On 10 September, three Ahwazis were executed in defiance of the UN and international law, just days after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, visited Iran . At least six more Ahwazi political prisoners are facing imminent execution. Four of them are being moved to a cell in Karoon prison in Ahwaz reserved for imminent execution of prisoners. Their names are as follows:

1. Hamzah Sawari, 20 years old
2. Zamel Bawi
3. Abdulemam Zaeri
4. Nazem Boryhi

The charges against them include hoisting the Ahwazi flag, naming their children Sunni names, converting from Shi'ism to Sunnism and preaching Wahabbism and being "Mohareb" or enemies of god, which carries death sentence. Other charges are "destabilizing the country", "attempting to overthrow the government", "possession of improvised explosives", "sabotage of oil installations" and being a "threat to national security".

Last year, Mr. Emadeldin Baghi, a leading Iranian human rights activist , in a letter to the chief of the judiciary, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, has argued that the trials of Ahwazi Arabs were flawed, the charges baseless, and that the sentencing was based on a spurious interpretation of law and that no evidence has been presented. Mr. Nkbakht, a prominent defense lawyer in Iran , made a similar statement. Others such as Presidency of the European Council , the UN general Assembly, 48 British MPs, the EU Parliament, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned their trials as unjust and unfair and appealed for a halt to further execution.

This new wave of execution is the latest in a series of barbaric hangings, designed to intimidate On 10 January 2007, independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Mr. Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Mr. Leandro Despouy, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Mr. Manfred Nowak, the Special Rapporteur on torture, issued a joint statement urging the Iranian Government to "stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing “. Despite that plea, on 14 February, 2007 Ghasem Salami, 41, married with 6 children, Majad Albughbish, 30, single, were executed in Ahwaz by public hanging and a day later Mr. Risan Sawari, a 32 years old Ahwazi-Arab teacher was killed under torture in Karoon prison.

This is in addition to four executions on 24 January 2007 (Mohammad Chaabpour, Abdolamir Farjolah Chaab, Alireza Asakereh and Khalaf Khanafereh) and three on 19 December 2006 (Malek Banitamim, Abdullah Solaimani and Ali Matorizadeh). This brings the number of executions of Ahwazi Arab political and human rights activists in the past 9 months to at least 13.

The executions are in the context of a brutal clamp-down on Ahwazi Arabs protesting against ethnic discrimination and persecution. Although the Ahwazi Arab homeland in Iran 's Khuzestan province is one of the most oil-rich regions in the world and represents up to 90 per cent of Iran 's oil production, the community endures extreme levels of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy. Ahwazis are subjected to repression, racial discrimination and faced with land confiscation, forced displacement and forced assimilation.

We appeal to you to condemn the latest wave of execution and call upon Iranian authorities to halt the imminent execution of the others. We also appeal to you to call upon Iran to ensure due legal process in accordance with internationally recognized standards and to uphold its obligations with regard to civil and political rights, including the provision of equal rights to ethnic, religious and minority groups in Iran- such as the indigenous Ahwazi-Arabs.

For further information, please see a dossier of other human rights violations against indigenous and ethnic Ahwazi-Arabs in Iran .

Labels: death penalty , human rights

04 September, 2007

Iran: Ahwazi journalist's trial delayed

The following is a statement released by the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation concerning the trial of Yusuf Azizi Bani Torof, an Ahwazi Arab journalist and writer who has been charged with threatening national security. Click here for further details on his case .

According to the reports which Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) have received, the hearing of Mr. Yusef Azizi Bani Torof was delayed on Tuesday 28 August in the Revolutionary Court branch 15 of Tehran, because his defence lawyer was not attending.

According to reports the court did not invite Mr. Saleh Nikbakhat who is the excellent lawyer of Mr. Yusef Azizi Bani Torof and has been his lawyer since year 2005.

Also the court did not ask for two other top lawyers, Mr. Abdul Fattah Sultani and Mrs. Mahnaz Parakand, who submitted their defence to the court on behalf of Mr. Yusef Azizi Bani Torof.

Labels: human rights , media

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UNPO Appeals for Inquiry into Human Rights Infringements of Ahwazi rights

The following appeal was made by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) . It follows a similar appeal by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society .

In light of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Louise Arbour's upcoming visit to Iran, UNPO expresses its deep concerns for the continued degrading human rights situation for Ahwazi Arabs in Iran.

Faced with issues of land confiscation and forced migration, UNPO has received numerous reports highlighting the detrimental effects these events are having on the livelihood of the Ahwazi community. In a report issued by UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Mr. Miloon Kothari, following his visit to Iran in July 2005, Mr. Kothari identified the exceptionally adverse housing and living conditions of ethnic and religious minorities, including the Ahwazi Arabs, in Iran as a serious issue. Despite his findings, the Ahwazi continue to be forcibly displaced from their homes due to land development projects hosted by Iranian authorities.

In addition, UNPO has witnessed an alarming number of incidents of extrajudicial executions carried out by Iranian authorities against Ahwazi political dissidents. These executions have been condemned by the international community, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Special Rapporteur (SR) on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston, SR on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Leandro Desouy, and SR on Torture Mandred Nowak. In January 2007 these Special Rapporteurs issued a statement urging the Iranian government to halt the imminent execution of several Ahwazi Arabs. With disregard to their request and in a blatant violation of the individuals' right to a fair and public trial, authorities in Iran carried out the executions, resulting in a clear breach of human rights obligations as set out by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a legal obligation to which Iran is party to.

UNPO remains deeply concerned about the human rights conditions of the Ahwazi community in Iran and therefore appeals to Ms. Louise Arbour to:

- Inquire about the circumstances surrounding recent land confiscation programmes and extrajudicial executions;

- Investigate the situation regarding landmines on Ahwazi land and the severe effects inflicted upon the Ahwazi community;

- Urge Iran to end immediately its use of land displacement and executions as a weapon of fear and oppression; and

- Urge Iran to immediately halt its ongoing persecution of minority communities, including the Ahwazi Arab community, and to afford all its citizens their full catalogue of political and human rights.

Labels: human rights , land

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31 August, 2007

Iran: human rights activists call for international intervention

Leading Iranian human rights activists Shirin Ebadi and Akbar Ganji are increasing pressure on the regime to end human rights violations.

Ganji and 200 Iranian intellectuals have submitted an appeal highlighting the country's appalling human rights situation and criticising the way in which the international community is dealing with Iran. The appeal highlighted the abuses against women, children, workers and students in Iran. It also criticised the way in which Western governments deal with the regime, which human rights relegated to second place behind the nuclear programme.

Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi participated in events marking the first anniversary of a one million signature campaign which highlighted Iran's deteriorating human rights situation ( click here for details ). She told the media that the regime should repeal legislation dating back to the Shah's regime that undermined Iranians' human rights. She specifically referred to the Family Protection Act, introduced in 1925, and called on the Iranian parliament to repeat the legislation as it undermined women's rights and was not in accordance with either the Declaration on Human Rights or Sharia. She also drew attention to the regime's execution of children under the age of 18, which she said was against the country's laws. She added that Iranians had a right to call for the international community to intervene and monitor the situation of women in Iran and that this should not be seen as a call for military invasion.

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Appeal to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ahead of her visit to Iran

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), a human rights and lobbying organisation working on behalf of the persecuted Ahwazi Arab population in southwest Iran, calls on Ms Arbour to visit the province of Khuzestan to examine human rights violations in the province and meet with members of the Ahwazi Arab community.

We call on Ms Arbour to examine the following issues closely:

Land rights

Land confiscation and forced migration are in line with the "ethnic restructuring" programme targeted at the Ahwazi Arabs and designed to "Persianise" Khuzestan. This is having a detrimental impact on the livelihoods and wellbeing of the Arab population.

The UN Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur (SR) on Adequate Housing, Mr. Miloon Kothari, in his report following the mission to visit Iran from 19 to 31 July 2005, identified as a key concern that there is "disproportionably adverse housing and living conditions of ethnic and religious minorities (Kurds, Bahais, Arabs and Laks) and groups like the Nomads." At the end of his mission, Mr. Kothari spoke to IRIN in Tehran on 9 Aug 2005 about his preliminary findings: "When you visit Ahwaz there are thousands of people living with open sewers, no sanitation, no regular access to water, electricity and no gas connections." Mr. Kothari further stated: "[I]n Khuzestan [...] we visited the areas where large development projects are coming up, sugar cane plantations and other projects along the river, and the estimate we received is that between 200,000 - 250,000 Arab people are being displaced from their villages because of these projects." The SR also noted that in Khuzestan "large development projects, like petrochemical plants, are being built leading to the displacement of entire villages - with thousands of people not consulted on the projects, informed of the impending displacement, nor offered adequate resettlement and compensation," and added "[...] the compensation being offered to the Arab villagers who were being displaced is sometimes one fortieth of the market value - and there is nothing they can do about it. It's a fait accompli."

Despite Mr Kothari's concerns, land confiscation and forced displacement continues, particularly in the Arvand Free Zone surrounding the cities of Abadan and Khorramshahr.

We call on Ms Arbour to investigate the Iranian government's programme of population transfer and its effects on the local Arab population

Executions

We call on Ms Arbour to examine the cases of Ahwazi prisoner of conscience and the trial and execution of political dissidents, which have been condemned as unjust and illegal by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Iranian human rights activists, the Presidency of the European Council, Philip Alston (SR on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions), Leandro Despouy (SR on the independence of judges and lawyers) and Manfred Nowak (SR on torture).

In January 2007, the SRs issued a statement urging the government to "stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing." In the statement, they claimed that lawyers were not allowed to see the defendants prior to their trial, and were given access to the prosecution case only hours before the start of the trial. The lawyers were also intimidated by charges of "threatening national security" being brought against them. The convictions were reportedly based on confessions extorted under torture. Despite these concerns, the executions went ahead as planned, bringing the total number of executions of Ahwazi political dissidents to at least 16 over the course of a year – the government has not released any official figures.

The Iranian government refused to answer letters from the SRs. The government systematically refuses to provide information and engage in a dialogue on these matters with the independent experts, violating its obligations under the procedures of the Human Rights Council. Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has a legal obligation to respect its provisions. While the Covenant allows it to retain the death penalty, it prescribes that capital punishment can only be imposed after a trial satisfying the strictest fair trial guarantees. These include the right to a fair and public hearing, the right not to be compelled to confess guilt, and the right to "adequate time and facilities for the preparation of ones defence" with the assistance of a lawyer of ones own choosing.

We call on Ms Arbour to investigate the circumstances surrounding the executions, as well as lengthy prison terms handed down to other Ahwazis during 2006 and 2007, notably the psychologist Dr Awdeh Afrawi and the journalist Mohammad Hassan Fallahiya, who have been the subject of a number of appeals by human rights organisations. Both men are said to be suffering ill health inside prison, following torture, abuse and the refusal of medication. We also call on Ms Arbour to visit the Lanat Abad (place of the damned) near Ahwaz City, where dozens of dead Ahwazi activists lie in mass unmarked graves.

For further information, download the Ahwazi Arab Human Rights Dossier

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24 August, 2007

Iran's security clamp-down in Ahwaz leads to arrests and shootings

The Iranian regime has arrested a number of Ahwazis and massively increased the presence of Baseej paramilitaries following the assassination of a senior police commander in the ethnically Arab city of Abadan.

The regime this week announced that it had arrested a group of six Ahwazi "separatists", claiming they are Sunni extremists ( click here for Baztab report ). It is unclear whether the men are among the Ahwazis arrested earlier this month, who were accused of being British agents ( click here for report ).

The Baztab website, which is owned by Mohsen Rezai, a former commander of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards, reports that Baseejis have been sent to guard the Azadegan oilfield from bomb attacks . The Baseej commander in Ahwaz, Colonel Karim Karimi, has deployed around 300 Baseej paramilitaries to protect oil facilities.

Meanwhile, according to Khuzestan TV, an Ahwazi youth, Mohammad Jasem Sawari, was shot dead by Iranian intelligence officers who claimed he was responsible for killing Colonel Amiri in Abadan's Ghosba district. Sawari is from Shilangabad (Hay Al-Thurah) district.

Ahwazi activists state that the Iranian regime is using national security as a pretext to terrorise the Arab population and perform summary executions.

Labels: human rights , intifada

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Iran to try leading Ahwazi Arab journalist

Ahwazi Arab journalist Yusef Azizi Bani-Torof will be put on trial for "threatening national security" on Monday (27 August) on charges relating to his reports on the indigenous Ahwazi Arab uprising more than two years ago.

Bani Torof is a celebrated writer and journalist who has written 24 books in Farsi and Arabic as well as his media work. He currently writes a column for the Arabic news portal Elaph , which is based in London. The British Ahwazi Friendship Society believes he could face a long period of imprisonment amid a growing clamp-down on Ahwazi Arab journalists, intellectuals, doctors, lawyers and other professionals.

The Ahwaz journalist's lawyer, Abdulfatah Soltani, told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) that he was being denied access to his client's files. Although Bani Torof has been accused of threatening national security, he has in the past stated that despite the Ahwazi Arabs' cultural distinctiveness and periods of autonomy in the past, they are "inseparable parts of the Iranian nation." However, extremists associated with President Ahmadinejad have insisted he is a separatist with links to foreign intelligence services.

Bani Torof was arrested days after the uprising of April 2005 and spent 65 days in prison in Ahwaz City and one day in Section 209, a prison infamous for torturing inmates to death. He was released on 27 June 2005, with a 200 million rial bail, equivalent to 22,000 US dollars. In August 2006, he was arrested after giving a lecture at a journalists' conference and his bail was raised to one billion rials or nearly 90,000 US dollars. The authorities allege that he talked against the regime, a charge he denies.

Bani Torof's struggle has won him admiration throughout Iran and in the Arab world. Recently, a number of Iranian academics and students voiced their support for his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Recently, Bani Torof's son Afnan was arrested in Syria after he was registered as a refugee with the UNHCR in Damascus. Afnan, along with a number of other Ahwazi refugees, was released following a campaign by BAFS and other advocacy groups.

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17 August, 2007

Voice of America: Iran's Fifth Column

This article appeared on the Pajamas Media website

Are American taxpayers unwittingly funding the Iranian regime's own propaganda? Ali Ghaderi and Karim Abdian contend that US government-funded Voice of America Persia and Radio Farda are ultimately damaging to American interests. Not only do these broadcasting services have sympathy for the ruling theocracy, but their inherent Persian bias alienates Iranian ethnic and religious minorities.

Last month, Iran launched Press TV, an English-language television station to broadcast propaganda to the West, utilizing a network of loyal and well-paid correspondents across the world. But their task could have been made easier if they had simply translated broadcasts from the Voice of America Persian Service and Radio Farda, which are both funded by US taxpayers.

Millions of Congress-approved dollars are poured into the VOA-Persian Service and Radio Farda ostensibly to promote democracy and break the Iranian regime's overbearing censorship. However, they are facing increased scrutiny following damning reports by Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the General Accountability Office (GAO), and the government's inter-agency Iran Steering Group. These reports condemned both VOA-Persian and Radio Farda for sympathy with sections of the Iranian regime and for often recycling the regime’s own propaganda. The situation is so bad that some Iranians in the US have begun to question whether the journalists employed by VOA-Persian and Radio Farda are agents for the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.

Some have also pointed to the inherent ethnic (Persian) chauvinism and cronyism in these broadcasts, which are alienating the non-Persian nationalities who are at least half, and by some estimates as high as two-thirds, of the total population in Iran. Activists representing a coalition of non-Persian parties campaigning for ethnic minority rights who monitor VOA Persian Service have released a study that shows that of the 132 people interviewed by VOA-Persian in May of 2007, just over two percent were from the ethnic minority groups of Kurds and Balochis. Thus, Ahwazi Arabs, Azeri-Turks, Turkmens, and others were completely excluded from these broadcasts despite the documented ongoing human rights violations against minorities by the Iranian regime.

These Farsi broadcasts (especially of VOA-Persian Service), claim Iranian minorities are controlled and managed by staunch supporters of the deposed Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi II, and share the regime's antipathy towards non-Persian ethnic groups. Reza Pahlavi and his senior advisors such as Shahriar Ahi and Draiush Homayoun are frequently—sometimes daily—featured on VOA-Persian TV.

The "guests" on these broadcasts are usually hand-picked Persian monarchists, ultra-nationalists or individuals with nationalist inclinations, who depict Iran as a Persian nation period, ignoring the claims of non-Persian Iranians who insist that Persians, despite their political dominance, are in a minority, and no more than a third of the total population. Most of the ultra-nationalists featured on VOA-Persian service believe and practice the ideology of Arian or Persian supremacy and don't believe that one can be Iranian and non-Persian at the same time.

In addition to these paid and unpaid guests who are consultants and senior advisers to Reza Pahlavi, former cabinet ministers and former diplomats of the Shah are also frequently featured on VOA-Persian TV. One was interviewed 15 times, and the rest multiple times in the single month of May alone. Aside from one Kurd and one Baloch, no members of the remaining non-Persian minorities were heard. US-funded radio and TV stations are targeting Persian monarchists, who represent an extreme minority in Iran.

