Mazlum Dağ and Abdurrahman Er are accused of shooting dead the Turkish vice-consul and intelligence officer Osman Köse and two other people in a luxury restaurant in Hewlêr (Erbil), the capital of the South Kurdistan autonomous region, on 17 July 2019. In February 2020, Dağ and Er were sentenced to death by the 2nd Criminal Court in Hewlêr in a show trial under pressure from Turkey. Immediately following the trial, the two activists were placed in a prison cell next to ISIS jihadists. On 22 September 2020, the death sentences were confirmed by the Court of Cassation.

Dağ and Er, who are being held in Hewler Prison, have been constantly subjected to serious rights violations since the day they were imprisoned. The prisoners, who have repeatedly gone on hunger strikes so far in response to oppression and violations, started a new hunger strike on 18 May to protest the ongoing violations, specifically arbitrary searches, physical violence and insults, and the imposition of wearing prison uniforms.

Dağ and Er are kept in isolation and their health condition is at a critical stage on the 55th day of the hunger strike.

In his weekly phone call with his family on June 23, Dağ said that their health condition is getting worse and added: “The prison administration has not visited us for 10 days. It is said that there are no doctors or medicine in the hospital. It looks like they have decided to let us die. Abdurrahman lost 20 kilos. His health is very bad." Dağ said that he lost 10 kilos and has difficulty speaking.

The demands of the Kurdish hunger strikes are as follows:

1- End to torture and ill-treatment

2- Removal of the imposition of uniform clothing

3- End to solitary confinement and relocation of both hunger strikers into the same room

Dağ and Er first went on hunger strike on 28 September 2022 to protest the torture and rights violations they were subjected to. They ended the protest on the 14th day, after their demands were accepted.

Dağ and Er went on a new hunger strike on 13 February 2023 against the violations of rights they experienced in prison, and ended the protest on the 9th day after their demands were accepted.

Dağ and Er started an indefinite non-alternating hunger strike on 18 May 2023, after the violations of their rights resumed.

The Democratic Regions Party (DBP) released a statement expressing solidarity with the two Kurdish hunger strikers, who, it said, were imprisoned as a result of a conspiracy.

“Fair trial is a universal right which the children of the Kurdish people are deprived of. The demands of Dağ and Er must be met. The Kurdistan Regional Government must take measures in the face of the threats against their lives and grant visitations by their families and lawyers immediately. We call on international rights organisations to act with sensitivity and raise their voices against the unlawful practices suffered by the two prisoners," said the DBP.

The statement concluded: "We urge the Kurdistan Regional Government to uphold its responsibilities and meet the demands of prisoners as immediately as possible. We express our solidarity with Dağ and Er and express our support for their struggle until their demands are met.”