ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Region’s human rights commission on Sunday condemned the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for killing a Kurdish shepherd in the border area and taking his body and livestock into Iranian territory, labeling it as a “criminal act.” 

“The Independent Human Rights Commission strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act. This brazen assault on the life of a civilian is a clear violation of territorial sovereignty and the crossing of borders between two countries, and constitutes a full contradiction of international conventions,” the commission said in a statement. 

It called for an immediate investigation into the matter, stressing that the perpetrators “must face severe legal accountability” and calling for compensation for the victim’s family. 

The shepherd was identified as Rebaz Saleh, 30. He was killed in Erbil province’s Sidakan area by IRGC forces, according to the Oslo-based Hengaw Human Rights Organization. 

“Saleh was grazing and tending his flock in the mountainous area under an official permit when he was shot. Several days after the incident, his body had not been returned to his family,” the rights watchdog added. 

According to Hengaw, 850 sheep and goats belonging to Saleh were seized by the IRGC and transported into Iranian territory. 

Iranian forces have sporadically been accused of violating the Kurdistan Region’s sovereignty and entering Kurdish territory, often in pursuit of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region.