Reactions to the Murder of Three Environmental Guards; Preparation of New Support Bill

Following the news of the killing of three environmental guards by illegal hunters in recent days, various officials in Iran have reacted to this news. The Director General of the Office for the Protection and Management of Hunting and Fishing of the Environmental Protection Organization has also reported that the preparation of a supportive bill for environmental guards has reached its final stages. Monouchehr Shojaei, a 39-year-old environmental guard, was engaged in a confrontation with illegal hunters in the 'Bemo' National Park in northern Shiraz on Friday, where he was shot in the chest and throat. According to reports, Hossein Jafari and Mohammad Jafari, two hunters accused of killing Monouchehr Shojaei, have been arrested. A day earlier, Mohammad Dehghani and Parviz Hormozi, two environmental guards from the protected area of 'Genu' in Hormozgan province, were also killed by illegal hunters. Hamidreza Kheildar, the commander of the Environmental Protection Organization's protection unit, announced on Sunday, July 6, in an interview with the Arya news agency that the suspects in the murder case of the Hormozgani environmental guards have been arrested, stating that '10 people have been arrested in this case, two of whom have confessed to the murders of the environmental guards, while the others were accomplices of the killers.' Kheildar identified one of the biggest challenges facing environmental guards as a shortage of personnel, stating: 'There is a high workload on environmental guards; there are about 17 million hectares of protected land in the country, managed by only 2,600 environmental guards, and this issue needs special attention.' He also referred to the existence of weapon laws and their use, emphasizing: 'We have provided the necessary training to environmental guards in this regard and have also presented a checklist of training requirements.' Regarding the issue that environmental guards do not have the right to shoot at offenders, he stated: 'This claim is not true, and there is absolutely no such discussion; rather, all actions of environmental guards are according to the law.' The preparation of a new support bill for presentation to the parliament was discussed by Ali Timouri, the Director General of the Office for the Protection and Management of Hunting and Fishing, who stated on Sunday in an interview with the IRNA news agency that 'the preparation of the bill to support environmental guards is in its final stages within the organization and will be sent to the government within two weeks.' He noted: 'Last year, in the ninth parliament, some representatives prepared a plan to support environmental guards, and the head of the environmental faction wrote a letter to follow up on it and submitted it to the Research Center of the parliament, but it did not receive enough signatures from representatives to be presented in the assembly.' Timouri's remarks about the bill being prepared come as Masoumeh Ebtekar, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, stated during the funeral of Monouchehr Shojaei that 'a bill has been sent to the parliament for further support of environmental guards,' adding that 'updating the equipment of environmental guards is also on the agenda.' She also denied any requirement for environmental guards to take any commitments regarding the use of weapons and accepting responsibility for shooting before starting work. Reports indicate that Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also called on Sunday for necessary and legal actions to deal with violators of protected environmental areas. According to ISNA, Mohammad Reza Aref, a representative from Tehran, expressed hope on Sunday that the issue of carrying illegal weapons would be resolved quickly through the relevant organizations, ensuring the safety of environmental guards in Iran's environmental sector. On the same day, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General, also responded to a journalist's question during a press conference about whether environmental guards are considered judicial agents, stating: 'We have two types of judicial agents,' adding that 'one is armed forces known as NAJA, and the other are forces to whom the judiciary refers matters, such as armed forces or environmental guards who are recognized as agents.' The murders of environmental guards in Iran occur under circumstances where if an environmental guard kills illegal hunters while on duty, they could face retribution. In recent years, several environmental guards in Iran have faced such punishments and have been imprisoned for long periods.