The PJAK terrorist group, the branch of the PKK for Iran, has always announced the death of its Iranian members late. The PKK-affiliated Firat News Agency (funded by drug trafficking and money laundering), just doing propaganda and publishing the news of PKK deaths, has reported the death of Iranian PKK members for many times, but as usual late and mentioning Turkish attacks or natural disasters as the reasons. The PKK-affiliated news agency does not explain why an Iranian member of the group has been killed in July 2020; why the death news is announced in February 2021? Why does the PKK announce the death of its members, especially the Iranian ones, several months later? Is this for possible internal killings? Did these members intend to escape and were killed while escaping? Why does the PKK not give back the bodies of the victims to their families? In fact, why should an Iranian Kurd fall victim to the PKK-Turkish conflict in the third region? Could these people have died of COVID-19? Why doesn’t the PKK/PJAK allow health teams to enter their camps? The IKHRW and other human rights organizations have always asked the PKK these questions; but the group has reacted by silence, accusations, false propaganda, and the continued abduction, deception, and recruitment of Iranian underages.
The Firat News Agency has recently published the identities of the PKK members killed in Avashin and wrote: “the Turkish army targeted Avashin by airstrikes on July 4, 2021. Agir, Hozan, Maher and Senar were killed in these attacks.”
The PKK has announced the identities of two Iranian members as follows:
Name and surname: Hossein Changeh
Code name: Agir Gabar
Place and year of birth: Sardasht, Iran
Mother’s name – Father’s name: Dolat – Rahman
Name and surname: Adel Rasouli
Code name: Hozan Sarkaft
Place and year of birth: Divandareh
Mother’s name – Father’s name: Khavar – Ali
Announcing late of the information on the status of PKK members, especially whether they are alive or not, could be considered as enforced disappearance. This subject has been recognized as an international crime since 2006 and is followed by international organizations, especially the UN Human Rights Council. The importance of this issue is seen in various documents, including the Convention for the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearance, while international and human rights organizations have even, under certain circumstances, considered it as a crime against humanity. The PKK has been refusing to reveal the information on the deaths in the conflict, or it has been announcing the death news several years late. This harasses many victims’ families who are unaware of the fate of their children and are in a state of uncertainty for a long time. These victims were deceived and abducted as underages. The two photos above prove the PKK members were under the age of 18 at the time of recruitment and death. Surprisingly, the group claims to respect children’s rights.
Trying to follow the fate of these victims, the IKHRW announces that the lack of information on the situation of the PKK members, the delay in announcing the killing of its members in the conflict is a clear example of the crime of enforced disappearance, and the perpetrators, including the group’s leaders, must be prosecuted and punished in accordance with international law. The PKK does not answer the question on announcing late the death of these members? At what age and how were these children recruited or abducted to be trained on the absurd philosophy of Apo? How long should Kurdish children be victims of the war between the PKK and the Turkish army? Why should Iranian children take up arms at this age? And hundreds of other questions… These children are the future of Kurdistan; but the PKK intends to destroy the future of Kurdistan; that’s why the group concentrates on the underages…
