Transnational Repression: Reflecting on Kurdish Struggles and the Global State of Democracy – A paper by Dr. Ali Abdelzadeh

Recently, the UNPO published a reflection paper on the Woman, Life, Freedom movement that was initiated in Iranian Kurdistan two years ago after the death of Jina Amini, a 22 year old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died under suspicious circumstances after having been taken into custody by the morality police. In this reflection, we discussed how the Woman, Life, Freedom movement had been a liberating and empowering experience for many women activists who had participated. Prior to the movement their voices were never heard. The movement was, however, met with intense police brutality and crackdown by the Iranian regime. In a recent paper, Dr. Ali Abdelzadeh, Associate Professor at Dalarna University and Iranian Kurdistan’s representative at the UNPO, reflects on the changes that have taken place after the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran. In particular, he highlights the rise in transnational repression that has been perpetrated by agents of the Iranian regime to participants and supporters of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement and their friends and family abroad. He also emphasizes the Iranian regime’s oppressive policies targeting Kurds and other national minorities within the country.

Transnational repression refers to the actions of governments reaching across borders to silence dissent among diasporas and exiles, including through assassinations, illegal deportations, abductions, digital threats, Interpol abuse, and family intimidation. What was initially seen as isolated cases has become widespread and a concerning pattern of systematic repression and efforts to silence diaspora members has emerged and is now well documented.

The UNPO’s Compromised Spaces project has investigated and advocated the issue of transnational repression and extraterritorial reprisals since 2016. Over the past 8 years, we have been monitoring and actively documenting the growing scale and severity of transnational reprisals committed by authoritarian states, predominantly Iran, Russia, and China, against diaspora communities, refugees, dissidents, human rights defenders, civil society, and ethnic minorities who reside in Europe.

In his paper, Dr. Ali Abdelzadeh, reflects on the current state of democracy and how, in the context of an authoritarian Iranian regime, Iranian Kurds are experiencing the consequences of these changes with transnational repression being at the forefront of a series of human rights violations that extend beyond the borders of the state. Kurds, along with other national and religious minorities, face ongoing persecution, state-sponsored discrimination, and a lack of basic freedoms. Distrust of the population, systemic exclusion, and the execution of political prisoners are persistent realities in Iran, reflecting a persistent system of human rights violations. Governments like Iran actively target and intimidate critics all over the world, sending the message that there is no safe place for dissidents and activists. The practice of transnational repression is a concerning pattern of suppression targeting minorities like Kurds and other minorities in Iran.

An ongoing major concern for UNPO and its members experiencing transnational repression in this context is the persistent lack of accountability. Despite the ongoing human rights violations that disproportionately affect national minorities and indigenous groups, these communities are often forgotten by the international community. Traditional checks and balances fail to address their suffering, allowing oppressive regimes to continue their abuses unchecked.

You can find the complete paper by Dr. Ali Abdelzadeh on the specific case of the Kurdish people in Iran here: “Hope Instead of Despair in the Age of Democratic Backsliding: The Enduring Legacy of Dr. A. R. Ghassemlou” by Dr. Ali Abdelzadeh, Iranian Kurdistan representative at the UNPO.

 

Photo: Levi Meir Clancy via Unsplash

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