Protests Continue in Iran; This Time Against Direct Fire on Kolbars

The hashtag “#KolbarDontKill,” which emerged in protest against direct shooting by the Islamic Republic’s armed forces against kolbars, has received widespread resonance on social networks.

It is said that this hashtag even became the number one trend on Twitter in Iran. Civil activists and human rights defenders had called on social network users to launch a “Twitter storm” on Sunday, August 2, against shooting by armed forces at kolbars.

In this regard, the hashtag “#KolbarDontKill” was shared on Twitter tens of thousands of times despite being filtered. Many photos and videos related to the phenomenon of kolbar work have also been published on social networks.

Direct Fire on Kolbars

A report released last Friday (July 31) by the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization once again drew public attention to the phenomenon of kolbar work in Iran and the dangers it entails.

Hrna news agency also reported on that day the death of another kolbar in the border areas of Chaldaran as a result of fire from armed forces.

Hrna news agency identified this kolbar as Reza Pourismaeil and reported that he was from the village of “Khezrloo” in Chaldaran in West Azerbaijan Province.

The report stated that this person was targeted by border guard bullets without prior warning and died from his injuries.

Based on a report released by a collection of human rights activists in Iran, more than 150 kolbars were killed and wounded in 2018 as a result of confrontations with the Islamic Republic’s armed forces. Among them, 48 kolbars died as a result of direct fire from law enforcement forces in the border areas between Iran and Iraq.

In the Hengaw report, it states that law enforcement forces were responsible for most kolbars being killed and wounded in July.

The report states: “During July 2020, at least 20 kolbars and peddlers were killed and wounded on the Kurdistan borders, with 80 percent of these cases occurring as a result of direct fire from Iran’s armed forces.”

Based on the same report, the highest number of casualties was from West Azerbaijan Province. Throughout July, this province had the highest number of casualties among kolbars with 12 killed and wounded. The remaining kolbars were from Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces.