The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has voiced its solidarity with Uzbekistan's democratic opposition and called on the international community to investigate the massacre of civilians in Andizhan and other cities by the security forces.
BAFS has pointed to the similarities between the recent popular uprising in Uzbekistan and the uprising in Khuzestan, where more than 160 Arabs were killed at the hands of Iran's ruthless Revolutionary Guard last month. The Uzbekistan government has blamed the uprising on bandits and Islamic terrorists, while the Islamic regime in Tehran has condemned "foreign-backed separatists" in Khuzestan. In both cases, the regimes are in denial over the popular and spontaneous revolt against tyranny.
BAFS spokesman Nasser Ban-Assad said: "We extend a hand of friendship to all those peaceful protestors who risk their lives struggling against dictatorship. We do not believe the government of Uzbekistan's propaganda that claims that all those murdered were Al-Qaeda mercenaries. The people gunned down in cold blood were simply voicing their opposition to Karimov's ruthless regime, which has many parallels with the tyrants of Tehran in its use of torture and mass murder.
"While the Uzbeks and the Ahwazi Arabs have very different cultures, we have a common cause: self-determination and democracy. Hundreds of Uzbeks, Ahwazi Arabs and Iranian Kurds have died in recent weeks, while the international community has turned a blind eye. It's time for the world to take a stand against fascism. It's time to stop the arms sales, stop the flow of oil and gas and stop the profits of the gangsters that run Iran and Uzbekistan. Only then will the peoples of Iran and Uzbekistan have a chance of knowing freedom and democracy."
Picture from: International Association for Democratic Reforms and the Protection of Minorities in Uzbekistan
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keywords: ahvaz ahwaz ahwazi arabistan khuzestan khuzistan khuzestani arab arabistan iran iranian human rights security oil news ahmadinejad ethnic cleansing
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