Be it imperial or republican, Iran is clearly an ethnically diverse society, and ethnic dynamics have always been present throughout its history. Non-Persian ethnic groups are a major part, and play a dominant role in the current socio-political struggle for democratic transformation. The VOA broadcast should reflect this diversity. Under an ideal situation US government sponsored broadcasts should dare to be a platform for oppressed minorities and not a propaganda tool for the regime that portrays Iran as a Persian nation with no minority discontent.

Incredibly, VOA and Radio Farda refuse to broadcast news of human rights violations against ethnic and linguistic minorities, according to Iranian minority rights activists. Yet, according to Amnesty International, "Minorities are subject to discriminatory laws and practices," including restrictions on housing, the confiscation of land and property, denial of employment, and restrictions on cultural expression. This discrimination, AI adds, often results in "other human rights violations such as the imprisonment of prisoners of conscience, grossly unfair trials of political prisoners before Revolutionary Courts, corporal punishment and use of the death penalty, as well as restrictions on movement and denial of other civil rights." Amnesty International's Iran desk has campaigned intensively for the release of prisoners of conscience campaigning for minority rights as well as an end to policies amounting to discrimination and persecution.

In November 2006, the European Parliament and the UN General Assembly also joined in the chorus of condemnation of the Iranian regime's discriminatory practices. In a rare display of unanimity, all the political groups in the European Parliament - from Conservatives to Communists — backed a resolution that condemned "the current disrespect of minority rights and demands that minorities be allowed to exercise all rights granted by the Iranian Constitution and international law." Further, the UN General Assembly voiced concern over "increasing discrimination and other human rights violations against ethnic and religious minorities," and called on Iran to eliminate ethnic discrimination.

But a listener to VOA-Persian or Radio Farada would not hear a word against the regime's practices against minorities — especially against Arabs and Balochis - who have been subjected to ethnic cleansing, subject to population transfer, land confiscation and occasional aerial bombardment.

The State Department has oversight responsibility over VOA, but in this case they are clearly not exercising any influence to manage the overall message of the broadcasts. Undersecretary Karen Hughes, on behest of Secretary Rice, occupies a seat on the Broadcast Board of Governors (BBG), the main controlling body with oversight responsibility for all US Government non-military broadcasts. It is not clear if this body is aware that the overall message implied by VOA Persian language broadcast is that the US supports a strategy of re-establishing monarchy and favors keeping intact the rule of Persian minority dominance in Iran.

In a letter to VOA Director Dan Austin, representatives of Iranian Kurds, Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Baloch, Lors and Turkmen argue that "on the rare occasions when someone from a minority group is invited to express an opinion on VOA-Persian TV, they have been subjected to an inquisition, on-and off-air, in which they are required to state their allegiance to the Iranian or Persian nation over their own ethnic group." Those who dare to describe themselves as Kurdish, Arab, Baloch, or simply refer to themselves as even Arab-Iranian, Balochi-Iranian, Kurdish-Iranian, etc, are not welcomed or deprived of further appearances. The existence of this discriminatory vetting process in a US government sponsored broadcast service is incredibly disturbing. One can only assume that it was allowed to continue because neither the VOA director nor the BBG were aware of what was and is going on.

Representatives of Iranian ethnic and religious minorities living in the US claim that VOA is violating its charter by its practical discrimination against non-Persian groups and has called for the dismissal of the Persian Service Director and key managers who are responsible for executing the current editorial policy. According to these representatives, VOA-Persian Service management argue that only a restored monarchy in Iran, or the current Persian-dominated theocratic regime are necessary to ensure Iran's territorial, cultural, and linguistic integrity.

Unless there is a radical shake-up in these US-funded TV and radio stations, they risk becoming a greater threat to US interests than Iran's Press TV will ever be. The millions of dollars spent on VOA and Radio Farda could be better spent on the dozens of financially poor grassroots radio and television stations run by genuine Iranian opposition groups that enjoy high ratings in their target ethnic audiences and beyond.

Ali Ghaderi is U.S. Representative of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan. Karim Abdian, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization, is U.S. Representative of the Ahwazi-Arab Ethnic Minority in Iran.

Labels: human rights , media , minorities

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Ahwazi human rights leader speaks on television

Dr Karim Abdian, director of the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO), highlighted Iran's ethnic cleansing campaign in an interview with leading British human rights and gay rights activist Peter Tatchell. The interview covered the human rights abuse against Ahwazi intellectuals, notably the journalist Mohammad Hassan Fallahiya and the psychologist Dr Awdeh Afrawi . Dr Abdian spoke of the hundreds of other Ahwazis, including young children, who are imprisoned who campaigned lawfully for Arab rights and autonomy. He also drew attention to the Iranian regime's refusal to allow UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur Dr Philip Alston to visit Iran and investigate human rights abuses.

Any Ahwazi who stands up against starvation and ethnic cleansing of Ahwazis is denounced as a Wahabbi radical, a separatist or a Western imperialist, said Dr Abdian. He ended the interview by outlining the Ahwazi demand for self-government within Iran, which was the basis of the Ahwazi Arabs' Mohammerah Declaration of 1979. But he said that international solidarity, not military intervention by foreign governments, was the best means to achieve Ahwazi aspirations.

Dr Abdian is an advisor to the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) and has represented the Ahwazi Arabs at an international level.

Below is an excerpt from the interview. Click here to watch the full interview .

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14 August, 2007

Iran arrests Ahwazi "terrorists"

The Iranian regime has arrested five Ahwazi Arabs while claiming that it had broken up an Ahwazi "terrorist" group it claims is backed by the US, British and Israeli government.

Issa Mahdi Sawari, Mohammad Hatab Sari, Issa Zaeri, Abdulrahman Haidari and Abdolnaser Hamadi were arrested earlier this month and are being held at an undisclosed location. According the British Ahwazi Friendship Society's (BAFS) sources in Ahwaz, none of the men were known to have been involved in serious political activities. Abdulrahman Haidari shares the same name as a well-known Ahwazi activist who was interviewed by Al-Jazeera TV, talking about Arab political demands. However, they are not the same person.

According to the semi-official Fars News Agency, Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie said: "Iranian intelligence agents, in their latest operation, have prevented a terrorist act by an anti-revolutionary group, They were aiming to carry out a terrorist act in the south of the (southwestern) Khuzestan province but they were arrested before carrying out any action." ( click here for statement )

Ejeie did not reveal the names of those arrested, but BAFS believes the five arrested Ahwazis have been held in connection with the alleged "terrorist" plot. He claimed the US government was trying "to spread division and splits between forces of revolution and those loyal to the system by utilising some naive and uninformed people."

Further reports from Iran claim that the British government was assisting Ahwazis in smuggling weapons into Iran. The Baztab website claimed that a "British agent" had been arrested. ( click here for report )

The regime has yet to publish any evidence to support its claim that foreign governments are using Ahwazis to carry out bomb attacks in Iran, beyond forced confessions shown on the local television network. A number of Ahwazi political prisoners have been executed in recent months, accused of waging war on God. Two executed Ahwazis were accused of carrying out bomb attacks in Ahwaz in 2005 and 2006, although they had been in prison since 2000. UN experts and international human rights organisations have condemned the regime's secret trials of Ahwazi Arabs and their lack of legal representation .

Craig Murray, Britain's former ambassador to Uzbekistan and a strong critic of British foreign policy, told BAFS of his doubts about Iranian claims of British involvement in any Ahwazi insurgency. He said that the UK "would only consider providing training for insurgent groups if there was a clearly defined military objective and good chance of success. I cannot imagine [the British] are doing anything like this in Iran."

Ejeie also said that in recent months a "number of anti-revolutionaries" had been arrested by Iran's neighboring countries and extradited back to the Islamic republic. Although Ejeie did not reveal the name of the states involved, the Syrian Ba'athist regime is co-operating with Iran in the arrest and deportation of Ahwazi refugees. ( click here for more information on Ahwazi refugees )

Labels: human rights , intifada , terrorism

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04 July, 2007

Ahwazis at parliamentary human rights hearing

"Western governments say they support democracy in the Middle East, but none have given any support either in word or deed to the Ahwazi people in their struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights," said British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) activist and researcher, Ali Bani Torfi, at a hearing on Iran by the Conservative Human Rights Commission .

The hearing also took evidence from representatives of Kurdish and Bahai human rights organisations as well as Amnesty International. The Commission was established in 2005 by the Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague and is chaired by Stephen Crabb MP. It also includes several Members of Parliament, some of whom were present to hear evidence from BAFS on the persecution of Ahwazi Arabs, whose homeland has been occupied and ruled from Tehran since 1925.

In his address, Mr Bani Torfi compared the treatment of Ahwazi Arabs to apartheid in South Africa, with segregation in housing, employment and education enforced by extreme state violence. He said: "Successive Iranian regimes have denied Ahwazi rights as a people and have tried to ignore the existence of the Ahwazi Arab nation, calling them 'Arab-speakers' rather than Arabs denying their ethnicity due to their policy of Persianisation. This policy has involved government confiscation of Arab-owned land and 'ethnic restructuring', which typically involves the forced migration of Arabs out of Al-Ahwaz and their replacement with 'loyal' ethnic groups, particularly ethnic Persians.

"While UN agencies and leading human rights groups have catalogued the large number atrocities against the Ahwazi people – ranging from the land confiscation programme to the illegal killings and the incarceration of children – not a single democratic government has lifted a finger to address the issue of Ahwazi rights ... It is time for a change in attitudes. It is time to listen to the voice of the Ahwazis."

Labels: activism , human rights , UK

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02 June, 2007

Ahwazis Remember Black Wednesday

This week marks the 27th anniversary of Black Wednesday, when the Iranian regime massacred 817 Ahwazi Arabs shortly after the overthrow of the monarchy. The Black Wednesday massacre led to the formation of Ahwazi insurgent groups, including the group involved in the Iranian Embassy Siege of 1980.

General Madani imposed a brutal clamp-down on Arabs in Mohammerah (Khorramshahr) in May 1979 which Ahwazi Arabs regards as a crime against humanity. At the time, Arabs were demonstrating for cultural rights and were supported by Ayatollah Mohammed Taher al-Khaqani, an Ahwazi Shi'ite mullah. Following the massacre, al-Khaqani was put under house arrest in Qom, where he died. His son Sheikh Mohammed Kazem al-Khaqani continues to campaign for secularism, religious tolerance and human rights. In March, Sheikh al-Khaqani addressed a meeting at the House of Commons in London ( click here for further details ). Meanwhile, Ahwazi groups have raised their demands for Madani's arrest and prosecution for the massacre which was intended to strengthen the power of the Islamic revolutionaries.

The following is the declaration submitted by the Ahwazi Arab delegates to the Interim government on April 1979 which was published in Iranian newspapers. The appeal centred on demands for regional autonomy and cultural identity, while demanding equal rights in a modern economy:

In the name of God, the most Compassionate, Most Merciful

April 1979

Mr. Mehdi Bazargan, the respected Interim Premier of Iran,

The Muslim Arab people's delegates appeal to your ministry to listen to the demands of a consensus among Arab people, in cities and rural areas, that has emerged through demonstrations. These demands have been supported by Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammed Taher al Shobair Khaqani. The demands include the legitimate rights of the Arab people and their right to self-government, within the framework of the Islamic Republic, and maintaining the unity of Iranian territory.

Mr. President,

The delegates assure you that matters relating to foreign policy, the army, defence of the country's borders, currency, international agreements and long-term economic policies are under the jurisdiction of the central state, and our people condemn all conspiracies designed to fragment the unity of Iran. We condemn imperialism, racism, reactionary ideologies and defend a political Non-Aligned Movement, and reject all colonial agreements, which are harmful to Iran national independence.

Our people believe in the autonomy of "Khuzestan", which was historically called Arabistan and geographically belongs to the Arab people.

The basic demands of the Arab people are as follows:

1. Recognition of the Arab people as a distinct ethnic group and enshrine this in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

2. Establish a local parliament in the autonomous area with powers to legislate and enforce laws and ensure the participation of the Arab people in the Iranian Constituent Assembly, the National Council and the cabinet on the basis of their proportion of tht total population.

3. Establishing an Arab-led judiciary in Arab areas, conforming with the laws of the Islamic Republic.

4. Arabic language should become the official language in the autonomous region, while the Persian language should remain the official language for all Iran.

5. The Arabic language should be taught in primary schools, while education in the Persian language will be conducted in the autonomous area.

6. An Arabic language university along with Arabic language schools and educational institutions should be established in the autonomous regime in order to enhance the role of the Arab people, with support given to young Arab people to study abroad.

7. Freedom of expression and publication should be emphasised with the independent publication of Arabic language books and newspapers and independent broadcasting on radio and television networks, without any kind of censorship.

8. Priority should be given to employment for Arabs in the autonomous area in public and private sectors.

9. Oil revenues should be used to develop the Arab region's industry and agriculture.

10. The names of cities, villages and districts should revert to their original Arabic names, which the fascist Pahlavi regime had changed to Persian.

11. Arabs should be able to participate in the army and local security forces, operating under the autonomous govenment, with the possibility of promotion to high military ranks, which had been denied under the Pahlavi regime.

12. A review of the agrarian reform law, with land redistributed to peasants, based on the laws of the Islamic Republic which say that "the earth is for people who cultivate it."

Finally, we ask the government of Mehdi Bazargan to refrain from negotiations with the opportunistic and reactionary elements on resolving issues related to the Arab people.

Signed,

Delegates of the Muslim Arab people of Iran.

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25 May, 2007

Amnesty appeal for Ahwazi journalist held in Iranian torture chamber

Amnesty International issued an appeal for the release of Ahwazi Arab journalist Mohammad Hassan Fallahiya, who has been given a three year prison sentence for criticising the Iranian regime.

Amnesty has declared that Fallahiya is a "prisoner of conscience detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association" and has expressed concern that he is "at risk of torture or ill-treatment." Fallahiya suffers from sickle cell anaemia, a common condition among Ahwazi Arabs, as well as a heart condition but is reportedly being denied medical treatment. He requires constant treatment with antibiotics and access to medical examinations. His relatives fear he may die if he is not treated.

Since November 2006, he has been imprisoned in Section 209 of Evin Prison, which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence which uses it to torture political prisoners and conduct summary killings. A number of other prominent Ahwazis are being held in Section 209, including 60 year old Dutch national Faleh Abdullah al-Mansouri and UNHCR-registered refugees abducted from Syria last year.

On 21 April, he was reportedly sentenced to three years' imprisonment with hard labour. According to Amnesty International, "he was not afforded legal representation at any point in the judicial process, in violation of international fair trial standards."

Fallahiya is the managing editor of Aqlam al-Talaba ( The Students' Pens ), a publication issued by the students in Ahwaz University in
Khuzestan province. He is also a correspondent for several Arab television and radio broadcasting news agencies including Abu Dhabi TV and Radio, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a journalist for the Lebanese al-Mustaqbal broadcasting
corporation.

Meanwhile, another prominent Ahwazi Arab journalist, Youssef Azizi Bani Torouf, is facing accusations by supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he is a pan-Arabist and is in contact with British and Israeli intelligence services. Ahwazi activists fear that he may soon be taken into custody due to the allegations against him and attempts to kidnap his son, a UNHCR-registered refugee in Syria.

Click here for Amnesty's appeal for Mohammad Hassan Fallahiya's release

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15 April, 2007

MASS ARRESTS ON SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE AHWAZI INTIFADA

The Iranian regime has arrested at least 100 Ahwazi Arabs ahead of protests marking the second anniversary of the Ahwazi intifada.

The Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) has published the names some of those arrested in the past few days - see the bottom of this article. ( click here for report ) Security forces conducted the arrests in an attempt to prevent a traditional Arabic cultural event in Hamidiya town. Poets were among those detained. Some reports put the number of arrests at over 200.

Today (15 April) marks the second anniversary of the Ahwazi intifada , in which the Iranian regime lost control over large parts of Khuzestan - a region known locally as Al-Ahwaz or Arabistan - during massive anti-government protests. The protests were sparked by revelations on Al-Jazeera TV that the Khatami administration was conducting an "ethnic restructuring" project to reduce the proportion of Arabs in the province from around 60 per cent to under a third. A letter written by Ali Abtahi while he was Vice-President detailed the plans, which involved moving non-Arabs into the province. ( click here to download the Abtahi letter and translation ) Over 160 Ahwazi Arab demonstrators were killed by security forces in the uprising.

Abtahi denied he wrote the letter, but the Iranian regime has continued its ethnic cleansing programme with the confiscation of 155 sq km of land on the left bank of the Shatt al-Arab waterway for the military-industrial Arvand Free Zone. Thousands of farmers are being displaced as entire villages are taken over.

Meanwhile, demonstrations have continued in Arab-populated urban slums, where many of the displaced end up. The regime has moved to clear the slums of Arabs and has bombed the Sepidar district of Ahwaz City, destroying hundreds of homes.

The government has responded to unrest by arresting and executing human rights activists and members of the Lejnat al-Wefaq (Reconciliation Committee), which had sought to challenge ethnic persecution of Arabs through constitutional means including contesting elections.

