In recent months, security forces in the city of Marivan have intensified pressure on the family and friends of Aram Fathi, a poet and human rights activist.
According to the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, over the past two months, several of Fathi’s former colleagues who had been active in local community organizations in Marivan have been subjected to hours-long interrogations. They have been threatened and pressured to cooperate with intelligence forces regarding his situation, solely due to their prior connections with him.
It has been reported that “two months ago, several members of his family were summoned to the Intelligence Office in Marivan and interrogated for hours.”
Furthermore, it has been reported that “in recent days, the Ministry of Intelligence’s news division in Marivan has contacted all family members of this human rights activist, threatening them. They have warned that if Arina Fathi, Aram Fathi’s sister, does not report to the Marivan Intelligence Office for questioning about her brother, a legal case will be filed against her.”
Aram Fathi had previously been arrested on September 12, 2018, along with several other citizens from Kurdish cities. At the time, they had declared a general strike to protest the execution of three Kurdish political prisoners—Zanyar Moradi, Loghman Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi—as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ missile attack on Kurdish opposition parties. On January 8, 2020, Fathi was temporarily released from Marivan prison on bail.