UN Special Rapporteur Urges Iran to End Executions and Repression of Baloch and Kurdish Communities
UN Special Rapporteur Urges Iran to End Executions and Repression of Baloch and Kurdish Communities
According to the Balochistan Human Rights Group, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Dr. Mai Sato, has called on the Iranian authorities to immediately end the arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture, and executions targeting Kurdish and Baloch communities.
In a recent statement, Dr. Sato said that in 2026 alone, at least 24 Baloch and 22 Kurdish individuals have been executed, while many others remain at imminent risk of execution.
She also expressed grave concern over five prisoners currently facing imminent execution following trials reportedly tainted by torture and forced confessions, including Farhad Baranzehi, a Baloch prisoner, alongside four Kurdish prisoners. In addition, Kurdish women Pakhshan Azizi and Varisheh Moradi remain under sentence of death.
The UN Special Rapporteur criticized Iran’s use of broadly defined national security charges to target ethnic minorities and warned that the repression has expanded beyond Iran’s borders through asset seizures, in absentia convictions, and extradition requests against Kurdish activists abroad.
Dr. Sato stressed that Iran’s ethnic minorities, including the Baloch and Kurdish communities, must be able to live in safety and dignity, free from discrimination and persecution.