Voice of Ahwaz article on intifada

Click here for BAFS's archive of articles on the Ahwazi intifada

Recent arrests:

1. Ghaleb Manabi (artist)
2. Najem Cheldawi
3. Ali Manabi
4. Chamel Sawari
5. Ali Haidari
6. Razagh Haidari
7. Ali Ayed Badawi (poet)
8. Karim Hazbawi
9. Ali Khanfari (poet)
10. Abdul ali Mazraee
11. Hashem Mazraee
12. Hamzah Zergani
13. Mohammad Zergani
14. Salem Zergani
15. Mossa Thamer Zergani
16. Mustafa Sawari
17. Kazem Helichi
18. Ahmad Huwaizah
19. Abbas Hamadi
20. Yasser Sayahi
21. Yusof Sawari
22. Fahad Silawi
23. Mustafa Silawi
24. Hamed Cheldawi
25. Najem Cheldawi
26. Ahmad sawari
27. hamid sawari
28. Hasan Sawari (son of Chamel Sawari)
29. Ali Sawari (son of Chamel Sawari)
30. Abdulrahman Cheldawi
31. Haidar Haidari
32. Ammar Mahawi
33. Maher Mahawi
34. Aref Abbasi
35. Abbas Torfi

Mossa Dahimi and Ahmad Salemi have gone missing and their whereabouts are unknown.

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03 April, 2007

UNHRC is failing victims of Iran's human rights violations

Human Rights Watch has accused the UN Human Rights Council of failing the victims of human rights abuses in Iran and of endorsing state crackdowns.

Peggy Hicks, HRW's global advocacy director, criticised the UNHRC's policies towards Iran and Uzbekistan, saying the Council had an "utter disregard for the human rights activists who are struggling in these countries ... The Human Rights Council decision sends exactly the wrong signals to abusive governments around the world." ( click here for HRW report )

HRW has criticised the confidential nature of UNHRC's Iran monitoring programme under Resolution 1503 and demanded an effective response to severe human rights abuses and government intransigence, including public scrutiny.

Despite a deterioration in the human rights situation in Iran, the UNHRC has abandoned its monitoring programme. The council met in confidential proceedings in March to discuss the Iranian government's human rights abuses, but decided against considering them any further.

HRW blames the decision on states that have "consistently aimed to shield abusive governments from criticism" as well as "virtually the entire Africa group" in the UNHRC. Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea had also abstained from the vote on discontinuing monitoring of Iranian human rights abuses.

The Ahmadinejad administration, which came to power in August 2005, has presided over a massive increase in executions and Iran now leads the world in the judicial killing of children. According to HRW, "the number of publicly known executions by Iran grew by more than 80 percent last year to 177 ... These executions often follow secret trials that fail to meet minimum international standards."

It highlighted the flawed trials of 10 Ahwazi men, who have now been executed, and added that "the authorities ... intensified their harassment of human rights defenders and lawyers in 2006 ... Iranians detained for peaceful expression of political views have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment, and two prisoners held for their political beliefs died in prison under suspicious circumstances in 2006."

Daniel Brett, Chairman of the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "Members of the UNHRC are clearly putting national economic interests before human rights protection. The UN body set up to monitor and take action against human rights abuse is failing its purpose. But even if the UNHRC did its job, the Iranian government will ignore any criticism just as it is ignoring international law as well as its own laws and constitutional obligations. Clearly, the UN system is unwilling and unable to address human rights issues.

"The European Union is the most appropriate body to address human rights concerns regarding Iran. As a multi-national body with huge economic importance to Iran, it has the power to put real pressure on Iran. EU sanctions on Iran, targetting the political leadership and its financial interests, would have a greater impact than statements by a toothless and incompetent UN body or threats of military action by the US.

"Sanctions should be introduced progressively, in order to increase pressure on Iran to open itself up to monitoring of its human rights record, enable greater freedom of speech and association for Iranians and create the basis for greater government accountability to its people. Iran should be made to meet certain benchmarks in human rights protection in order to avoid sanctions. The most urgent problem is the execution of political prisoners and juveniles. The treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, women, trade unionists, homosexuals and human rights organisations should also receive a high level of attention in relations with Iran, with the EU acting more assertively than it has done to date."

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23 March, 2007

Ahwazi cleric denounces jihadism and theocracy in Westminster conference

In a speech to a conference on Shi'ism and democracy held at the Palace of Westminister on Tuesday, Ahwazi Arab Shia cleric Sheikh Mohammed Kazem al-Khaqani described jihadist suicide bombing and Iranian theocracy as impermissable in Shia Islam.

Sheikh al-Khaqani is the son of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Taher al-Khaqani, a leading Ahwazi cleric who was imprisoned immediately after the Islamic Revolution in Iran for advocating the separation of religion and state. The Grand Ayatollah died in suspicious circumstances while under house arrest in Qom. Sheikh al-Khaqani has made it his mission to continue his father's mission to advocate an authentic understanding of Shia doctrine, with tolerance, human rights and secularism at the heart of his teachings. He has been invited to the UK by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, which is organising lectures and media interviews with the Sheikh.

At the Palace of Westminster meeting, which was organised by the Henry Jackson Society, Sheikh Al-Khaqani stated that Islam was based on the love of God and the right to justice, with the right to life as the first and most important human right. He reminded the audience that terrorist acts, particularly those aimed at other states, cannot be considered Islamic. He said: "Justice and faith necessarily dictate that no one should snatch any right from others ... [T]errorists who don explosive belts that kill innocents ... have no connection with the three celestial faiths [Judaism, Christianity and Islam]."

He added: "It is one of the particular doctrines of the Shia that Jihad in the sense of conquering a country is not permitted - that it is not the right of Muslims, but on the contrary is utterly forbidden"

Repeating the Qu'ran's statement that "there is no compulsion in religion", Sheikh al-Khaqani said that people were free to choose whatever belief they wanted and had the right to abandon Islam if they wish. The Sheikh's insistance that Islam cannot be imposed by force contradicts the Iranian regime's policy of executing anyone considered heretical or an apostate. Moreover, justice should be applied equally to all, regardless of whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim.

Sheikh al-Khaqani stated that Shi'ites should not use the flag of religion to topple states or political systems, suggesting that Iran's Islamic revolution violated Shia tradition. The use of religion to topple states - as was the case in the Islamic Revolution in Iran - is "is an erroneous banner, allied with a tyranny worshipping principals inferior to God Almighty." Instead, "the choice of political systems follows the peoples' choice. Indeed God Almighty has given an indication of how Islamic Society should be when He said in the Qu'ran: 'He ordered them to take counsel among themselves', namely that Muslims should act by mutual consultation among themselves, in all matters relating to their social lives and their system of governance."

Absolute theocracy, as seen in Iran, cannot therefore be considered as Islamic. If the Prophet Mohammed was required to consult with the people at every point, so too must all systems of government in the Muslim world. Sheikh al-Khaqani added that "the man of faith must be only a guide and a spiritual father, who refrains from intervening in affairs of governance. So it is also incumbent on the state not to intervene in matters of the faith and its institutions."

The rule of Imam Ali, who is considered the first Islamic Caliph among Shia Muslims and the fourth among Sunni Muslims, should provide a lesson on the values of tolerance and justice to Muslims in the modern world. Sheikh al-Khaqani pointed to Ali's forgiveness for his political adversaries and even when he was victorious over them in war he did not confiscate their wealth. The Sheikh's comments are particularly relevant to Ahwazi Arabs, who have been subjected to large-scale land confiscation programmes after the Iranian monarch Reza Pahlavi ended centuries of Arab autonomy when he deposed the local ruler Sheikh Khazal in 1925.

Sheikh al-Khaqani concluded his speech by stating that social injustice and human rights violations in Muslim countries were "inconsistent with the humanitarian message of Islam or other faiths." However, he reminded the audience that "some of the despotism with which we live in Eastern countries and a generation tolerating the violence and terrorism that it brings forth" may have its roots in the "past and present errors by Western states." He called on Westerners to take responsibility for these errors and help put them right in order to combat despotism and terrorism.

Click here to download Sheikh al-Khaqani's speech

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09 March, 2007

Ahwazi Arab journalists arrested

The Iranian regime has arrested a number of Ahwazi Arab journalists this week as part of its campaign of repression against Ahwazi Arabs.

According to Iran's ISNA news agency, "several journalists" have been arrested and "some have confessed to promoting ethnic division." ISNA quotes from the Iranian Ministry of Information.

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has been told by an Iranian human rights organisation that one of the arrested is Ahwazi journalist Mohammad-Hussein Falahieh. He is reportedly being subjected to serious physical and psychological torture in the notorious Section 209 of Evin Prison, which is run by the Intelligence Ministry.

Falahieh is 29 years old and is married with one child. He has served as chief editor of Aghlam-ol-Talaba newspaper and has also worked as a radio and television journalist, including work as a news presenter on the Iranian government's Al-Alam TV. He also worked for Dubai-based radio and television stations and had a regular newspaper column in leading Arabic newspapers in the Middle East. His last job was a Arabic/Farsi translator at the Algerian Embassy in Tehran.

BAFS believes that the Iranian regime is attempting to prevent reporting of crimes against humanity against the Ahwazi Arabs and is arresting all Ahwazi Arabs with any connection to the media as a precaution. There is no proof that any Ahwazi journalist is involved in stirring up ethnic unrest in Iran, apart from "confessions" extracted under torture. BAFS calls for the immediate release of all Ahwazi journalists.

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28 February, 2007

Iran plans execution of kidnapped Ahwazi refugee

The Iranian regime is preparing to put Abdul Rasoul Mazrae, a UNHCR-registered refugee illegally deported to Iran by the Syrian government in May last year, on trial in the next 20 days, his son has told the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS).

Mazrae - who is also known as Abdullah Abdulhamid Al-Tamimi (UNHCR file registration number 15010) - was accepted for asylum in Norway, after he was recognised as a refugee by the UNHCR office in Damascus. However, on 11 May 2006, shortly before he was due to be resettled, he was detained by Syrian authorities. For weeks after his arrest, the UNHCR repeatedly requested access to Mazrae and four other Ahwazi refugees detained by the Syrian authorities - Dutch national and Ahwaz Liberation Organisation (ALO) leader Faleh Abdullah Al-Mansouri, Saeed Saki, Taher Mazrae and Jamal Obidawi. The Syrian government repeatedly told the UNHCR that the men were safe in custody, when in fact they had been transferred to Tehran just days after their arrest. Taher Mazrae, Abdul Rasoul Mazrae's brother, and his family were granted asylum in Sweden. According to IRIN , following Taher's deportation to Iran, his family were prevented from leaving Damascus.

According to Mazrae's son, Taregh Abdullah Al-Tamimi, who lives in Norway, he has spent the past 10 months in solitary confinement in a prison in Ahwaz. He has also undergone physical and psychological torture. As a result of his torture, he is urinating blood and has lost all his teeth. His kidneys and liver are also damaged and injuries to his spine have left him unable to walk. His torturers have ordered him to give a televised confession for crimes he did not commit. Mazrae is a member of the ALO, a separatist Ahwazi group based in the Netherlands.

Amnesty International has accused Syria of breaking international law by deporting refugees to Iran ( click here for report ). In August 2006, it said: "Returning refugees or any other individual to a country where they are at risk of torture or ill-treatment or other serious human rights abuses is a violation of Syria's obligations under international law, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which it is a state party."

In December 2006, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond appealed to Iranian authorities "to ensure the well-being of the four and allow for a fair trial and the right to due process."

"Extradition does not mean that a refugee or asylum seeker loses his or her international protection status," he added. "UNHCR also appeals for access to the four refugees and we are prepared to find alternative solutions for them."

The Iranian regime does not appear to have taken notice of the UNHCR's appeals and BAFS believes that the refugees are likely to face show trials and receive the death penalty. All five men left Iran long before the bomb attacks in Ahwaz of 2005 and 2006, so it is unclear what crimes they will be charged with.

BAFS member Reza Vashahi, who spoke to Al-Tamimi, said: "Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which includes the right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt (Article 14.3.g). Principle 21 of the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment states that it should be prohibited to take undue advantage of the situation of a detainee for the purpose of compelling him to confess or incriminate himself.

"Iranian must stop the torture and imprisonment of Ahwazi Arabs. Ahwazis must also receive a fair and public trial with access to their legal representatives.

"The secret nature of the trials of Ahwazi political prisoners and the way Iranian sentenced Ahwazi Arabs to death and executed them not only violate international standards of justice but also contravene Iranian law and sharia. For example, Ahwazis were executed during the month of Moharam, in which it is not permitted to kill."

BAFS Chairman Daniel Brett said: "Syria was part of a conspiracy to send Ahwazi Arab refugees to Iran. Consequently, it should face the same censure as the Iranian government for the illegal detention, deportation, torture and any future execution of these refugees. There is little doubt that both governments have blatantly violated international law and should face consequences.

"We urge European governments to do what they can to give asylum to Ahwazi political dissidents escaping Iran. The traditional safe havens for Ahwazis - Syria, Iraq and Kuwait - can no longer be regarded as safe. Syria is willing to break to international law on Iran's behalf and send Arabs to their death. Ahwazi exiles have been ejected from their homes in Iraq and some have been murdered. Kuwait also has an understanding with Iran under which Ahwazi activists may be deported to Iran, although no deportations have yet been carried out. Ahwazis also feel unsafe in the UAE and Bahrain, where Iranian intelligence agents are active.

"Iran's sphere of influence covers a large part of the Middle East and Ahwazi opposition activists cannot rely on international law to protect them. European states must hasten the transfer of Ahwazi refugees registered with the UNHCR to Europe."

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26 February, 2007

Iran: Ethnic minorities facing new wave of human rights violations

Below is a report by Amnesty International. Click here to download the original .

Amnesty International is greatly concerned by continuing violations of the rights of members of Iran's ethnic minorities, including Iranian Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Baluchis, and Arabs. Within the past two weeks, hundreds of Iranian Azerbaijani linguistic and cultural rights activists have been arrested in connection with demands that they should be allowed to be educated in their own language; Kurdish rights activists have been detained, and demonstrators killed or injured; and a Baluchi accused of responsibility for a bomb explosion on 14 February 2007 was executed just five days later.

As Iran's ethnic minorities face growing restrictions, Amnesty International is calling on the government to ensure that all Iranian citizens are accorded, both in law and practice, the linguistic and cultural rights set out in Iran's constitution as well as in international law, and are able peacefully to demonstrate in support of such rights. The Iranian authorities must also ensure that the police and other law enforcement agencies do not use excessive force, that all detainees are protected from torture or other ill-treatment, and that all reports of torture or other ill treatment, excessive use of force or killings by the security forces are investigated promptly, thoroughly and independently, with the methods and findings made public. Anyone suspected to be responsible for abuses should be brought to justice promptly in a trial that complies with international standards of fairness, and without recourse to the death penalty.

Iranian Azerbaijanis
The arrests of Iranian Azerbaijanis occurred in the run up to, and during, peaceful demonstrations on International Mother Language Day, an annual commemoration initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on 21 February.

The demonstrations were held to support demands that their own language should be used as the medium of instruction in schools and places of education in those areas of north-west Iran where most Iranian Azerbaijanis reside. The protest organizers are reported to have sought official authorisation in advance, though it is not known whether it was granted. Most of those detained in advance of the demonstrations, which were held in Tabriz, Orumiye and other towns in the north-west, were soon released as of 26 February between 10-20 people may still be held.

Ebrahim Kazemi, Ja'afar 'Abedini and Mehdi Mola'i, were among a group of up to 12 people detained in Qom on or around 11 February 2007, at least two of whom were reportedly arrested for having painted slogans on walls, including 'Türk dilinde medrese' (Schooling in [Azerbaijani] Turkic). They were reportedly held for several days before being released on bail. Ja'afar 'Abedini and Mehdi Mola'i were reportedly ill treated while in detention by being forced by Ministry of Intelligence officials to drink liquids which caused them to vomit.

In Orumiye, up to 60 Iranian Azerbaijanis have reportedly been arrested, including Esmail Javadi, a journalist and Iranian Azerbaijani cultural rights activist. He was arrested on 18 February 2007 and may continue to be held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility in the Doqquz Pilleh district of the city.

At least 15 arrests are said to have been made in Zenjan, where a reportedly peaceful demonstration was held in the city's Sabze Square. Those detained include journalist Sa'id Metinpour, well-known locally for his human rights activities; he is said to have had blood on his lips when he was taken away raising concern that he may have been assaulted by police.

Ramin Sadeghi, who was detained in Ardabil on 19 February 2007, is one of approximately 20 who were detained in the city in connection with International Mother Language Day events. Only he remains in detention at the time of writing and his family are reportedly concerned about his medical condition.

Kurds
On 20 February 2007, Kurdish students held an event at Tehran University's Department of Literature. They called for the teaching of Kurdish in Iran's education system and at the University of Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province. The students reportedly signed a public statement which stated, in part, that 'In today's multicultural climate in the world, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other humanitarian principles, every nation should have a right to develop and advance its language.'

