MESOPOTAMIA NEWS KURDS IN IRAN T HIS WEEK / FULL REPORT

 

  • Oct 2018 – MESOP – Last week the Iranian regime’s security forces launched an intense crackdown against the border porters (Kolbars) in several neighboring villages in the Kurdish region. On October 25 the border guards shot and killed one Kolbar and injured another near Shapiran district in Salmasa city.  On October 27 in Sardasht city, Qandul district, the Iranian revolutionary guards (IRGC) shot two Kolbars, severely wounding them, while another Kolbar died due to freezing temperatures. On October 28, the IRGC shot and killed one Kolbar near Piranshar-Sardasht and ambushed tens of others as they were preparing to cross to Iraqi Kurdistan. Meanwhile the Revolutionary Court in Sardasht city sentenced 15 Kolbars to prison for periods of one month to eight months. The Revolutionary Court also fined the 15 Kurdish Kolbars for “illegally bringing goods.” In some cases, the fines reached US$1,800.
  • In a Kurdish village near Mehabad city, 30 elementary students were poisoned due to water pollution. The Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK) reported that some of the students remain under medical care. The drinking water is supplied to the village via water tankers similar to those used in many other villages is the Kurdish region, which have caused illness due to water contamination.
  • The Iranian regime’s security forces detained five Kurdish activists after they protested waste burning by the regime next to a village near Marrivan city. The KMMK reported that tens of Kurds protested the arrest of the environmental activists in front of the Marivan mayor’s office. The gathering defended the activists as they tried to raise awareness of pollution caused by burning waste.