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UN experts on Wednesday demanded an end to unlawful killings of vulnerable Kurdish civilians and Baloch communities in Iran, documenting at least 12 confirmed killings of Kurdish border couriers (kolbars) and 13 Baloch fuel carriers (sukhtbars) in 2026, highlighting a pattern of lethal attacks this year by military and border control forces.
The group of UN Special Rapporteurs included experts on human rights in Iran, extrajudicial killings, extreme poverty, and the rights of minorities, including ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities. Some victims were killed by direct gunfire from Iranian border guards at close range and without warning. In several cases, individuals were reportedly carrying no goods. The experts emphasized that suspected customs violations do not justify the use of lethal force.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that 19 Kolbars died and 21 were wounded at border crossings in Iranian Kurdish provinces in 2025, while the Balochistan Human Rights Group reported that 173 Sukhtbars were killed in the same year.
These ethnic minorities are among Iran’s most marginalized communities. Limited economic opportunity pushes many young men to carry goods or fuel across dangerous remote mountain or desert terrain to support their families. Iranian forces have repeatedly used lethal force against these couriers under the accusation of smuggling.
Iran’s Kurdish population, estimated at 8–15 million, is concentrated in the northwestern provinces of Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, and Ilam. The Baloch, numbering around 2–3 million, live mainly in the impoverished southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. These groups are predominantly Sunni Muslims in a Shi’a-majority theocratic state.
Earlier this year, the UN warned about escalating arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and torture of these minority groups. These practices violate Article 1 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and Article 2 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The experts noted that the 2025 Iranian security law, by expanding the definition of espionage and national security offenses, has been used as a guise to repress peaceful cultural and political activity by minority groups. This pattern was intensified by the 2025–2026 protests.
The lethal force directed at kolbars and sukhtbars forms part of a broader apparatus of minority repression in Iran that includes executions, arbitrary detentions, denial of due process, and cultural and civic restrictions. The systematic securitization of ethnic and religious difference places the most vulnerable members of these communities in the direct line of fire.
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The group of UN Special Rapporteurs included experts on human rights in Iran, extrajudicial killings, extreme poverty, and the rights of minorities, including ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities. Some victims were killed by direct gunfire from Iranian border guards at close range and without warning. In several cases, individuals were reportedly carrying no goods. The experts emphasized that suspected customs violations do not justify the use of lethal force.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that 19 Kolbars died and 21 were wounded at border crossings in Iranian Kurdish provinces in 2025, while the Balochistan Human Rights Group reported that 173 Sukhtbars were killed in the same year.
These ethnic minorities are among Iran’s most marginalized communities. Limited economic opportunity pushes many young men to carry goods or fuel across dangerous remote mountain or desert terrain to support their families. Iranian forces have repeatedly used lethal force against these couriers under the accusation of smuggling.
Iran’s Kurdish population, estimated at 8–15 million, is concentrated in the northwestern provinces of Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, and Ilam. The Baloch, numbering around 2–3 million, live mainly in the impoverished southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. These groups are predominantly Sunni Muslims in a Shi’a-majority theocratic state.
Earlier this year, the UN warned about escalating arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and torture of these minority groups. These practices violate Article 1 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and Article 2 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The experts noted that the 2025 Iranian security law, by expanding the definition of espionage and national security offenses, has been used as a guise to repress peaceful cultural and political activity by minority groups. This pattern was intensified by the 2025–2026 protests.
The lethal force directed at kolbars and sukhtbars forms part of a broader apparatus of minority repression in Iran that includes executions, arbitrary detentions, denial of due process, and cultural and civic restrictions. The systematic securitization of ethnic and religious difference places the most vulnerable members of these communities in the direct line of fire.
The post UN experts demand end to Iran’s border killings of minorities after repeated reports of unlawful shootings appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.