In recent months, several Kurdish journalists and human rights defenders have been detained and some are facing trial. In addition, on 16 February 2007, three Kurds, including one woman, were reportedly killed in the course of a demonstration in Mahabad. An unconfirmed report states that a dispute between demonstrators and security forces resulted in the death of Bahman Moradi, aged 18, a woman called Malihe, whose surname is not known to Amnesty International, and one other. Dozens were reportedly injured in the course of the demonstration.

Iranian security forces have a history of the violent suppression of demonstrations by Kurds. For example, in February 2006 similar clashes between Kurdish demonstrators and the security forces in Maku and other towns reportedly led to at least nine deaths and scores, possibly hundreds, of arrests. In March 2006, Kurdish members of parliament (Majles) wrote to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanding an investigation into the killings and calling for those alleged to be responsible to be brought to justice. An investigation was reportedly set up, but its findings are not known. Some of those detained later reportedly received prison terms of between three and eight months.

Baluchis
In the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, the circumstances surrounding the extremely summary trial and execution of an Iranian Baluchi man, Nasrollah Shanbeh-Zehi, who was executed on 19 February 2007, calls into question the standards of administration of justice enjoyed by minorities without discrimination. Among five people reportedly arrested following the 14 February bombing of a bus carrying Revolutionary Guard security officials, which to date has killed a total 14 and injured around 30, Nasrollah Shanbeh-Zehi was shown “confessing” to the bombing on Iranian television on behalf of an Iranian Baluchi armed opposition group, Jondallah, and was executed in public at the site of the bombing.

Jondallah, which has carried out a number of armed attacks on Iranian officials and has on occasion killed hostages, reportedly seeks to defend the rights of the Baluchi people, though government officials have claimed that it is involved in drug smuggling and has ties to terrorist groups and to foreign governments. In March 2006, Jondallah killed 22 Iranian officials and took at least seven hostage in Sistan-Baluchistan province. Following the incident, scores, possibly hundreds, of people were arrested; many were reportedly taken to unknown locations. In the months following the attacks, the number of executions announced in Baluchi areas increased dramatically. Dozens were reported to have been executed by the end of the year

Amnesty International condemns unequivocally the killing of hostages and urges Jondallah to desist from such and similar practices immediately. However, Amnesty International is concerned that Nasrollah Shanbeh-Zehi's "confession" may have been forced, and that the rapidity of his execution indicates that he did not receive a fair trial and was not permitted an adequate opportunity to appeal against his death sentence, if that was imposed by a court.

Arabs
In January and February 2007, Amnesty International deplored the execution of eight Iranian Arabs convicted after unfair trials of bombings in Khuzestan province in 2005. Other Iranian Arab prisoners are also at risk of execution after unfair trials.

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18 February, 2007

Iran's judicial farce and the execution of Ahwazis

The Iranian regime has announced that it made an eleventh hour decision to grant an Ahwazi prisoner a reprieve from execution in a bizarre twist to its campaign of violent oppression of Ahwazi Arabs.

On 13 February, the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) received reports that Ahwazi teacher Reisan Sawari died from torture wounds during a hunger strike . The following day, the Iranian regime announced that it had executed three men , who BAFS had assumed were the final three of a batch of 10 Ahwazi men executed following convictions for "waging war on God", but did not include Reisan Sawari. The secret trials had been condemned by human rights organisations and UN officials for failing to meet international standards, with defendants denied access to lawyers or the right to call witnesses.

In an extraordinary development, the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) reports that the case of one of the three - possibly 41 year old father of six Ghasem Salami (Salamat) - was referred to the country's Amnesty Commission and the execution had been postponed at the last minute. The regime appears to be suggesting that Reisan Sawari was one of those executed on Wednesday, even though his execution had not been scheduled and there are doubts as to whether the Supreme Court had approved the sentencing by the Ahwaz Revolutionary Court.

BAFS Chairman Daniel Brett said: "Ahwazi activists have accused the Iranian regime of attempting to pass off the illegal killing of Reisan Sawari as a formal execution. Consequently, one of the three scheduled to be executed was given a last-minute reprieve to avoid international censure over illegal killings. In doing so, the regime has revealed the arbitrary nature of Iranian justice. Reisan Sawari was summarily killed and an Ahwazi who was due to be executed was given a summary reprieve.

"Summary justice is being dispensed from the highest echelons of the Islamic theocracy, not by criminal courts. Only the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has the power to overturn Supreme Court approval of a death sentence just hours before the execution. This is proof that he is directing the justice system for his own political purposes.

"It appears that Khamenei decided last year that a certain number of Ahwazi Arabs had to die following a series of mass demonstrations and did not care whether they were innocent. This is not justice, it is state terrorism and innocent Arab men are being unlawfully killed in a bloody campaign of vengeance against opponents of the Iranian regime.

"The decision to grant a stay of execution also shows that Khamenei is in a weak position, fearing the response of the international community to the treatment of Ahwazi Arabs. He did not anticipate that his execution campaign against Ahwazi Arabs would attract such a high level of international criticism , with the European Union and the UNHRC heavily criticising the executions of Ahwazis. If it had not been for the international solidarity campaign, the regime would not have felt compelled to cover up the reasons for Reisan Sawari's death.

"Khamenei has been shown up as an oppressor of Iran's own Arab population. His actions severely undermine his regime's assumption of leadership in the Islamic world, particularly the Palestinian issue.

"The Ahwazi issue is like a running sore for Iran - the more it is scratched, the more inflamed it gets. The unrest can only be resolved when the minority rights that are enshrined in the Iranian constitution prevail over the vested interests of the religious establishment. This can only occur with free and fair elections, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech so that everyone in Iran has the right to determine their own destinies, without state intimidation and oppression."

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15 February, 2007

UNPO in appeal to UNHRC over Iran's execution of Ahwazis

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) has appealed to Luis Alfonso de Alba, the President of the UN Human Rights Council, to call on the Iranian regime "to cease in the use of the death penalty as a weapon of fear and oppression" following this week's killing of four Ahwazi Arab opposition activists.

The organisation, which lobbies on behalf of groups representing Iran's Ahwazi, Azeri and Kurdish minorities, also urged de Alba to call on Iran to "uphold its obligations with regard to civil and political rights, including the provision of equal rights to ethnic, religious and minority groups in Iran."

UNPO has suggested the establishment of an investigation team, mandated by the UNHRC, to "consider the series of arrests, trials, and executions, with findings reported to the UN General Assembly."

In his letter to de Alba, UNPO General Secretary Mario Busdachin wrote that "In the wake of this series of executions, UNPO is particularly alarmed at the systematic targeting of ethnic Ahwazi Arabs and the fact that the Iranian Judiciary in many of the cases conducts secret trials, effectively denying the defendants the most fundamental of legal rights ...

"UNPO remains deeply concerned by the routine arrest and execution of Iran's dissidents and has repeatedly called for international action to address the deteriorating human rights situation faced by the Ahwazi Arab population of Iran."

The UNPO is among a number of organisations calling for an end to the execution of Ahwazi Arab activists. Since Wednesday's executions, appeals have been issued by Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch and the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation .

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Iran: Amnesty International condemns executions after unfair trials

Below is a public statement by Amnesty International on the recent executions of four Ahwazis this week:

Amnesty International greatly deplores the execution of four Iranian Arabs on 14 February 2007 and is concerned that other prisoners are at risk of execution after unfair trials.

The organization is calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt executions and to ensure that all persons in detention are protected from torture or other ill-treatment. To date in 2007, Amnesty International has recorded no less than 28 executions in Iran, including the four on 14 February 2007.

One of the four men, Risan Sawari, a 32-year-old teacher, was reportedly executed yesterday in an unknown location in Khuzestan. His family was reportedly informed of his execution but his body is yet to be released for burial. Risan Sawari had reportedly been arrested in April 2005, released and arrested again in September 2005.

Although seven men were said to have been convicted of involvement in bomb attacks in October 2005 - which caused the deaths of at least six people and wounded more than a hundred others, in Ahvaz city, Khuzestan province - nine men, including Risan Sawari, were shown "confessing" on Khuzestan TV, a local government-controlled television station in Iran, on 1 March 2006. Among them were Mehdi Nawaseri and Ali Awdeh Afrawi, who were hanged in public the following morning.

On 10 June 2006 Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz had reportedly confirmed the death sentences against Risan Sawari along with nine other men. According to reports, the 10 men were accused of being mohareb (at enmity with God) which can carry the death penalty. Evidence against them reportedly included "destabilising the country", "attempting to overthrow the government", "possession of home made bombs", "sabotage of oil installations" and carrying out bombings in Ahvaz, which took place between June and October 2005. It is not known if the death sentence against Risan Sawari was upheld by the Supreme Court.

In a separate case, the other three men executed together - believed to be Abdulreza Sanawati Zergani, Qasem Salamat and Majed Alboghubaish - were reportedly convicted, together with seven others, of being mohareb (at enmity with God) on account of their alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 2005 in Ahvaz city, Khuzestan province. They are reported to have been held in solitary confinement for months during, and possibly after, their pre-trial detention and to have been convicted and sentenced after grossly unfair trials, which included denial of access to lawyers.

In an interview at the end of January 2006 with the Netherlands-based Radio Zamaneh, Iranian human rights defender, Emaddedin Baghi, who has been closely following the cases, stated that "they did not have access to lawyers and were kept in solitary confinement for months. They did not receive a fair trial."

On 13 November 2006, Khuzestan TV, broadcast a documentary film in which the three men executed yesterday and six of the seven others convicted in the same case, were shown "confessing" to involvement in causing bomb explosions. They were said to be members of Al-e, an Iranian Arab militant group that is not known to have been active since the time of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

On 10 January 2007, three leading UN human rights experts - Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Leandro Despouy, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; and Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on torture - jointly called on the government of Iran to "stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing." The UN experts stated: "We are fully aware that these men are accused of serious crimes ... However, this cannot justify their conviction and execution after trials that made a mockery of due process requirements."

The seven individuals to whom the UN experts referred were Mohammad Jaab Pour, Abdulamir Farjallah Jaab, Alireza Asakreh and Khalaf Derhab Khudayrawi, all of whom were executed on 24 January 2007 and the three men who were executed earlier today.

Three other Iranian Arabs - named as Abdullah Suleymani, Malek Banitamim and Ali Matouri Zadeh - are reported to have been executed on 19 December 2006 in a prison in Khuzestan province.

At least 17 other Iranian Arabs are believed to be facing execution after unfair trials in which they were convicted of involvement in bombings in Khuzestan in 2005.

For further information please see: Iran: Four Iranian Arabs executed after unfair trials, MDE 13/005/2007, 24 January 2007

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Iran: End Executions After Unfair Trials

The following is a press release by Human Rights Watch. Click here to download the original .

The Iranian Judiciary should immediately halt all executions of people who have been sentenced to death in secret following unfair trials that do not meet minimal international standards of justice, Human Rights Watch said today. In the past year, at least a dozen Iranians of Arab origin have been condemned in this way.

On February 14, 2007 the Iranian authorities executed three men in the southern province of Khuzistan: Majed Albughbish, 30, Abdolreza Sanawati, 34, and Ghassem Salamat, 41. On February 13, prison officials informed the families, who were visiting the prisoners, that the three men, all Iranians of Arab origin, would be executed the next day.

Since March 2006, the Judiciary has executed a total of 12 men in Khuzistan, also ethnic Arabs, accusing them of carrying out bombings in Ahwaz, capital of Khuzistan, in October 2005 and January 2006. At least another 13 ethnic Iranian-Arabs have been sentenced to death in Khuzistan.

"Iran has accused these men of capital crimes, and it must ensure they receive fair trials and full due process protections," said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, the Iranian Judiciary has conducted secret trials that deny the defendants the most basic legal rights."

According to Emad Baghi, an Iranian human rights defender who has vigorously campaigned to stop the executions, the authorities arrested 19 men who belonged to a group named Kataib in March 2006, accusing them of involvement in bombings. The authorities held the men in solitary confinement and denied them access to their lawyers until the day before their trials. The Judiciary did not allow the lawyers access to the accused men's files until one day before their trial.

On July 17, 2006, the revolutionary court in Ahwaz sentenced 10 of the men to death following a one-day secret trial held on July 16. Judge Sha'bani sentenced the men to execution by hanging under Iran's penal code, charging them as Mohareb, meaning "enemies of God." The court sentenced the other nine men to imprisonment.

Iran has now executed all 10 men sentenced on July 17, despite strong international condemnations, including an appeal by three senior United Nations human rights officials: Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions; Leonardo Despouy, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, and Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

On January 10, the three UN officials issued a public appeal to the Iranian government to stop the executions, stating that the trials "made a mockery of due process requirements." The Iranian authorities ignored this and other international appeals, executing four of the men on January 24, and three more on February 14. Another three men were executed on December 19, 2006.

The judiciary has sentenced to death another 13 Iranians of Arab origin for armed activity against the state. They are: Zamel Bawi; Awdeh Afrawi; Nazem Bureihi; Alireza Salman Delfi; Ali Helfi; Jaafar Sawari; Risan Sawari; Mohammad Ali Sawari; Moslem al-Ha'I; Abdulreza Nawaseri; Yahia Nasseri; Abdulzahra Helichi; and Abdul-Imam Za'eri.

Human Rights Watch calls on the Judiciary to rescind their death sentences, and to grant new trials that meet international fair trial standards and are open to the public.

Iran executes more people annually than any other nation but China. In an alarming development, the number of publicly known executions rose 70 percent in 2006 as compared to 2005. Human Rights Watch believes the true number of executions is higher, but remains unknown due to the Judiciary's lack of transparency and public accountability. Iran also executes more juveniles annually than any other nation.

"Today Iran stands out for handing down the death penalty on a grand scale without giving defendants a fair trial," Whitson said.

Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment under any circumstances due to its inherent cruelty and irreversibility.

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14 February, 2007

IRAN DEFIES WORLD OPINION, EXECUTES THREE INNOCENT AHWAZI ARABS

ایران برخلاف نظر جهانی در مورد توقف اعدام عرب های اهوازی، سه عرب اهوازی را اعدام کرد.

The Iranian regime executed three Ahwazi Arabs this morning at a prison in Ahwaz.

The killing of Ghasem Salami (Salamat), 41 years old from Ahwaz City and married with 6 children, Majad Albughbish, 30 years old from Maashur (Mahshahr) and Abdolreza Sanawati (Zergani), 34 years old and married from Ahwaz City, will bring the number of executions of Ahwazi Arabs in the past two months to 10.

The Iranian regime has ignored international outcry over the executions. According to Iranian and international human rights activists, all 10 men were tried in secret courts with no access to lawyers on dubious charges and little evidence. This has prompted governments and politicians in Europe and UN officials to condemn the trials and executions.

Two weeks ago, the Presidency of the European Council - currently held by the German government - called on the Iranian regime to halt the executions of the three men to allow them a fair trial. It also condemned the execution of four Ahwazi men on 24 January. The statement was backed by all the governments of the European Union as well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Ukraine and Moldova ( click here to download the statement ).

In the UK, 49 Members of Parliament signed an Early Day Motion condemning the execution of 10 men. The EDM - backed by a broad spectrum of MPs - noted the persecution of Ahwazi Arabs and backed complaints by human rights organisations over the nature of the trials and the use of torture to extract false confessions ( click here to download the EDM ).

UN condemnation

European condemnation of the Iranian regime follows serious allegations by three UN independent human rights experts that the trials of 10 Ahwazi men - including seven who have been executed since early December - were seriously flawed. Philip Alston (Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions), Leandro Despouy (Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers) and Manfred Nowak (Special Rapporteur on torture) urged the Iranian Government to "stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing".

The experts state that the 10 men were not allowed to see the defendants prior to their trial, and were given access to the prosecution case only hours before the start of the trial. The lawyers were also intimidated by charges of "threatening national security" being brought against them. The convictions were reportedly based on confessions extorted under torture. "The only element of the cases of these men not shrouded in secrecy was the broadcast on public television of their so-called confessions", Mr. Nowak said.

The Iranian regime has ignored letters sent by the three special rapporteurs. The executions of three of the men were staged in December, with no regard for the strong concerns expressed on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council.

Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has a legal obligation to respect its provisions, which include the right to a fair and public hearing, the right not to be compelled to confess guilt, and the right to "adequate time and facilities for the preparation of ones defence" with the assistance of a lawyer of ones own choosing.

Condemnation inside Iran

Ahwazi Arab activists point out that the executions broke Islamic laws which forbid killing during the month of Moharam.

Iranian human rights activists, led by prisoners rights activist Emad Baghi, have also voiced their criticism of the conduct of the trials and the executions. In an interview this week with the Netherlands-based Radio Zamaneh , Baghi said the Iranian regime should admit that the executions were a mistake. He claimed the men "did nothing and did not take part in any explosion" and therefore the executions were against the law.

"They did not have access to lawyer," Baghi added. "They were kept in solitary confinement for months. They did not receive a fair trial. Only four [out of 40 alleged terrorists] were connected directly to the bombings and the rest are not connected."

