Mawlawi Abdulhamid Calls for Government Response Regarding 'Suspicious Assassinations' in Sistan and Baluchestan

Mawlawi Abdulhamid, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, states that the security and judicial institutions of the Islamic Republic are responsible for the 'suspicious assassinations' of Baluch citizens. Abdulhamid Ismailzahi, in his Friday sermon on August 9, said: 'The officials of the Islamic Republic, including the judiciary and security institutions, are responsible for ensuring the safety of people's lives and property. You must be accountable for the security of the people.' The Sunni prayer leader of Zahedan noted that in recent weeks, several scholars, traders, shopkeepers, women, and children in Sistan and Baluchestan have been 'assassinated' and said: 'People are suspicious of these murders, as none of the perpetrators of these random assassinations have been apprehended so far.' He further referred to the killings of fuel carriers in Sistan and Baluchestan and kolbars in Kurdistan by Iranian law enforcement forces, stating: 'All these killings have responsibilities. All of these people are part of Iran and have resorted to fuel carrying and kolbari out of necessity.' Mawlawi Abdulhamid also criticized the security atmosphere in Sistan and Baluchestan, saying that the Islamic Republic has militarized this province and the entire country for a long time. The Sunni prayer leader of Zahedan did not specify what he meant by the assassinations that took place in this province or which security institution he holds responsible in this regard. However, four human rights organizations active in the rights of the people of Sistan and Baluchestan announced a day earlier in a joint statement that the 'Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' is responsible for the deaths and injuries of Baluch citizens in Sistan and Baluchestan. The organizations 'Shivaranews', 'Halosh', 'Baluch Activists Campaign', and 'Rasank' stated on Thursday, August 9, that the 'Sustainable Security Plan' project of the IRGC, which began in 2008 under the management of the Quds Regional Headquarters led by Nourali Shushtari, has 'led to increased insecurity, armed robberies, and ethnic and tribal conflicts.' These four organizations stated that 'one of the main reasons for insecurity' is the armed forces, declaring: 'In many armed robberies, military forces collaborate with the robbers.' The statement noted: 'In many murder and massacre cases, judicial and military officials have encouraged citizens to seek revenge instead of encouraging them to pursue legal actions.' The four organizations active in the rights of the people of Baluchestan reported that in 2023, more than '150 Baluch citizens have been killed by armed individuals.' They also stated that in the first six months of this year, from January 2023 to June 2023, '130 people' have been killed by armed individuals in Sistan and Baluchestan, which is a '17.2 percent' increase compared to the previous year. According to a report by the fact-finding committee established by the UN Human Rights Council, published on Monday, August 6, the repression of minorities, especially in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and East and West Azerbaijan, has been severe. This committee emphasized in its report that ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, especially the Kurdish and Baluch minorities, have been disproportionately affected by the government's repression against protesters that began in 2022.