ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish teenager was killed and his father severely injured by Iranian border guard gunfire in western Iran’s Kurdish regions (Rojhelat), a Norway-based rights monitor reported late on Thursday, calling the killing a violation of the right to life and the rights of children.
In a continuation of what it called "systematic crimes by Iranian armed forces" in Rojhelat’s Kurdistan province, “a 15-year-old Kurdish child, Sam Hasani, was killed by direct gunfire from Iranian forces, and his father, Ahsan Hasani, was severely injured,” the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported.
The monitor, which relies on a network of local sources, said “border guard forces stationed in the village of Darki, in Sarvabad district, opened fire without warning” on the car Sam and Ahsan Hasani were traveling in, shooting the teenager “in the head and killing him instantly, while his father sustained severe injuries to his thigh.”
According to Hengaw, the incident took place as the family was returning home after a day of work in their private cherry orchard.
The watchdog warned that “criminalizing citizens' livelihoods and opening fire on children and local workers” is “a flagrant violation of the right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” as well as “an explicit violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - both of which the Iranian government is legally bound to.”
Under Iran's own laws, security forces may only shoot under highly exceptional circumstances and after adhering to strict protocols, such as firing warning shots into the air - regulations Hengaw said are “practically ignored in Kurdistan's border regions.”
The latest incident notably coincides with a surge in detentions targeting Kurdish civilians in Rojhelat as well.
Iranian security forces have detained at least five men in Iran's Kurdish-majority western regions (Rojhelat) over the past several days, a France-based watchdog, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), reported on Thursday, noting the arrests were carried out without judicial warrants as the charges against them remain unclear.
Meanwhile, Hengaw on Tuesday said that Iranian security forces detained a couple from Rojhelat, also without a warrant, noting the husband had previously been detained for his participation in the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest movement.
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