Two human rights organizations asked Masoud Pezeshkian to end the harassment of kolbars in Iran.
On Monday, July 16, Human Rights Watch and the Center for Human Rights in Iran jointly called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to end the use of deadly and excessive force against kolbars at the Iran-Iraq border during Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidency. They say these kolbars are mostly Kurds and from marginalized communities.
These two organizations referred to statements made by Masoud Pezeshkian a month ago during his election campaign in Sanandaj, where he said it is shameful that our young people have to work as kolbars for a piece of bread. We should create a border that facilitates trade, not kolbari. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, only three days after Pezeshkian’s election, five kolbars were shot at the Nowsud border in Kermanshah, and one of them was killed.