Over Three Years of Complete Silence on the Whereabouts of a Kurdish Citizen
Edris Faqihi, a young Kurdish man from Sanandaj, has been subjected to enforced disappearance for more than three years following his arrest by Iranian security forces. His family remains completely unaware of his fate, and neither the security nor judicial authorities in Iran have accepted responsibility for his detention or disclosed his whereabouts.
According to human rights sources, Edris Faqihi has been missing since August 2021, when he was arrested in the village of Alamabad, located in Bukan County in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province. At the time of his arrest on July 27, 2021, he had sustained a gunshot wound to the leg during an armed clash between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and unidentified gunmen. Eyewitnesses reported that Faqihi, who was injured and unarmed, offered no resistance at the time of his arrest by IRGC forces.
Since that day, his family has been denied all information regarding his condition, legal status, or location. He has had no contact with his family and has not been allowed to meet with a lawyer. Efforts by his relatives to obtain information have been met with silence or denial from various authorities.
Over the past three years, his family has approached several security, judicial, and law enforcement institutions, including the Bukan judiciary, the Ministry of Intelligence, the IRGC, and multiple detention centers in Iran’s Kurdish regions. Despite these efforts, officials have consistently refused to confirm any information about Faqihi’s arrest, status, or whereabouts. In some instances, the family has even been warned that persistent inquiries could have “consequences.”
The refusal of authorities to officially acknowledge his arrest, bring formal charges, issue a court ruling, or confirm whether he is alive constitutes a clear case of enforced disappearance — a grave violation of human rights prohibited under international law. This situation not only violates the rights of the detained individual but also inflicts severe psychological and emotional harm on his family.
Edris Faqihi’s case exemplifies a disturbing pattern of enforced disappearances, particularly in Kurdish regions of Iran, where such human rights abuses have been repeatedly reported despite their absolute prohibition under international human rights conventions.