Baghi said the root causes of unrest among Ahwazi Arabs are poverty and unequal distribution of wealth. He told Radio Zamaneh: "Government policies are wrong. The Arabs do not have good housing, healthy drinking water, electricity and live in poverty, although they live on top of oil reserves. They are also barred from working for the government."

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AHRO issues urgent action condemning Iran's executions

The Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) has issued the following urgent action in relation to executions of Ahwazi Arabs that were due to be carried out today, as well as Reisan Sawari, an Ahwazi teacher who was tortured to death on Tuesday while on hunger strike.

Once again, in a blatant defiance to the United Nations , the European
Commission and international human rights organizations , Iran has began preparation to execute another 3 Iranian (Ahwazi) Arab opposition activists. Their relatives were told that they are due to be executed tomorrow, Wednesday 14 February 2007. Their names are as follows:
1. Ghasem Salami, 41, married with 6 children
2. Majad Albughbish, 30, single from Maashur (Mahshahr)
3 Abdolreza Sanawati, 34, married from Ahwaz City
This will bring the number of executions of Ahwazi Arabs in the past two months to 10.

Also today Mr. Risan Sawari, a 32 years old Ahwazi-Arab teacher, married from Kut-Abdullah in Ahwaz, was killed under torture in Mali-Rah IRGC prison in Ahwaz-City. Mr. Sawari has been on hunger strike for the past 20 days protesting his prison conditions- including over a year detention in solitary confinement, no family visitation rights or the rights to see a lawyer. Mr. Sawari was a civil rights activist, and member of al-Wafagh Party, a reformist political party under former president Khatami.

On 10 January 2007, independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Mr. Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Mr. Leandro Despouy, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Mr. Manfred Nowak, the Special Rapporteur on torture, issued a statement urging the Iranian Government to "stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing." ( click here for details )

On 24 January four out of the seven, Mohammad Chaabpour, Abdolamir Farjolah Chaab, Alireza Asakereh, and Khalaf Khanafereh (Khazirawi) were executed in defiance of the UN plea and the international Community and contrary to Islamic faith which prohibits execution in the month of Moharam . The remaining three are to be executed tomorrow.

On Tuesday December 19, 2006, the Khuzestan branch of the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported that Malek Banitamim, Abdullah Solaimani, and Ali Matorizadeh were executed for "waging war on God" in Ahwaz City. This was done one day after the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning Iran's human rights violations.

On March of this year, two other ethnic Ahwazi Arabs, Ali Afrawi (age 17) and Mehdi Nawaseri (20 years old), were publicly hang in Ahwaz City for similar charges, after a TV broadcast of their "confession" was shown a day earlier on Khuzestan TV.

On November 13, 2006, the Iranian regime broadcast videos of forced confessions of 11 Ahwazi Arabs on Khuzestan TV but due to international outrage including unanimous condemnation by the European Parliament in a resolution on November 16, 2006, as well as a resolution by 48 British MPs and similar actions by other EU parliaments, the execution of the these men were delayed.

On November 9, Abbas Jaafari Dowlatabadi, head of Iran's Judiciary in the southern province of Khuzistan, told the Islamic Republic News Agency that Iran's Supreme Court has confirmed the execution sentence of at least 19 of the 35 Iranian Arabs sentenced to death by Ahwaz Revolutionary Court.

On 8 June, 2006, Khuzestan Revolutionary Court announced that 35 indigenous Ahwazi Arabs (including 3 brothers) were sentenced to death following a one-day trial in absence of lawyers or witnesses. Two of these 35 men sentenced to death, Nazem Bureihi and Abdolreza Nawaseri, were already serving prison sentences for insurgency at the time of the bomb attacks for which the regime claims they were responsible for. "One of the wonders of the Iranian Judiciary is that it can accuse a person of carrying out bombings while he's in prison," said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. "That lays bare the arbitrariness of his conviction."

These men have been found guilty of allegedly bombing oil installations at Southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan (al-Ahwaz), homeland to 5 million Ahwazi-Arabs. All men are members of the persecuted Ahwazi community. The trials were deeply flawed, according to Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other international and Iranian human rights organizations... The convictions are evidently arbitrary and are intended to collectively punish Ahwazi Arabs for opposing the regime.

All these men were tortured into making false confessions. Their lawyers were not allowed to see them prior to their trial and they were given the prosecution case only hours before the start of the trial, which was held in secret. The lawyers for the condemned men ( Khalil Saeedi, Mansur Atashneh, Dr Abdulhasan Haidari, Jawad Tariri, Faisal Saeedi and Taheri Nasab), all Ahwazi-Arabs but one, have been arrested for complaining about the illegal and unjust nature of the men's trials. They have been charged with threatening national security.

Although Ahwazi-Arab homeland in Iran's Khuzestan province is one of the most oil-rich regions in the world and represents up to 90 per cent of Iran's oil production. Yet this community endures extreme levels of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy. Ahwazis are subjected to repression, racial discrimination and faced with land confiscation, forced displacement and forced assimilation.

Peaceful opposition among Ahwazi Arabs to the Iranian regime's racist policies of ethnic cleansing has been brutally suppressed. Since April 15, 2005 the beginning of the Ahwazi Intifada (Uprising), over 25,000 Ahwazis were arrested, at least 131 were killed and over 150 were disappeared (believed to have been tortured and killed by Iranian security forces). Iranian authorities level accusations against the USA, Great Britain and Israel as the cause of Ahwazi demands for democracy, social and economic justice. Ethnic cleansing against Iranian-Arabs in Khuzestan has intensified since the mid-1990s, particularly following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Iran: Three Ahwazis to hang on Wednesday morning

Three Ahwazi Arabs are due to be executed during the early hours of Wednesday morning, according the men's relatives.

The killing of Ghasem Salami (Salamat), 41 years old from Ahwaz City and married with 6 children, Majad Albughbish, 30 years old from Maashur (Mahshahr) and Abdolreza Sanawati (Zergani), 34 years old and married from Ahwaz City, will bring the number of executions of Ahwazi Arabs in the past two months to 10.

European outcry

The Iranian regime has ignored international outcry over the executions. According to Iranian and international human rights activists, all 10 men were tried in secret courts with no access to lawyers on dubious charges and little evidence. This has prompted governments and politicians in Europe and UN officials to condemn the trials and executions.

Two weeks ago, the Presidency of the European Council - currently held by the German government - called on the Iranian regime to halt the executions of the three men to allow them a fair trial. It also condemned the execution of four Ahwazi men on 24 January. The statement was backed by all the governments of the European Union as well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Ukraine and Moldova ( click here to download the statement ).

In the UK, 49 Members of Parliament signed an Early Day Motion condemning the execution of 10 men. The EDM - backed by a broad spectrum of MPs - noted the persecution of Ahwazi Arabs and backed complaints by human rights organisations over the nature of the trials and the use of torture to extract false confessions ( click here to download the EDM ).

UN condemnation

European condemnation of the Iranian regime follows serious allegations by three UN independent human rights experts that the trials of 10 Ahwazi men - including seven who have been executed since early December - were seriously flawed. Philip Alston (Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions), Leandro Despouy (Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers) and Manfred Nowak (Special Rapporteur on torture) urged the Iranian Government to "stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing".

The experts state that the 10 men were not allowed to see the defendants prior to their trial, and were given access to the prosecution case only hours before the start of the trial. The lawyers were also intimidated by charges of "threatening national security" being brought against them. The convictions were reportedly based on confessions extorted under torture. "The only element of the cases of these men not shrouded in secrecy was the broadcast on public television of their so-called confessions", Mr. Nowak said.

The Iranian regime has ignored letters sent by the three special rapporteurs. The executions of three of the men were staged in December, with no regard for the strong concerns expressed on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council.

Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has a legal obligation to respect its provisions, which include the right to a fair and public hearing, the right not to be compelled to confess guilt, and the right to "adequate time and facilities for the preparation of ones defence" with the assistance of a lawyer of ones own choosing.

Condemnation inside Iran

Ahwazi Arab activists point out that the executions broke Islamic laws which forbid killing during the month of Moharam.

Iranian human rights activists, led by prisoners rights activist Emad Baghi, have also voiced their criticism of the conduct of the trials and the executions. In an interview this week with the Netherlands-based Radio Zamaneh , Baghi said the Iranian regime should admit that the executions were a mistake. He claimed the men "did nothing and did not take part in any explosion" and therefore the executions were against the law.

"They did not have access to lawyer," Baghi added. "They were kept in solitary confinement for months. They did not receive a fair trial. Only four [out of 40 alleged terrorists] were connected directly to the bombings and the rest are not connected."

Baghi said the root causes of unrest among Ahwazi Arabs are poverty and unequal distribution of wealth. He told Radio Zamaneh: "Government policies are wrong. The Arabs do not have good housing, healthy drinking water, electricity and live in poverty, although they live on top of oil reserves. They are also barred from working for the government."

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13 February, 2007

Iran: Ahwazi teacher dies while on hunger strike

مرگ معلم عرب

An Ahwazi Arab teacher, Reisan Sawari (pictured), died while on hunger strike on Tuesday.

Sawari had been held in solitary confinement for a year and was protesting against his conditions. He was a member of the reformist Lejnat al-Wefagh (Reconciliation Committee), which campaigned for Arab rights by constitutional means, including contesting elections. The party was banned by the regime last year, with government spokesmen claiming it was a threat to national security.

During his imprisonment, Sawari was tortured and his relatives were denied the right to visit him. Reports received by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society claim that he was tortured while on hunger strike at the Revolutionary Guards' Mali-Rah prison and may have died as a result of his injuries. He was 32 when he died. He leaves a wife and no children.

In March 2006, he was one of a number of men shown "confessing" on the state-owned Khuzestan TV to carrying out bomb attacks on oil pipelines in October 2005; televised confessions are made after months of torture and threats to relatives' lives. He was innocent of the charges levelled at him by the Iranian regime as he had been held in custody since September 2005 on unspecified charges.

He was sentenced to death in a secret trial held at Ahwaz Revolutionary Court on 7 June 2006.

Reisan's death while on hunger strike comes just days after another Ahwazi, 26 year old Abdolamir Farjolah Kaab, was executed while on hunger strike while protesting against his prison conditions . He was executed in Ahwaz's Karoun Prison along with three other men.

Amnesty International issued a number of urgent actions due to fears that he would be executed in prison.

Below is a picture of Risan (far left) with his pupils

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02 February, 2007

Iran faces heavy criticism from leading human rights campaigner

One of Iran's most famous human rights activists, Emad Baghi, has issued his strongest condemnation yet of the Iranian regime's treatment of Ahwazi Arabs.

In an article published in French on his website , Baghi states that the regime itself is responsible for creating the conditions for ethnic Arab unrest, including bomb attacks in Ahwaz.

He reiterated his call for understanding of Arabs' plight, rather than executions, would help quell unrest and also restated his opposition to the death penalty. He said: "They are individuals who live on the black gold of the oil-bearing province of Khuzestan, but have only known poverty and misery. There are among them individuals who believed in the reform, who fought by peaceful means to assert their rights while trying to elect representatives to the municipal councils of their cities and to Parliament. These efforts were in vain, leading to despair.

"There came a feeling of political and social obstruction. Misery, scarcity, humiliation and despair can only generate one of two reactions: depression and passivity or aggressiveness. And what did we who owe our wellbeing with the oil revenue do? Would these attacks have taken place if we had not remained silent over these inequalities and denounced discrimination?"

Baghi's assessment of the situation in Ahwaz was welcomed by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS). BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: "The Iranian regime's attempts to crush Ahwazi Arabs legitimate demands for human rights, social equality and political representation on the basis of the Iranian Constitution has fuelled anger. The recent round of executions has only inflamed the situation, alienating many Ahwazi Arabs, particularly the young who are suffering high levels of unemployment. The poverty and discrimination that Ahwazi Arabs endure in Iran is creating the basis of ethnic unrest and serious social problems, such as drug and alcohol abuse, smuggling and criminality.

"Ahwazi Arabs are being vilified by hardliners within the Iranian intelligensia, who are portraying them as morally corrupt. But their social situation is merely a symptom of the moral corruption at the heart of the Iranian establishment.

"Emad Baghi has given many Ahwazi Arabs hope that they can win their rights without recourse to violence. We call on civil society to join with Baghi in condemning racial discrimination against Ahwazi Arabs and other minority groups in Iran."

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19 January, 2007

European condemnation of Iran's persecution of Ahwazi Arabs

The European Commission and the British government have condemned Iran's persecution of Ahwazi Arabs and the imminent execution of opposition activists in recent letters to British Green MEP Dr Caroline Lucas.

Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner , who has responsibility for external affairs, said that the European Union is examining intervening in the cases of men recently condemned to death for their alleged role in bomb attacks in Ahwaz. The planned executions were last week condemned by UN experts , which described their trials as making "a mockery of due process requirements." Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Iranian human rights activists such as Emad Baghi have also criticised the trial process of the men accused of "waging war on god."

Ferrero-Waldner added that the EU and its diplomatic missions in Tehran were "monitoring as closely as possible the situation in the Khuzestan province" and acknowledged that Ahwazi Arabs "do indeed suffer from discrimination."

Kim Howells , the British foreign minister with responsibility for the Middle East, said that the British government was "deeply concerned about the situation of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran, who continue to face discrimination and intimidation." He stated that the British government was "closely following" the cases of Ahwazi political prisoners sentenced to death. He added that "we have concerns about the conduct of their trial including whether it was held secretly behind closed doors, whether a jury was present, and whether defendants had adequate access to lawyers before the trial."

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02 January, 2007

Ahmadinejad's Ahwaz sermon - no answers for local problems

By Abu Mousa Zafrani, British Ahwazi Friendship Society

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's tour of the Arab majority province of Khuzestan was portrayed by the official media as an opportunity to listen to local people's concerns and problems. But he used his speech to a crowd of Bassij loyalists in the restive Ahwaz City as an opportunity to grandstand Iran's foreign policies amid the country's growing international isolation.

During Ahmadinejad's speech in Ahwaz, one brave demonstrator held up a placard which read: " Inflation, unemployment, insecurity, drug addiction have desiccated the tree of the revolution ." The protestor was reminding the President that the monarchist regime was overthrown on the issue of social justice, suggesting that his conflict with the UN Security Council has little relationship with the desire of the population to rid itself of poverty.

Ahmadinejad's Ahwaz lecture on Tuesday showed that the Iranian regime believes that it can convince the masses to forget their suffering and rally in to its defence in the face of supposed Western aggression. His strategy is to use the nuclear issue as a bargaining chip in international affairs while instilling fear in the Iranian population of foreign aggression to quash internal dissent.

Ahmadinejad told his followers: " The Iranian nation is wise and will stick to its nuclear work and is ready to defend it completely ." Whether or not the nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, the Ahwazi Arabs are convinced that they will be denied any benefits of the nuclear programme, just as the regime denies them a share in the revenues generated by the oil extracted from land that was confiscated from them.

No Ahwazi is prepared to defend the nuclear programme, which is not going to provide them with any material benefits. Many see the construction of nuclear plants on their land as just another industry that excludes them from employment. Some fear that the government's reckless attitude towards safety - Khuzestan's oil pipelines are notoriously unsafe while industrial pollution in the province is causing birth defects and contributing to low life expectancy - puts them at immediate risk of a Chernobyl-style disaster.

The nuclear programme involves the construction of Russian-designed nuclear power plants on their homeland - a region that experiences frequent earthquakes, with tremours measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale reported just days ago .

Most Ahwazis question the need for expensive nuclear power stations when their homeland's oil resources are more than enough to cater for power needs. Rather than spend oil revenue on social development in Khuzestan, the Iranian regime is sinking it into an unnecessary nuclear programme that is leading to international isolation that benefits no-one.

Ahmadinejad's speech made no reference to growing unrest among local Ahwazi Arabs who face an aggressive campaign of land confiscation that many human rights observers have termed "ethnic cleansing". Nor did it address endemic poverty among Arabs, whose homeland contains more oil reserves than Kuwait and the UAE combined - over 100 billion barrels. The response of the Ahmadinejad administration to those who have highlighted the suffering of Ahwazi Arabs is to ignore, silence, intimidate, arrest, torture and execute them.

In his Ahwaz lecture, Ahmadinejad insists that his priority is the humiliation of the West and that the British and Americans are responsible for all of humanity's problems . Are the British responsible for the 80 per cent child malnutrition rate in Khuzestan's Arab populated district of Dasht-e-Azadegan? Are the British driving Ahwazi Arabs off their farms into city slums and a life of unemployment and poverty and drug addiction? Are the British diverting Khuzestan's rivers, causing ecological devastation in the marshlands along the Shatt Al-Arab? Are the British jailing the young children of Ahwazi Arab opposition leaders to pressure them into confessing to crimes they did not commit? The suffering of the Ahwazi Arabs and other minorities in Iran has nothing to do with the British - it is the responsibility of the regime itself.

The subtext of Ahmadinejad's Ahwaz speech was a demand that Ahwazi Arabs abandon all opposition activism for the sake of the nuclear programme. Or they will face serious consequences. It is no coincidence that three Ahwazi activists were sentenced to death on the eve of the President's visit to the provincial capital . He was sending a message - put up and shut up, or you and your families will suffer.

