ACHRS Statement on the Repression of Minority Groups in Sistan and Baluchistan
On Monday, 2 February, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) killed ten people and wounded at least five following a dispute about the trade of fuel across the border with Pakistan. Hundreds of people have protested against the killings.
These events occurred in the Sistan and Baluchistan Province, in the southeast of Iran where it borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The majority in this province consists of the Baluch, a minority group in Iran (about 2 per cent of the total Iranian population).
The Sistan and Baluchistan Province is one of the driest areas in Iran. It is also the poorest province in the country and cross-border trading of untaxed fuel is one of the few ways out of poverty for most of the people. They do so not without risk as dozens of traders are killed each year by Iranian security forces.
In the past months, the Iranian regime has cracked down on the Baluch minority with more fervour than before. On February 4th, UN human rights experts voiced their concerns as, up until that day, at least 21 Balochi prisoners had been executed since mid-December 2020, with 124 more prisoners reported to be on death row in the prison of the province’s capital, Zahedan, alone. Reports of torture and faulty trials have done little to soothe the concerns of the international community.
On January 1st, Pakistani and Iranian officials signed an agreement that would help to resolve border issues including terrorism, unlawful trade, drugs smuggling, illegal border crossing, and human trafficking. This agreement reportedly caused thousands of people to lose their jobs. It is not difficult to imagine that one might remain unconvinced with the focus on minor improvements, such as tourism.
With the apparent absence of a safety net and a viable alternative for many in the province, protests and clashes with the Iranian security forces have flared up. Meanwhile, the Iranian regime seems to think that their religion (predominantly Sunni) and not so much the economic hardship is where the true problem lies. A month ago, the destruction of a Sunni mosque had caused outraged among Sunni residents in Iranshahr County.
The Amman Center for Human Rights Studies calls upon the Iranian regime to, first of all, implement a moratorium on the death penalty with the eventual objective of abolishing the penalty altogether. If it decides not to do so, then it must at the very least provide its citizens with a fair trial and due process guarantees. In accordance with international law, the death penalty must then only be used for the most serious crimes.
The Iranian regime must also refrain from torture and the reliance on torture-induced confessions as this renders a confession unreliable.
Lastly, we call upon the Iranian regime to provide the people of Sistan and Baluchistan with adequate alternatives to cross-border trade activities and to treat with respect all of the minorities and their particular religions in their country.
