At least 63 people were killed last week in Zahedan, southeastern Iran, by the repression of demonstrations by security forces, the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Tuesday, revising on the rise. a previous report.
The "
murders
" in Zahedan, a city in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, constitute "
crimes against humanity
", reaffirmed in a press release the NGO based in Norway.
Its previous report reported 41 victims in this region and 92 people killed in total in the country since September 16.
General protest movement
During "
Zahedan Bloody Friday
", security forces "
bloodyly suppressed
" a protest that had erupted after prayers, she said on Sunday.
The protest was sparked by accusations that a police chief in the port city of Chabahar, also in that province, raped a 15-year-old girl from the Sunni Baloch minority, according to the IHR.
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Reports posted on social media had reported dozens of deaths in Zahedan on Friday, while footage showed overwhelmed hospitals and bloodied corpses.
The clashes took place in a wider context of protests across the country, which erupted two weeks ago following the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested by vice police.
Multiplication of hangings
Bordering Pakistan, Sistan-Baluchistan is one of Iran's poorest regions and home to the Baloch minority, who mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and not the dominant Shiism in Iran.
In recent months, activists have complained about the disproportionate number of Baloch convicts executed, as hangings spike in the Islamic Republic.
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For its part, Iran claims that five members of the Revolutionary Guards, the regime's ideological army, were killed in Zahedan, in what state media described as a "
terrorist incident
".
The IHR also accuses the security forces of having fired on demonstrators on Monday from a military helicopter.
Four people "
driving in an open-top car were shot dead from a military helicopter in northern Zahedan
," the NGO said.
