HRANA News Agency – An Afghanistani Young man died in the border region near Chalderan in West Azerbaijan province because of being beaten by the police at the border station in this area.  His family by writing a letter demanded the case to be pursued in the courts and the agent or agents responsible to be taken to justice.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), Alireza Rezaei is the young Afghani man who died in Chalderan region, because of being beaten and neglected by the police at the border stations. This young man with a handful of Afghanis had been arrested on charge of trying to illegally to cross the border from Iran to Turkey.
His family in a letter addressed to the government and civil society in Iran and Afghanistan, has demanded pursuing and investigation in connection with the death of Alireza Rezaei and humane treatment towards the Afghani refugees who are attempting to cross the border.
Alireza Rezaei’s family in a part of the letter, a copy of which had been provided to HRANA, described the event as follows:
“On Sunday 20th September 2015, in the morning twilight, in a valley leading to the border between Iran and Turkey, in the county of Dashtak and  city of Chalderan, in West Azerbaijan province of Iran, a group of seven Afghanis, including a teenage girl, three children, fourteen, eleven and ten-year-old, and three young twenty to twenty-five-year old men were arrested by the border soldiers on charge of trying to cross the border illegally, and were transferred to scope office (border Police station).
During the transfer by the troops to scope station, of one of the youth had a heart attack and died, like many Afghani illegal refugees who try to cross the border between Iran and Turkey to find a new life, and die by shooting or falling from the mountain.
Unfortunately, this simple narrative has details that it has become hard and excruciating pain and suffering. Our Alireza passed away because he was not treated as a human by the soldiers who arrested him and his companions. They had walked all the night and Alireza, who was concerned about the children and the teenage girl, had refused to ride horses which traffickers had provided to ease crossing the mountains. He let the children ride and walked himself, a little further away than others, in the dark over the mountains and the rocky valley, police fired without warning, and Alireza heard the gunshots and children’s screaming and quickly reached to them and found himself surrounded.
A sudden attack and shooting by the soldiers in the dark and tiredness of walking for several hours in the mountains, caused a great shock and exhaustion on Alireza and mad him unwell, but then all of the group were made by the soldiers to climb for thirty to forty minutes to reach the outpost.
One of his companions noticed that he was then in a critical condition and asked the soldiers to let them have a little rest, but the answer was nothing but severe beatings and more injury of Alireza by the soldiers and walking further but a hundred yards from the station, Alireza collapsed and fell on the ground.
One of the soldiers went to the station, where was just 100 meters away, to bring a vehicle, and it took twenty minutes. After arriving at the station, Alireza’s companion realized that his heart rate is too slow and weak and the color of his lips and face turned blue and his breathing was irregular and few moments later, his heart stopped.
Soldiers did not consider the shout and call by his companions for help and one of the companions did artificial respiration and heart massage to return him. Alireza was still unconscious but breathing and for a moment he opened his eyes.
His companions continued asking for help from the soldiers, but they encountered with beating each time and answered them coldly: ‘let him die, to be a lesson for others.’
Alireza Rezaei’s heart completely stoped, ten minutes after the first attack and he died in front of the children’s eye and in the arms of his nephew. His soulless body was transferred to another station by a vehicle to Chalderan, while three children and a young girl, who were his nieces and nephew, have hugged him in their arms. Then, he was delivered to his family and after two days, he was buried in the cemetery of Hamza Khatoonabad, of Pakdasht, in Tehran province.”
This family also gave a description of his situation and explained, that if there was a medical care, it would be possible to save their child, and wrote:
“Between the first signs of deterioration until his death, there was forty minutes time, certainly during this period of time, he could have access to first aid or medical team.”
“But apart from all written laws or temporal law about the relationship between the police and detainees, there is a rule in the name of humanity or the human conscience. That soldiers or officers, who caused this deplorable incident, may have young relatives at the same age and with a family and loved ones. I do not wish that they would be placed in the same position, but we want to ask whether Alireza Rezaei was not a human like your youths? Wasn’t he a part of other people that simply, you avoided helping him and put his weak and damaged body under the butts stocks and your boots, beating him? Did he have the right to breathe, live and dreaming wishes, the same as you? We know that in your view he was just an Afghani, as simple as it is!”
At the end of this letter, his family also, called on the governments of Iran and Afghanistan, and the civil societies of these two countries, to consider the humane treatment towards Afghanistan refugees and urged the case of Alireza Rezaei to be followed by the courts and the perpetrators of his death to be brought to justice.