The Lejnat Al-Wefaq - a reformist Arab group that sought constitutional means to advance Arab minority rights - was banned after its candidates won all but one seat on Ahwaz City Council in 2003. Its members were rounded up and imprisoned and last month a leading founding member, Ali Matouri Zadeh, was executed in Karoun Prison - just a day after pro-Ahmadinejad candidates faced a severe drubbing in the local elections. His wife Fahima and baby daughter Salma, who was born in prison in March 2006, remain in prison. A further three Ahwazis were sentenced to death on Monday as a prelude to Ahmadinejad's visit.

Ahmadinejad has not even listened to calls from Khuzestan's elected representatives. The conservative-dominated Majlis (parliament) has voted down on three occasions proposals by Khuzestan's MPs for a modest 1.5 per cent of oil revenues to be redirected to assist poverty alleviation and employment generation in the province.

Ahmadinejad portrays Iran as a model for the Muslim world, but Ahwazi Arabs are comparing themselves to the lifestyles enjoyed by their Arab brothers on the other side of the Gulf. And they are thinking to themselves, is the loss of their dignity a price worth paying for Tehran's confrontation with the international community?

In his speech, Ahmadinejad said without any sense of irony that " rulers who stand against their nation ... will face similar fate " as Saddam Hussein. Last month, students staged demonstrations at Amir Kabir University of Technology while Ahmadinejad was lecturing to them. They chanted their verdict on his rule: " ." And the whole of Iran was behind them, delivering an astounding defeat for Ahmadinejad at the recent elections to the Assembly of Experts. If Ahmadinejad continues down the path of international isolation, economic austerity and political authoritarianism, he will indeed meet the same fate as Saddam Hussein.

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22 December, 2006

UNHCR: Syria lied over return of Ahwazi refugees

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has suggested that the Syrian government lied to the UN and broke international law when it secretly deported four Ahwazi Arab refugees to Iran in May ( click here for UNHCR's statement ).

UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said the organisation was "extremely worried" about the four Ahwazis who Syria deported to Iran despite promising not to, and despite resettlement places already having been secured abroad for them. The Syrian regime, which is allied to Iran, lied to the UN that the four were in custody after they had been forcibly removed to Tehran.

The British Ahwazi Frienship Society (BAFS) has learned that the prominent Ahwazi dissident Faleh Abdullah Al-Mansouri, a refugee who obtained Dutch nationality, is being held in Section 209 of Evin Prison, which operates as a torture centre run by the Ministry of the Interior. He had fled Iran after being sentenced to death in 1989 for his activities.

Redmond appealed to Iranian authorities "to ensure the well-being of the four and allow for a fair trial and the right to due process."

"Extradition does not mean that a refugee or asylum seeker loses his or her international protection status," he added. "UNHCR also appeals for access to the four refugees and we are prepared to find alternative solutions for them."

In a statement released to the media, the UNHCR calls on Syria to abide by its obligations under international law and to ensure that the principle of non-refoulement is recognised. According to Article 34 of the Syrian Constitution, the deportation of refugees to countries where they will face persecution should be prevented. Moreover, non-refoulement is a principle of customary international law which prohibits states from returning a refugee or asylum seeker to territories where there is a risk that his or her life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. This principle has precedence over any bilateral or multilateral extradition agreement.

Amnesty International has been among those who have accused the Syrian regime of defying international law with the illegal deportation of Ahwazi refugees.

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21 December, 2006

Iran names three executed Ahwazis

The Iranian regime has named the three men it executed on Tuesday. They are: Ali Matouri Zadeh (pictured on left), Malek Bani Tamim (centre) and Alireza Asakre (right). The regime has prevented relatives of the men from burying them in accordance with Islamic custom and is instead burying them in a mass, unmarked grave site called Lanat Abad or "place of the damned" ( click here for details ).

The death sentences against 11 men, including the three executed on Tuesday, were condemned in a unanimous vote by the European Parliament as well as an Early Day Motion in the British Parliament ( click here for details ).

Ali Matouri Zadeh, 30, had been forced to confess to heading an insurgent group after months of torture and threats to the lives of his wife and baby daughter, who were also imprisoned by the regime. He had been a founding member of the Lejnat Al-Wefaq (Reconciliation Committee), which attempted to advance Ahwazi Arab minority rights through constitutional and legal means. It was set up in 1999 and participated in elections. However, in the last parliamentary elections in 2004, conservatives in the regime barred candidates nominated by Lajnat Al-Wefagh. The group was dismantled, closing down legal possibilities for demands for Ahwazi rights. In November, it was outlawed for allegedly stirring up communalism against the regime - a claim that is without foundation.

Matouri Zadeh is described by friends as a gentle and principled human rights activist. He was arrested in February along with his pregnant wife, 26 year old school teacher Fahima Ismaili Badawi (pictured). She gave birth to a baby girl named Salma in the notorious Sepidar Prison in March. Both mother and daughter have remained in prison, with intelligence officials putting pressure on Fahima to denounce her husband, divorce him and change the girl's name to a Persian one. She refused and was sentenced in June to 15 years imprisonment by Branch 3 of the Revolutionary court in Ahwaz City.

Amnesty International has suggested the mother and daughter were held to pressure Matouri Zadeh to confess to participating in bomb attacks ( click here for latest report ). Matouri Zadeh's "confession" was probably intended to save his wife and daughter's lives, but has also vindicated the regime's violent clamp-down on Ahwazi Arab reformist groups such as Wefaq.

Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "These men were innocent. The European Parliament, members of the British parliament and international human rights organisations agree that they were not granted a fair trial. The charges against them were false, they were denied access to lawyers and their trials were held in secret revolutionary courts. Despite all evidence that this was a miscarriage of justice, the regime went ahead and killed three innocent Ahwazi men with a further 11 men set to be executed in coming days and weeks.

"The executions are intended to intimidate, terrorise and collectively punish Ahwazi Arabs for daring to speak up against the regime's ethnic cleansing programme in the Ahwazi homeland. This programme of ethnic restructuring involves forced relocation, land confiscation, the elimination of local Arab language and heritage and institutionalised racial discrimination. The regime wants the resources of the Ahwazi homeland and is deliberately impoverishing them and denying them their birthright.

"We call on the international community - particularly the Arab League - to impose direct sanctions on Iran's religious and political elites, including the freezing of financial assets that are held in offshore bank accounts and are used finance terrorism. The wealth of the mullahs comes from the oil-rich and fertile land stolen from the Ahwazi Arabs. They must be denied access to profits made from the slaughter, persecution and impoverishment of Ahwazi Arabs."

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20 December, 2006

Iran begins mass execution of Ahwazis, defying world opinion

The Iranian regime has defied the UN General Assembly, the European Parliament and Iranian and international human rights organisations and has begun its campaign of mass executions of Ahwazi Arab opposition activists.

The Khuzestan branch of the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) has reported that three Ahwazi Arabs have been executed for "waging war on God" ( click here for ISNA article ). ISNA did not name the men and it is believed that the executions were carried out in prison. A further 11 Ahwazis are awaiting execution following trials that were condemned by the European Parliament in a unanimous resolution in November ( click here for details ) as well as 48 British MPs who signed an Early Day Motion ( click here to download the EDM ).

The regime broadcast videos of forced confessions of 11 Ahwazi Arabs on Khuzestan TV in early November ( click here for more information ), but delayed the executions due to international outrage and municipal elections. Today's execution of the three men comes just two days after the results of the Ahwaz municipal and Assembly of Experts elections, which were affected by a mass boycott and the defeat of pro-Ahmadinejad supporters.

The men were convicted following one-day trials in closed sessions of the Revolutionary Court in Ahwaz, with little or no access to lawyers and after being tortured into giving confessions. In some cases, family members were held in custody to put pressure on the men to confess.

Ali Matourizadeh, a founding member of the Lejnat Al-Wefaq (Reconciliation Committee), an Arab group that won control of Ahwaz City Council in the 2003 municipal elections but has subsequently been banned, was among those sentenced to hang. His wife was taken into custody when eight months pregnant and gave birth to a girl called Salma while in prison in March. She was instructed by the regime to denounce and divorce her husband and change the baby's name to a Persian name, but she refused the regime's demands. Both mother and daughter remain in prison.

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27 November, 2006

Iran: human rights organisations launch on-line appeal

Below is a joint appeal to the global human rights community by the Human Rights Activists in Iran (H.R.A.I), the Committee Defense for Human Rights in north-west of Iran (H.RN.W.I), the Kurdish Human Rights defense organization (R.M.M.K) and the Ahwazi Human Rights Organization (A.H.R.O) concerning the situation of the Evin Prison in Iran. Click here to sign the petition .

To: The Secretary General of the United Nations, The UN Human Rights Council , Amnesty International, Human Rights watch

An appeal to all Human Right Organizations of the World

Section 209 of Evin Prison in Iran is run by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic and except for the ministry agents no other government bodies have any control over the prison affairs.

During the last years many of Iran political prisoners have died in this Section under torture and many others kept in it have ended up being executed by firing squads or hanged. At this moment of time hundreds of similar prisoners are kept in this Section and the Ministry of Intelligence would not allow their names to be added to the long list of Iran political prisoners.

Most of these prisoners are held in solitary confinement and are constantly interrogated while under physical and psychological torture. The families of these prisoners very rarely have any information about the health or conditions of their loved ones, who are most of the time handcuffed and blindfolded, are denied of medical care and legal representation and do not even know on what charges they have been arrested. In Section 209 of Evin Prison even the very own repressive rules of the regime are not followed.

Those currently held at the Section include political dissidents, human rights activists, students, trade union officials and workers, as well as many other Iranians from all walks of life.

The following people are among the prisoners at Section 209:

Ali Akbar Mussavi Khoini, Dr. Saeed Masoori, Ahmad Batebi, Kayvan Rafii, Kianoosh Sanjari, Dr. Kayvan Ansari, Abulfazl Jahandar, Kheirullah Derakhshandi, Abdullah Al Mansouri, Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi and many of his followers, as well as many prisoners from other provinces of Iran who have been transferred to Evin from their local prisons.

We, the undersigned, would therefore urge the Secretary General of the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to assign a special investigating committee to visit Section 209 of Evin Prison in Iran and publish a report on their findings.

1- Human Rights Activists in Iran (H.R.A.I)
2- Committee Defence for Human Rights in North-West of Iran (H.R.N.W.I)
3- Kurdish Human Rights defence organization (R.M.M.K)
4- Ahwazi Human Rights organization (A.H.R.O)

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19 November, 2006

UNPO Continues Appeal to Halt Executions of Ahwazi Arabs in Iran

The following is a statement from the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) - click here to download the original .

UNPO remains deeply concerned about the fate of the 10 ethnic Ahwazi-Arab activists recently sentenced to death by Iranian Courts, as well as an eleventh activist also to be hanged, but without formal trial or sentencing.

The European Parliament yesterday expressed also their concern, adopting a resolution which calls for an immediate halt to their executions, as well as the release of all other prisoners of conscience, many of whom are at present languishing without trial in Iranian jails. The resolution also expresses a broader concern with the treatment of minorities within Iran, many of whom are UNPO Members, as well as the prevalence and methods of execution used as a means to silence political opposition.

The Resolution in Full

The 10 men, Ali Motairi, Abdullah Solaimani, Abdulreza Sanawati (Zergani), Ghasem Salamat, Mohamad Chaab Pour, Abdulamir Farajullah Chaab, Alireza Asakreh, Majed Alboghubaish, Khalaf Khaziri, Malek Banitamim, were all found guilty of charges relating initially to an incident of terrorism, and later to Mohareb (enmity with God), in secret one-day trials which have received extensive international condemnation. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have indicated also a general concern with the fairness of any trail involving Ahwazi-Arabs in Iran.

In addition to having their trials conducted in secret, the defendants were not permitted to meet with their lawyers, several of whom have also been arrested following their complaints over the fairness of the proceedings. There are also reports suggesting that the defendants were tortured during detention, and forced to make confessions later broadcasted on Iranian television. It was the televised confession of the untried eleventh individual, Mr. Saeed Hamedan, which indicated he is also to be amongst the executed.

As international leaders consider the potential benefits of softening their stance and increasing cooperation with the Iranian Regime, UNPO is part of the growing number of politicians, international institutions, and members of civil society demanding Iran commute the death sentences of the 11 men, as well as cease entirely in their use of the death sentence as a means of punishing political activists.

UNPO has issued appeals to Philip Alston, the United Nations' (UN) Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, and Mrs. Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) has also issued appeals to several MEPs; Hon. Ms. Angelika Beer, Chairwoman of the Iran Delegation in the European Parliament; Hon. Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles, President of the European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (MEP); Elmar Brok, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Helene Flautre; Paolo Casaca; and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne.

British and European Parliamentary members contacted by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), including Chris Bryant MP and Michael Gove MP, joined by Green Party MEPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert, have also called on UN Secretary General Mr. Annan, as well as a range of senior EU and UN leaders, to step in and demand Tehran commutes the death sentences.

Their calls will be echoed this weekend, when a number of Ahwazi and Azeri groups will be joined also by UNPO Member from Balochistan to protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London. International Media are also sure also to support the gathering, featuring a number of prominent articles, such as in; The Guardian (UK) and The Daily Mail (UK).

UNPO remains deeply concerned about the imminent executions and the ongoing situation for Ahwazi Arabs in Iran, and will continue to appeal for:

- Iran to stop the execution of the 11 convicted men and grant fair trials to the 19 men convicted of the bombing;

- The Iranian government to cease its execution of Ahwaz Arabs for peaceful protest; and

- Iran to address the issue of unfair trials and extrajudicial and summary executions of the indigenous Ahwaz Arab people.

Related links
Appeal to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Information about Protest in London
Article in The Guardian (UK)

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14 November, 2006

UNPO Call to Stop Public Executions of Ahwazi Arabs in Iran

Below is an article from the UNPO website - click here to download the original

UNPO has issued appeals to Philip Alston, the United Nations' (UN) Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, and Mrs. Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the public executions of 11 Ahwazi Arabs sentenced to public hanging. The Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO), has also issued appeals to several MEPs; Hon. Ms. Angelika Beer, Chairwoman of the Iran Delegation in the European Parliament; Hon. Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles, President of the European Parliament, Member of European Parliament (MEP); Elmar Brok, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Hélène Flautre; Paolo Casaca; and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, urging immediate action to halt the executions.

Among the 11 ethnic Arab-Iranian (Ahwazi-Arabs) rights activists, just Monday, November 13, 2006, Saeed Hamedan confessed to insurgency on Iranian TV, indicating that he will be among the executed. Unlike the other ten sentenced to die, he has not been sentenced by Iranian courts, making his execution the consequence of an illegal summary judgment by Iranian authorities. All 11 Ahwazi Arabs were convicted after one-day secret trials that were internationally condemned. Early Monday, the forced confessions of the 10 convicted Ahwazi Arabs, among the 19 Ahwazis convicted for mohareb (enmity with God) after being originally convicted of terrorism offences, were broadcast on Iranian television.

British and European Parliamentary members contacted by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) - including Green MEPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert, Labour MP Chris Bryant, and Conservative MP Michael Gove - condemned the executions and urged the European Commission to take action immediately. Not only were confessions obtained under torture, but the ten men were denied access to their lawyers, and many of their lawyers were arrested for complaints regarding the unfair, secret trials. Two Ahwazis among those sentenced to death were in prison, serving time for the crime of insurgency, when the bomb attacks they were allegedly involved in occurred. The Iranian Judiciary failed to provide dates and details of the trials of 9 of the convicted men.

Dr. Lucas stated that the policy of the Iranian government towards the Ahwazi Arabs was one of ethnic cleansing, and asked the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) to investigate the systematic practice of imprisoning and executing Ahwazis. The Ahwazis, an indigenous Arab group, comprise 3 percent of Iran's population. Residing mainly in the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan, they are a majority in Al-Ahwaz, which contains most of Iran's oilfields. In the last year alone, it is reported that 25,000 Ahwazis have been arrested, 131 executed, and 150 have disappeared. Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have reported on the imprisonment of Ahwazi children along with their mothers, a tactic used to coerce Ahwazi men who are politically active to turn themselves in. The Iranian government has also banned political parties, trade unions, student groups, and the right of Arabs to stand for election.

UNPO remains deeply concerned about the imminent executions and the ongoing situation for the Ahwazi Arabs in Iran. UNPO General Secretary Marino Busdachin appealed to Commissioner Arbour and Special Rapporteur Alston to:

- urge Iran to stop the execution of the 11 convicted men and grant fair trials to the 19 men convicted of the bombing;

-call upon the Iranian government to cease its execution of Ahwaz Arabs for peaceful protest; and

-address the issue of unfair trials and extrajudicial and summary executions of the indigenous Ahwaz Arab people.

Labels: EU , human rights , UN

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21 October, 2006

Iran: Judges refuse to serve in Ahwaz

Judges are refusing to service in Khuzestan, according to the recently appointed chief of the province's branch of Iran's Ministry of Justice, Dr Abbas Jaafari Dowlat-abadi.

