizens being arrested by IRGC forces in this province on charges such as membership in opposition parties which are absolute cases of violation of freedom of speech that occurred during Habib Shahsavari’s command in West Azarbaijan province. There are many cases and what follows is only a part of them that has been reported.On July 11, 2019, Firoz Musalou was arrested by IRGC intelligence forces and taken to the detention center of this security institution in Urmia for interrogation. On January 1, 2020, he was transferred from the intelligence detention center of Urmia to the prison of this city. This political prisoner was finally sentenced to death on March 13, 2022, by the Revolutionary Court of Urmia on the charge of “warfare through membership in one of the opposition parties of the regime”.Farhad Nouri was arrested by the security forces on August 15, 2019, and was first transferred to Ziveh IRGC camp in West Azarbaijan province and then to Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohda IRGC camp in Urmia. He was finally transferred to Urmia prison after 27 days. Eventually, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison at the Revolutionary Court of Urmia on the charge of “acting against national security through membership in one of the opposition parties.”On August 15, 2019, Adel Salemfard, a citizen of Oshnavieh, was transferred from Urmia’s intelligence detention center to this city’s prison. The security forces arrested him on June 16, 2019. During the interrogation, the accusation against this citizen was “membership in one of the parties against the regime.”Farough Lavashai, a Sunni citizen, was arrested by the security forces on January 20, 2020, and transferred to Urmia’s intelligence detention center. This citizen was transferred to Urmia prison after 16 days of interrogation.On December 2, 2020, Anwar Chaleshi, Musa Alousi, and Kamel Jabarvand, along with their brother Shekar Jabarvand, were arrested by security agents and transferred to the IRGC “Al-Mahdi” detention center in Urmia. One of the accusations attributed to them was being a member of one of the regime’s opposition groups.On January 9, 2021, Darya Talebani, a citizen of Mahabad, was arrested by the security forces in Mahabad and transferred to the Al-Mahdi Detention Center of the Urmia Army to complete the interrogation process. On February 6, 2021, after the interrogations were completed, she was transferred to Mahabad prison from the IRGC intelligence detention center in Urmia.On January 9, 2021, IRGC intelligence agents arrested Shepol Khezri, Sirvan Nouri, Soran Hosseinzadeh, and Afshin Mam Ahmadi in Mahabad, Farhad Musapour, Fereidun Musapour, and Bahman Yusufzadeh in Rabat city located in Sardasht city and sent them to the detention center of this security organization in Urmia. These citizens, who were accused of cooperating with one of the anti-regime groups during the interrogation, were finally transferred to Urmia prison after the interrogation.Farzad Samani, a detained undergraduate student of Kharazmi University, was arrested on January 9, 2021 and was transferred to the IRGC Intelligence detention center in Urmia city for interrogation.Mohammad Hushangi, a citizen of Javanroud, was arrested by the security forces in Tehran in January 2021 and then transferred to the IRGC intelligence detention center in Urmia. Finally, after seven months, he was transferred from the detention center of this security institution to Urmia prison.On March 27, 2021, Mr. Nayeb Askari was arrested by IRGC intelligence agents in Urmia and transferred to one of the detention centers of this security organization. Finally, on June 17, 2021, after completing the interrogation process, he was transferred from the IRGC intelligence detention center to the prison of this city. The accusation against Mr. Askari was that he cooperated with one of the opposition parties.On April 30, 2021, Viyan Mohammadi, a student and civil activist from Marivan, was arrested by security forces at his home in Tehran and was first transferred to Evin detention center, then to IRGC Intelligence Detention Center in Urmia, and finally to the prison of this city.On June 17, 2021, Golaleh Moradi and Safieh Mameshpour, citizens of Piranshahr, were transferred from the IRGC intelligence detention center in Urmia to the prison of this city. There is no information about the charges and reasons for the arrest of these citizens.On June 21, 2021, Loghman Azizi was arrested by the security forces in Oshnavieh and a few days later, he was transferred to one of the IRGC security detention centers in Urmia. At the end of July 2021, he was transferred from one of the security detention centers in Urmia to Oshnavieh prison, and then he was released from the prison of this city after posting bail.In January 2022, a citizen with the identity of Hasan Omarpour, 26 years old, was arrested by IRGC intelligence forces in Urmia. Hasan Omarpour is from the village of “Mavana” in Targavar district and  a resident of Sepah town. He was arrested and transferred to an unknown place without presenting a judicial document. Death of civilians – Use of excessive force on civilians:On April 14, 2021, a citizen lost his life due to the indiscriminate shooting by the IRGC forces in Mako city, located in West Azarbaijan province. The identity of this citizen is Ahmad Arsen, the son of Hassan and a native of Mowlik village in Mako county. According to Human Rights Activists, IRGC forces went to Mr. Arsen’s house, shot him directly from the window, then took his body away and refused to hand it over to his family. The IRGC claimed that this person had been involved with their forces, while he did not carry any cold or hot weapons. Prisoners’ Rights – Freedom of speech – Torture:According to Asalan Khodkam, a former member of the IRGC and a prisoner in Urmia prison, he was tortured and mistreated by the IRGC forces during his detention in the solitary cells of the IRGC intelligence detention center. He is one of the surrender forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, who joined the IRGC in the 1990s. And after 16 years of being a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, he was arrested in April 2018 due to his connection with the Kurdistan Democratic Party.On March 1, 2019, Shaker Behrouz was arrested by the security forces on charges of being a member of one of the opposition parties (Kurdistan Democratic Party), and on Saturday, March 30, 2019, he was transferred to Urmia prison after being detained for about a month in the intelligence detention center of Urmia. After some time, he was again transferred to IRGC intelligence detention center and in March 2020, after about ten months, he was returned to Urmia prison. At the time of his presence in the IRGC intelligence detention center, human rights activists had reported that Shaker Behrouz was being interrogated in the IRGC intelligence detention center and was living in poor conditions. On the other hand, the security forces put him under pressure and torture in order to obtain a forced confession for the murder of a member of the Revolutionary Guards.Kamal Hassan Ramazan, a political prisoner, was transferred from Urmia prison to the IRGC intelligence detention center on November 7, 2019, and was returned to prison on Monday, November 25, 2019. According to Human Rights Activists, Kamal Hassan Ramazan was severely beaten during the first two days of the interrogation and was interrogated on charges of propaganda against the regime and communication with foreign media.Davoud Jabari, a Sunni prisoner, and Salar and Ebrahim Sedigh Hamedani, political prisoners, were returned from the IRGC intelligence detention center to Urmia prison. These prisoners were transferred from Urmia prison to the detention center of this security institution in late October 2021. The right to protest – freedom of expression:During the nationwide protests of November 2019, the city of Urmia in West Azarbaijan province, like many cities in Iran, witnessed demonstrations and public gatherings. During these protests, which led to the death and arrest of thousands of citizens across the country, the IRGC and Basij forces were among the forces that fired deadly bullets at the people and killed hundreds. According to Amnesty International, the bullets were often fired at the head or upper body of the victims with the intention of killing them. Only a few days after these protests, IRIB’s Channel Two showed the forced confessions of a citizen named Fatemeh Davand, and she stated in these confessions that she had been once in Sulaymaniyah (in Iraq) and participated in the Bukan protests in West Azerbaijan province. According to Human Rights Activists, during these protests in Urmia city, at least Rezgar Sedaghat, Salar Taheri Afshar, Saeed Mohammadzadeh, Ali Azizi, and Nahv Amini were arrested by the security institutions, including the IRGC of this city. The IRGC of Urmia city and West Azarbaijan province is among the institutions that suppressed citizens in this province during these protests.

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