A group of activists and residents held a protest outside the Iranian consulate in Herat on Monday, calling for the punishment of those who were involved in the drowning of Afghan migrants in the border areas with Iran.
The protestors called on the Afghan government and international rights groups to make a committed investigation, chanting slogans of “justice, justice.”
The United States has denounced as “appalling” reports that Iranian border guards tortured and drowned dozens of migrants from Afghanistan last week to prevent their entry into Iran.
Afghan officials and survivors say a group of about 60 men from their western Herat province was being smuggled into Iran before that country’s border guards detained and later forced all of them into the Harirud River this past Saturday.
The Kabul Foreign Ministry has said that Tehran has agreed to jointly investigate the incident to determine the “facts and identity of the perpetrators.”
