SPECIAL REPORT: Bloody Crackdown and Systematic Human Rights Violations Against Baloch Citizens during the January 2026 Protests
Balochistan Human Rights Group – Following more than three weeks since the onset of the nationwide uprising in Iran, and despite the deliberate and widespread internet blackout, new evidence has emerged regarding the atrocities committed against Baloch citizens across various Iranian cities. Field reports and documented evidence obtained by the Balochistan Human Rights Group indicate that military and security forces have disregarded all international human rights standards, engaging in indiscriminate killings, targeting medical facilities, and inflicting psychological torture on the families of the victims.
1. Violation of Medical Neutrality: Assault on Hospitals
In a move that directly violates international conventions regarding the protection of medical facilities, security forces in Iranshahr launched a massive tear gas attack on the courtyard and entrance of the Khatam al-Anbiya Hospital. This action caused severe respiratory distress for hospitalized patients and medical staff, created a state of public terror, and stripped wounded protesters of their right to seek safe medical treatment.
2. Documented Killings: From Summary Executions to Child Casualties
Reports verified by the Balochistan Human Rights Group reveal unprecedented brutality in the treatment of protesters and even ordinary bystanders:
- Execution within a Hospital: In Varamin, a Baloch citizen named Mohammad Sarani was shot in the leg and transported to a hospital. In a shocking act of cruelty, security forces executed him with a “finishing shot” inside the medical facility and subsequently buried his body in secret.
- Targeting Children: In Mashhad, 11-year-old Hozayfa Ostakh, a Baloch child, was killed by live ammunition while going out to buy bread. Similarly, 18-year-old Abolfazl Sheikh-Veisi lost his life after security forces blocked bystanders from providing him with medical aid.
- Killings of Workers and Bystanders: In the cities of Qeshm, Kish, Bandar Abbas, Karaj, and Meybod, Baloch citizens—many of whom were seasonal laborers—were killed by direct fire to vital organs, specifically the head and chest.
3. State Extortion and Forced Narratives
Reports received by the Balochistan Human Rights Group expose a pattern of systematic harassment against the families of the deceased:
- Monetizing Death: In Karaj and Mashhad, security agencies demanded heavy ransoms from the families of Baloch victims such as Mohsen Arbabi and Dastgir Gorgij in exchange for the release of their bodies.
- Body Snatching and Secret Burials: In several instances, security forces buried victims at night without the consent or presence of their families to prevent funeral processions from turning into protest rallies.
- Coerced Allegiances: Families have been pressured to falsely claim the victims were members of state-linked militias, a claim the families of these Baloch workers have strictly denied.
4. Mass Arrests and Enforced Disappearances
Alongside the street suppression, a wave of violent arrests continues in Zahedan and Chabahar. Plainclothes officers have raided universities and marginalized neighborhoods, detaining dozens of Baloch students and youths without judicial warrants. While the Balochistan Human Rights Group has identified 12 of these detainees, the fate of hundreds of others remains unknown due to the ongoing internet blackout.
Legal Conclusion
The Balochistan Human Rights Group declares that the actions taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran in January 2026—including the intentional internet shutdown to mask the scale of the crackdown, the use of lethal force against non-combatants, and the systematic abuse of Baloch families—constitute Crimes Against Humanity. We call upon the international community and human rights organizations to take immediate action to halt this violence and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Balochistan Human Rights Group January 27, 2026