Speaking to the Iranian Student News Agency, Dowlat-abadi claimed that the bad security situation was to blame for the lack of qualified judges in the province ( click here for ISNA article ).

Controversry has surrounded judgements made by Ahwaz's courts, with one of Iran's leading human rights campaigners, Emad Baghi, claiming that the trials of Ahwazi Arabs accused of terrorism and "enmity with God" were flawed, the charges were baseless, the defendants were subjected to torture, the sentencing was based on a spurious interpretation of the law and the outcome of the trials would inflame Ahwazi anger, causing further unrest and instability in Khuzestan ( click here for his letter to the chief of the judiciary ). Recently, three Ahwazi Arabs were sentenced to death for stealing livestock - a crime that does not normally carry the death penalty ( click for further details ).

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19 September, 2006

Iran: Hardline MP downplays Bassij mobilisation in Ahwaz

Hardline Majlis member for Ahwaz, Hamid Zanganeh, has downplayed the deployment of Bassij paramilitarist forces on the city's streets.

Local residents of the Ahwaz City, which is experiencing growing unrest from its Ahwazi Arab population, have reported a massive increase in the presence of the mullah regime's vigilante group ahead of the planned execution of 16 political prisoners. Zangeneh claimed there was no security problem, while the Bassij continue to set up check posts in the city's main roads and confiscate satellite dishes. Internet and telecommunications have also been disrupted. The regime appears to be preparing for a complete media blackout, ahead of a clamp-down on protests.

In March, public executions of young Ahwazi Arabs accused of insurgency led to violent rioting. Ahwazi groups expect a new round of executions either this week or after Eid-ul-Fitr (expected around 24 October), which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan (no executions are permitted during Ramadan). Controversy has surrounded the convictions of the 16 men, with one of Iran's leading human rights activists, Emadeddin Baghi, claiming a "grave injustice" had been carried out by the courts ( click here for more information ). The lawyers for the accused have also protested at the unfair convictions and staged a walk-out during the trials.

Zanganeh has lobbied the government to convict and execute anyone and everyone deemed a "threat to national security", including cultural rights activists. He claimed that failure to take a hard line to quash Ahwazi Arab dissent would be a sign of weakness. The imminent executions are widely believed to have been prompted by Zanganeh's high-profile efforts to persuade the government to kill off all signs of Ahwazi Arab opposition to the regime, including peaceful dissent.

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03 August, 2006

"Tehran is a racist state, as well as a homophobic one" - Human and gay rights activist

One of Britain's leading human rights and gay rights activists, Peter Tatchell, has condemned the Iranian regime's planned execution of 10 Ahwazi Arabs as racist.

He has backed the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation's call on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to intervene to stop the executions and the regime's ethnic cleansing agenda in Khuzestan, the homeland of the Ahwazi Arabs.

"The Iranian regime is planning the imminent execution of 10 Arab human rights activists from Khuzestan province in the south-west of Iran. They were sentenced to death after secret trials in June. The Iranian supreme court upheld their death sentences on 25 July," warned Mr Tatchell.

"Iran's Arab minority, who call themselves Ahwazis, are subjected to systematic prejudice and persecution by the Persian chauvinist Tehran regime.

"It is believed that both the gay teenagers executed in the city of Mashhad on 19 July 2005 were Ahwazis. The ethnic background of Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni may have been a contributing factor that led to their execution.

"It is important that the gay community shows solidarity with all the victims of the murderous Iranian regime - and that other victims show solidarity with gay Iranians. United together, the Iranian people can triumph over the clerical dictatorship.

"A further 22 Arab activists are expected to be handed death sentences at the end of their trials, which are being held in secret with no independent observers allowed to attend the court. They are victims of trumped up charges, for which there is no evidence.

"The Tehran regime is now holding Ahwazi children as young as 2 and 4 years old as hostages in prison, in a bid to force their political and human rights activist parents (who are on the run and in hiding) to surrender to the police. If the parents hand in themselves to the authorities, their children will be released, but they will face execution.

"In the last year, 25,000 Ahwazis have been arrested, 131 executed and 150 have disappeared (presumed killed and buried in unmarked graves), according to the Ahwazi Human Rights Organization.

"The Ahwazis are one of Iran's several persecuted national minorities who are subjected to racist victimisation by the Tehran regime. Other maltreated minorities include the Balochis, Turkmen and Azeris.

"Iran is a racist state, with a covert agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Ahwazi Arab people.

"Tehran's land seizures, forced population relocations, massacres, arrests, jailings, tortures and executions of Ahwazi Arabs are crimes against humanity under international law.

"Despite living in the region of Iran richest in oil, the Ahwazi Arab people are victims of a cruel, deliberate impoverishment by the Iranian regime, with half the population living in gross poverty and 80 percent of children suffering from malnutrition.

"We support the efforts of the Iranian people to end the racist, homophobic and misogynist tyranny in Tehran and to establish a democratic, secular state that ensures human rights for all the ethnic, sexual, religious and cultural minorities of Iran.

"Foreign military intervention in Iran would be morally wrong and counter-productive. Reform must come from within, by and for the Iranian people themselves," said Mr Tatchell.

Related stories: :
Death sentence for Ahwazis confirmed by Supreme Court - 31 July
Son of Ahwazi sentenced to death appeals to Kofi Annan - 27 July
Urgent Appeal to EU Foreign Affairs Chief over Iran Executions - 11 July Iran: Retry Ethnic Arabs Condemned to Death - 24 June
UNPO Urgent Appeal Concerning Ahwazi Executions
Ahwazis face arrest, deportation and execution - 1 June
Amnesty International: Eleven Ahwazis Face Execution - 17 May
Iran prepares for new round of executions in Ahwaz - 13 May
Executed: Young Men Hung by Iranian Tyrants - 2 March
Iran prepares to execute tribal family - 19 February
Iran sentences seven over Ahwaz bombings - 15 February
Iran increases repression in Ahwaz - 8 February
Ahwaz Bombings Come After Weeks of Unrest - 24 January

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31 July, 2006

Death sentence for Ahwazis confirmed by Supreme Court

Tribal leaders, teachers, businessmen, students and mothers are among those Ahwazis who are destined for the gallows or the dungeons, following closed trials by Iran's notorious revolutionary courts.

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has received the names and details of those set to be executed, imprisoned or banished as part of Iran's increased repression in the restive Arab-majority province of Khuzestan, known to the indigenous inhabitants as Al-Ahwaz.

The following people have had their death sentences for "waging war on God" - in references to bomb attacks that hit Al-Ahwaz in 2005 and earlier this year - upheld by the Supreme Court:
> Mohamad Ali Sawari, a teacher from Ahwaz City
> Yahya Naseri from Ahwaz City
> Nazem Berihi from Ahwaz City, who has been in prison since 2000 after receiving a 30-year prison sentence and therefore could not have carried out the recent bomb attacks
> Abdulzahra Helichi from Ahwaz City
> Abdul Emam Zaeri from Ahwaz City

Others have faced serious penalties after trials that Human Rights Watch claims failed to meet international standards. Some have been sentenced to death, but are awaiting confirmation from the Supreme Court.

Mothers are among those sentenced by the revolutionary court in Ahwaz:
> Mrs Fahima Esmaeili (pictured) - sentenced to 15 years prison in Yasuj city, outside Khuzestan province (she gave birth in prison in March to a baby girl, Salma, but it is unclear what will happen to the baby)
> Mrs Hoda Hawashem - one year in prison in Ahwaz City (she is being held in prison with her sons, aged two and four - it is unclear what will happen them while she is in prison)
Click here for more information on Ahwazi women and children in custody

Other Ahwazis sentenced to death or long jails terms include:
> Ali Motari Zadeh from Mashour (Mashar) - sentenced to death
> Khalaf Khazraei from Falahiya (Shadgan) - sentenced to death
> Mohamad Kaabi from Tostar city (Shushtar) - sentenced to death
> Abdulamir Faraj Allah Chaab from Tostar city(Shushtar) - sentenced to death
> Mohamad Salmani Kaabi from Tostar city(Shushtar) - sentenced to death
> Majed Albu Ghubaish from Mashur city (Mashar) - death penalty
> Alireza Asakre from Mashur (Mashar) - sentenced to death
> Ghasem Salamat from Ahwaz city - sentenced to death
> Abdulreza Zergani from Ahwaz city - sentenced to death
> Saeed Hamidan - sentenced to 18 years prison in Ghaen city in Isfahan
> Jalil Moghadam from Ahwaz City - sentenced to 10 years prison in Ashtiyan city in Isfahan

Many others are also incarcerated and their fates have yet to be decided by the Iranian regime.

BAFS has obtained a leaked report from the Bassij addressed to commanders in the Revolutionary Guards which lists 15 suspected terrorists it says have been trained and armed by British army commanders in Iraq. None of those sentenced to death are among those accused in the letter of responsibility for the terrorist attacks. BAFS has enquired about those named in the letter and none are known Ahwazi political activists. The document and a translation can be downloaded here .

BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: "The document we have obtained and published is the only publically available Iranian intelligence report on the Ahwaz bombings. As far as this document is concerned, there is no proven link between those who have been incarcerated and sentenced to death and those the Iranian intelligence has supposedly identified as terrorists.

"The intelligence document fails to mention any particular Ahwazi group involved in the bombings, although the government's line is that the bomb attacks are the work of several exiled political parties supported by the British, American, Canadian, Israeli and Saudi governments and oil companies.

"As the trials of those accused have been held in camera with even defence lawyers being barred from representing their clients in court, we have no way of judging the veracity of the intelligence used to prosecute the accused.

"As far as we are concerned, 20 innocent people are about to lose their lives and liberty without any proper legal representation or any evidence. Their crime appears to be their ethnicity and political beliefs, rather than any proven terrorist activity."

Related stories: :
Son of Ahwazi sentenced to death appeals to Kofi Annan - 27 July
Urgent Appeal to EU Foreign Affairs Chief over Iran Executions - 11 July Iran: Retry Ethnic Arabs Condemned to Death - 24 June
UNPO Urgent Appeal Concerning Ahwazi Executions
Ahwazis face arrest, deportation and execution - 1 June
Amnesty International: Eleven Ahwazis Face Execution - 17 May
Iran prepares for new round of executions in Ahwaz - 13 May
Executed: Young Men Hung by Iranian Tyrants - 2 March
Iran prepares to execute tribal family - 19 February
Iran sentences seven over Ahwaz bombings - 15 February
Iran increases repression in Ahwaz - 8 February
Ahwaz Bombings Come After Weeks of Unrest - 24 January

Labels: death penalty , human rights

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17 July, 2006

UN Special Rapporteur condemns Iran's treatment of minorities

UN Special Rapporteur on housing, Miloon Kothari, has released a damning report on Iran's housing conditions, singling out ethnic and religious minorities and women as suffering discrimination.

Kothari visited Iran in July 2005 to assess living conditions and made a special visit to Ahwaz (Khuzestan), where he saw for himself the level of discrimination against Arabs, including land confiscations.

In his report submitted to the UN Economic and Social Council, he states that: "In Kermanshah and Khuzestan, the overall living conditions in poor neighbourhoods mainly inhabited by Kurds, Arabs and Muslim Sufis were extremely unsatisfactory. Particularly serious conditions were observed in places like Ghal'e Channan and Akhar Asfalt in Ahvaz with, in some cases, a complete lack of basic services impacting negatively on the populations' health status, in addition to contributing to severe security problems. Most poor neighbourhoods were unpaved, open-air sewage was sometimes observed and uncollected garbage blocked streets, obstructing traffic and access from the outside in case of emergencies."

The Special Rapporteur "visited lands traditionally cultivated by Iranian Arabs, which were expropriated by the Government for remarkably low prices in order to provide space for development projects and plantations, such as the Dekhoda sugar-cane project. The affected population had no access to legal remedies to challenge the legitimacy and legality of the expropriation orders and existing legal remedies only enabled the inhabitants to initiate discussions related to the price offered for their lands. Allegedly, even in the very few cases in which the prices were slightly raised by courts, they were still fixed much lower than market values. The affected population was not consulted before or during the expropriation procedure.

"Expropriations for the implementation of development projects have been especially criticized in view of the considerable amount of unutilized rural land, where displacement would be minimal, and which was already owned by the Government, where such projects could be located."

Kothari's initial observations led to a cross-party motion of condemnation of land confiscation in Ahwaz by the European Parliament, with some politicians such as Paulo Casaca MEP stating that the Iranian government was carrying out a policy of systematic ethnic cleansing against Ahwazi Arabs.

Click here to download the full report.

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11 July, 2006

Urgent Appeal to EU Foreign Affairs Chief over Iran Executions

The Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation has issued the following appeal to Javier Solana, High Representative for the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, over continuing executions and human rights violations against Ahwazis by the Iranian regime:

We are writing to inform you of the imminent execution of 10 ethnic Arab-Iranian (Ahwazi Arab) youth in Ahwaz, provincial capital of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran.

On June 7 and 8 the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Ahwaz, in secret trials, sentenced these human rights activists to death. They are awaiting the execution order from the Supreme Court in Tehran. Their names are as follows:
1. Yahia Nasseri
2. Nazem Boraihi
3. Abdolemam Zaeri
4. Abdolzahar olichi
5. Hamza Sawaeri
6. Jafar Sawari
7. Reisan Sawari
8. Abdolreza Nawaseri
9. Ali Helfi
10. Zamel Bawi

After the public hanging of Ali Afrawi (age 17) and Mehdi Nawaseri (20 years old) in Ahwaz and seven other political prisoners inside prisons in March and April of this year, the Iranian regime is once again embarking on a new wave of executions of Ahwazi Arabs.

Last month, Prosecutor-General Iraj Amirkhani, in an interview with Iranian official news agency ISNA, announced that 22 Ahwazi Arab political activists had been arrested and are expected to be tried and sentenced to death. These men, like the 10 named above, are also being tried in secret without the presence of independent observers. They are accused of being "Mohareb" or enemies of god which carries death sentence. Other charges are "Destablizing the Country", "attempt to overthrow the government", "possession of home made bombs" and "sabotage of oil installations". However, no evidence has been presented. The government has accused them of working as agents for the US, the UK and Israel, and claimed they have received training in Iraq. Again, the regime has failed to produce any evidence.

This brings the Ahwazi men who face death and risk of executions to thirty two. This number includes three brothers, university students, who are among a number of activists listed below:
1. Imad Bawi
2. Mohsen Bawi
3. Taregh Obiat
4. Dr Awdeh Afrawi
5. Tarigh Obeyat
6. Ali Manbouhi
7. Jallil Bureihi
8. Hadi Bateyli
9. Mohammad Sawari
10. Moslem Al-Ha'
11. Saeed Hameydan
12. Abdulamam M Zaeri
13. Abdulzahra Khazali
14. Hamzeh Lefteh
15. Aliredha Salman Delfi
16. Ali Matouri-Zadeh

We are also concerned about the arrest of the wives and young children of political activists in what appears to be an attempt to pressure them into making false confessions or returning from exile. Ali Matourzadeh and his wife Fahima Ismaili Badawi have been detained since February 28; Fahima gave birth to their daughter, Salma, in Sepidar Prison in Ahwaz in March. Matourzadeh is founder of the reformist Hizb-i Vifaq (Unity Party). His whereabouts are unknown, while his wife and daughter are being held at Sepidar Prison in Khuzestan Province. Amnesty International has suggested Fahima and Salma are being held in order to force Ali Matourzadeh to cooperate and the group demanded their unconditional release.
Other recently arrested Ahwazi women and children are:

1. Ma'soumeh Ka'abi (f) and her sons Imad (m), aged 4, she is the wife of political activists, Habib Nabgan. (Released and re-arrested several times).

2. Sograh Khudayrawi (f) and her son Zeidan (m) aged 4. Her husband’s name is Khalaf Khudayrawi, who is currently being held at Sepidar Prison.

3. Sakina Naisi (f), mother of five and wife of Ahwazi opposition activist Ahman Naisi.

4. Hoda Hawashem (f) and her son Osameh (m), aged 2 and her other son Ahmad (m), aged 4 and wife of opposition activist, Habib Faraj-allah.

Iran and its ally Syria are also violating the Geneva Conventions on refugees by returning or threatening to return Ahwazi refugees registered with the UNHCR back to Iran, where they face arrest and likely torture and execution. Iranian Arab refugee Saeed ‘Awda al-Saki was arrested on 11 May in the Syrian capital, Damascus, at the request of the Iranian authorities. He was forcibly returned to Iran three days later and now is held incommunicado at an undisclosed place. Saeed ‘Awda al-Saki, is registered and recognized as a political refugee by the UNHCR. According to Amnesty International he is also facing torture and ill-treatment, and possibly death sentence.

Under pressure from Iran, on May 11, 2006, eight Ahwazi men were detained by the Syrian authorities. These are all mandate holder political refugees, registered and recognized by UNHCR in Syria:
1. Mousa Sawari
2. Issa Alyassin
3. Gamal Obaidy
4. Ahmad Abiat
5. Taher Ali Mazraeh
6. Rasool Mezrea'
7. Jamal 'Abdawi
Three of the above have been released and four remain in detention in Syria. Faleh 'Abdullah al-Mansouri, a Dutch national, has also been detained and has yet to be released.

