The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called the crackdown between Iranian forces and protesters on September 30, 2022, known as «Bloody Friday,» the deadliest day of the year.
As denounced by the NGO, Iranian authorities killed the largest number of people in one day during protests in the city of Zahedan and urge the newly created UN fact-finding mission to pay more attention to abuses of police force committed in regions of Iran with a larger presence of minorities. In the case of the city of Zahedan, there is a large Baluchi population from Sistan-Baluchestan province.
In its complaint, HRW has documented with more than 50 videos and photographs of the shooting of demonstrators and bystanders that were shared by the Iranian human rights group Haalvsh.
According to the NGO, at least twelve people were killed, including a minor, and about thirty injured on September 30, although they warn that the actual numbers could be much higher.
«The number of protesters and bystanders shot by Iranian security forces on ‘Bloody Friday’ was the highest number killed in a single day during the protests, but no one responsible has been arrested,» confirmed HRW’s senior researcher on the region, Tara Sepehri Far.
«The government’s immense brutality has brought the struggles of long-neglected communities, such as Zahedan, to the center of the protests,» she added.
During September 30, people were leaving Friday prayers from Zahedan’s Grand Mosalla at noon when security forces began firing tear gas and bullets at a group of young protesters heading towards a police station.
For its part, the NGO Amnesty International reports that the number of victims after the altercation is at least 66 people, as well as hundreds of wounded, making it the deadliest day on record since protests over the death of Mahsa Amini began to spread across Iran.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