Since the Ahwazi Intifada (uprising) began on April 15, 2005, more than 25,000 Ahwazis have been detained, at least 131 have been executed and over 150 have "disappeared" (believed to have been tortured and killed by Iranian security forces). Confiscation of Ahwazi Arab farmland, forced displacement and other measures of ethnic cleansing and ethnic restructuring are other examples of repression and persecution of Arab ethnic minority in Iran. Iranian authorities level accusations against the US, UK and Israel as the cause of Ahwazi demands for democracy, social and economic justice.

We urge you and the Council of EU to take immediate action to prevent the executions of these political prisoners.

Links :
Iran: Retry Ethnic Arabs Condemned to Death - 24 June
UNPO Urgent Appeal Concerning Ahwazi Executions
Ahwazis face arrest, deportation and execution - 1 June
Amnesty International: Eleven Ahwazis Face Execution - 17 May
Iran prepares for new round of executions in Ahwaz - 13 May
Executed: Young Men Hung by Iranian Tyrants - 2 March
Iran prepares to execute tribal family - 19 February
Iran sentences seven over Ahwaz bombings - 15 February
Iran increases repression in Ahwaz - 8 February
Ahwaz Bombings Come After Weeks of Unrest - 24 January

Labels: death penalty , human rights

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15 June, 2006

Iran: Homes for the dead in the land of the damned

Iran's persecuted Ahwazi Arab minority are being subjected to an ethnic cleansing programme in their homeland, Al-Ahwaz (Khuzestan), with their lands confiscated to build racially exclusive settlements such as the Persian township of Sharinshahr.

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has found that many of those who object to forcible relocation have 'disappeared' or have been executed, with hundreds of Ahwazis dumped in mass graves. BAFS has published photographic proof of shallow graves where Ahwazis have been buried in a place the government calls "Lanat Abad", the place of the "damned people". The bodies do not stay long in the unmarked graves, before they are dug up and eaten by dogs (click on image for larger size).





Around 160 Ahwazi Arabs were killed in the Ahwazi intifada (uprising) in April 2005 when the regime lost control over large parts of Khuzestan, but more have been murdered, incarcerated and 'disappeared' as unrest has continued.

They include Seyed Sultan Albu-Shokeh , a 45 year old disabled farmer from Falahya (Shadegan) ( click here for more information ):



Mehdi Nawaseri , who was hung after being forced to confess on Khuzestan TV to being a terrorist:



Muhammed-Ali Afrawi , who was also hung alongside Mehdi after a television "confession" - his sister was murdered by the security forces the following day and his father, a leading psychologist at Chamram Hospital, is now on death row:



Click here for more information on the execution of Mehdi and Ali .

Kamal Daghaghleh , who was shot dead by the security forces in a demonstration in Ahwaz's Hey Althowra district which followed the executions ( click here for more information ):



A number of bodies showing signs of torture have been found up washed up on the shores of the Karoon River, which flows through Ahwaz City, or found in fishing nets ( click here for more information ):



Meanwhile, the wives and young children of Ahwazi activists campaigning to stop the killings and land confiscations have been held hostage by the regime. They include the world's youngest political prisoner, Baby Salma, the daughter of Fahima Ismail Badawi (pictured below) and moderate opposition leader Ali Madouri-Zadeh:



Other minorities are also suffering violent persecution, notably the Balochis. The Iranian military is using helicopter gun ships and air strikes to kill innocent Balochis in their homeland, which straddles the Iran-Pakistan border ( click here for the Balochistan Peoples Party website ):





BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: "Despite high profile appeals by European politicians and human rights activists, the European Union and the British government have ignored Ahwazi appeals for the issue of ethnic cleansing to be addressed at an international level.

"Meanwhile, Chinese, Indian and European firms are profiting from the genocidal policies of the Iranian regime, with the full support of their governments. Companies such as Britain's Costain Group ( click here for more information on Costain ) are investing large sums on money in industries that exploit natural resources extracted from land forcibly taken from Ahwazis. The Ahwazis themselves are rewarded with mass unemployment, poverty, disease and anonymous mass graves - none of the revenue generated from the oil-rich lands stolen from the Ahwazis is redistributed.

"Last year, the Costain Group won a US$1.6 billion deal to construct the Bid Boland 2 gas treatment facility for the National Iranian Gas Company near Behbahan City, a facility that relies on state terror to maintain Costain profits. The deal was assisted with the support of the UK's ambassador to Tehran, Richard Dalton ( click here for details ).

"We want to ask Prime Minister Tony Blair how his government's assistance in the pillaging of Al-Ahwaz and the terrorising of the Ahwazi Arabs is in any way conducive to the creation of a stable and democratic Middle East? Why are the killings in Ahwaz less important than the killings in Halabja?"

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05 June, 2006

Former Iranian Defence Chief Criticises Regime's Treatment of Ahwazis

Former Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani has launched a stinging rebuke of the Ahmadinejad's policies towards ethnic minorities, particularly Ahwazi Arabs, according to a report by Iran's Aftab News Agency.

An ethnic Arab, Shamkhani served in the cabinet of President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) and had led the ground forces in the Iran-Iraq War. In the interview with Aftab, Shamkhani warns that Iran will face a rise in ethnic tensions in the near future and will become a major challenge to the regime.

Shamkhani does not share President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's view that ethnic unrest is being encouraged and organised by the British government. Instead, he says that 27 years after the Iranian Revolution, the regime is failing to address the widening gap between people's expectations and its ability to fulfill them. According to Shamkhani, ethnic unrest is a result of the regime's failure to provide any solutions for minority demands and unless the government provides a democratic framework for these demands to be met, Iran should expect large-scale unrest.

Shamkhani pointed to the difference in the way the government has addressed recent unrest among Azeris, who form 25 per cent of the Iranian population, and disturbances by smaller ethnic groups in Khuzestan, Balochistan and Kurdistan. Unrest among Azeris was sparked by a racist cartoon in a conservative newspaper, which compared Azeris to cockroaches. The government stopped the newspaper's publication and arrested the cartoonist and editor, following confrontational demonstrations in Azeri-populated cities such as Tabriz. While the regime put down the demonstrations by force, it also took action against those responsible for the offensive cartoon. In contrast, Ahwazi Arab unrest has been met with state violence, the kidnapping and imprisonment of the wives and children of dissidents, regular public executions of opposition activists and a string of other human rights violations. Shamkhani appeared to condemn the difference in the treatment of ethnic groups and called on the government to stop regarding ethnic Arabs as a fifth column.

Shamkhani is currently runs the Institute of Iran Studies and the Defence Research Centre. He has been involved in dialogue between Ahwazi Arabs and the government in an attempt to bring an end to the intifada in Khuzestan, the homeland of the Ahwazi Arabs. In April, the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) received a video of one meeting between angry Ahwazi leaders and Shamkhani ( click here to download the video, in 3gp format - playable in RealPlayer ).

Despite being Iran's most successful Arab figure in post-revolution Iran, Shamkhani did little to advance the Ahwazi cause while in office. The massacre of around 160 Ahwazis in the April 2005 uprising occurred while Shamkhani was still defence minister in Khatami's government.

The Ahwazis' chief demands include: respect for Arab culture and customs, poverty alleviation, an end to racial discrimination and land confiscations, the redistribution of oil revenues generated by the oil industry in Ahwaz and respect for human rights and freedom of speech. Peaceful demonstrations by Ahwazis have been met with brutal violence by the security forces, including the Bassij paramilitaries, who have killed a large number of protestors and activists over the past year.

Shamkhani is not the only establishment figure to criticise the government's policies towards ethnic minorities. In January, the Islamic Majlis Centre for Research - a think tank attached to the Majlis (parliament) - warned that Iran could face ethnic conflict and unrest unless the government addresses the needs of Iran's ethnic minorities ( click here for more information ).

Links
Aftab News Agency article
Iran pays for counter-demonstrations in Ahwaz
Parliamentary Think Tank Warns of Ethnic Unrest

Labels: human rights , intifada

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05 May, 2006

Ahwazi mother and son released by the Iranian regime

Habib Nabgani has confirmed the release on bail of his wife Masouma Kaabi and their four-year-old son Aimad, who are members of Iran's persecuted Ahwazi Arab minority.

Masouma and Aimad were arrested on 8 March and were imprisoned in Sepidar prison in an effort to force Habib, a leading member of the moderate Wefagh Party, to return to Iran. Habib had been told that his wife and child would be tortured and executed if he did not return to face trial and possible execution on trumped-up charges by the regime. They were released from custody on 28 April.

A number of other wives and children of Ahwazi opposition figures remain in prison, including: Hoda Hawashem and her sons Ahmad (4) and Osameh (2), Soghra Khudayrawi and Zeidan (4) and Fahima Ismail Badawi and her baby daughter Salma, who was born in prison on 25 March. Sakina Naisi is also still in prison where she has had an abortion due to her poor treatment by her captors.

The incarceration of women and children by the regime in an attempt to terrorise opposition activists has largely backfired, leading to widespread international condemnation and helping to unify the Ahwazi anti-government opposition. It has been a public relations disaster for the regime as well as a rallying point for the Ahwazi movement, which is highlighting the abuse and persecution of some 4.5 million Arabs in southwest Iran.

The release of Masouma and Aimad on undisclosed bail conditions is seen as a breakthrough by the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO), which had championed the cause of Ahwazi women and children held in Iranian custody. The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) had also brought international attention to their cause, working with Ahwazi groups to stage a series of public demonstrations in the UK and winning over the support of senior European politicians and human rights activists. Amnesty International has also condemned the imprisonment of Ahwazi women and children as a result of AHRO's campaign efforts.

The Wefagh Party, led by former member of parliament Jasem Shadidzadeh, has campaigned for Arab rights but remains opposed to separatism, marking out a moderate and democratic middle-way between the Islamic Republic and Arab separatist groups. Habib had applied to stand for election in the 2004 parliamentary elections, but his candidacy was rejected by the powerful Council of Guardians. The government's refusal to allow the emergence of democratic Arab parties has fuelled unrest in Al-Ahwaz (Khuzestan).

Habib is widely regarded as a moderate in the Ahwazi community. The arrest of his wife and son has been a major obstacle in efforts by the regime to forge a deal with tribal leaders in the province, with talks facilitated by local member of parliament Dr Nasser Sudani and former defence minister Ali Shamkhani, both of whom are among the few Ahwazi Arabs trusted by the regime. However, progress towards serious negotiations is only possible when all political prisoners are released and a ban on the right to protest and form political parties is lifted. In the mean time, unrest is likely to continue.

BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: "We are delighted with Masouma and Aimad's release from prison. This is a victory for those groups that have taken up the pen and not the gun in the campaign for Ahwazi Arab rights. This is a vindication of the campaign efforts of AHRO and BAFS and shows that achievements can be won without the force of arms.

"Iran should now immediately release all remaining Ahwazi prisoners of conscience, particularly children. The abuse of human rights only serves to isolate Iran further and child abuse simply will not be tolerated either by Ahwazis or by the international community.

"If Iran is serious about dialogue with the Ahwazis, it should first take the necessary steps to respects the rights granted to them by the UN Conventions that Iran itself has ratified and Iran's own constitution. Secondly, it must start taking seriously Ahwazi demands for equality, devolution of power, democracy, human and cultural rights, redistribution of oil wealth and an end to land confiscation.

"We do not believe that the regime will survive in its current form if it goes down this road and we do not believe that President Ahmadinejad or his allies are serious about compromise with Ahwazi Arabs. But in the long-term, Iran's rulers have the option of adapting to the demands of Iran's democratic currents, including the Ahwazi movement, or be toppled by the gathering uprising. The Ahwazi issue is pivotal to the future of Iran."

Labels: human rights , women

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Sunni Ahwazi Sheikh arrested by Iran

Iranian authorities have arrested Sheikh Abdul-Hamid Al-Dowsari, an Ahwazi Arab Sunni imam based in Al-Qesba serving Abadan, Mohammara (Khorammshahr) and Ahwaz City.

The pro-government Baztab website has claimed that the 57 year old is a Wahhabi, a Sunni fundamentalist sect not tolerated in Iran, and that he is responsible for a string of bomb attacks and riots in Al-Ahwaz (Khuzestan). Four others have been arrested along with the Sheikh, including Said Jamil Sharifi and Khalil Sekheyrawi. However, at least 80 per cent of the Ahwazi population is Shia, the dominant religion of Iran and it is unlikely that the Arab uprising in the province has any sectarian motives.

Numbering a few hundred thousand, the Ahwazi Arab Sunni population is concentrated in the west of the province bordering Iraq. It has not been prominent in the unrest seen elsewhere in Al-Ahwaz, although conversion to Sunni Islam is growing due to the widespread revulsion of state terror tactics by the ruling mullahs.

Meanwhile, a sound bomb has been reported in the Sheikh Baha area of Ahwaz City, but the authorities have closed the area to prevent further coverage of the incident.

Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, said: "The regime has been working hard to divide the Ahwazi Arabs along tribal and religious lines and has in the past accused Wahabbis of organising attacks. The regime is trying to portray the movement as anti-Iranian and as such is blaming what it regards as its worst enemies: Sunnis, Arabs, Jews, British, Americans and Saudis. It is a tactic of divide and rule which will not work in the long-run.

"However, the Ahwazis participating in the uprising are not from any particular tribe, sect or area, although the urban slum-dwellers have been the most vocal in their opposition to the government. The Ahwazi movement is broad-based, including rural and urban poor, the middle-classes and people from both Shia and Sunni communities."

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29 April, 2006

Baby Salma: the world's youngest political prisoner, held in Iran

Ahwazi human rights groups are campaigning for the release of the world's youngest political prisoner, Salma, who was born in an Iranian prison on 25 March 2006.

Fahima Ismail Badawi (26), pictured, gave birth to Salma after she was taken into custody by the Iranian authorities. Fahima is a teacher from the Kot Abdoudalla district and is the wife of Ali Madouri-Zadeh, an Ahwazi opposition activist and founding member of Hizb al-Wifaq (National Party) who is in prison at an unknown location. She graduated in mathematics from Dezful University in 2001. She was arrested on 28 February has not been charged with any crime.

The regime has reportedly demanded Fahima pay three billion rials (US$330,000), divorce her husband and change the baby's name, which is deemed too Arabic by the authorities. In an attempt to psychologically torture Fahima, her captors have also told her that her husband has disowned her and the baby, does not care if they are killed and claims she is suffering from mental illness.

Fahima and Salma are just two Ahwazi hostages taken by the Iranian regime. Others include Masouma Kaabi and her four year old son Aimad, Hoda Hawashem and her two sons Ahmad (4) and Osameh (2), Soghra Khudayrawi and her son Zeidan (4), and Sakina Naisi who was pregnant when she was arrested but has since had an abortion due to complications caused by her treatment in prison. Click here for more information .

These are the wives and sons of Ahwazis who have opposed the political activists who oppose the regime. The men have fled the country, fearing for their lives following a series of executions and killings by the regime. They have been pursued by regime agents who have threatened them and the lives of the families.

Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, said: "Salma is the world's youngest political prisoner, held in custody since birth. She is a symbol of the Ahwazi people and their suffering under this cruel and racist regime.

"At little more than a month old, Salma has done nothing to deserve this punishment and neither has her mother. Fahima's family cannot afford the ransom demanded for the release of mother and child and Fahima has no legal obligation to divorce her husband or change Salma's name. This is an act of hostage taking, an act of terrorism.

"The international community must intervene to release the baby political prisoners taken hostage by the regime."

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24 April, 2006

THE TRUE FACE OF IRANIAN TYRANNY EUROPE REFUSES TO SEE

While the West worries about Iran's laboratory experiments in nuclear fission, the Arabs of Al-Ahwaz (Khuzestan) are dying in their hundreds in a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Tehran regime.

Below are the pictures of Iranian brutality that the global media refuses to show the world. These are pictures of Kamal Daghaghleh who was shot dead on March 2nd in a demonstration in Ahwaz's Hey Althowra district following the execution of Ali Afrawi and Mehdi Nawaseri ( click here for report ) - a crime that the European Commission has refused to condemn.





Kamal was not armed, he posed no security threat. His crime was to raise his voice against Iranian fascism. For this act, he paid with his life, his body mutilated by Baseeji terrorists employed by Tehran.

Meanwhile, the wives and sons of Ahwazi pro-democracy activists have been kidnapped by the regime, imprisoned and subject to torture. Two pregnant women have been tortured and one was forced to have an abortion due to her treatment at the hands of her jailers. Children as young as two years old are being treated as terrorist suspects by the Iranian regime due to their fathers' peaceful opposition to tyranny ( click here for more information ). However, the European Commission has failed to respond to appeals and evidence of Iran's blatant contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "The European Commission - particularly Commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner - is reluctant to condemn Iran's murderous acts against Ahwazis. European governments wish to restrict the diplomatic discourse on Iran to the nuclear programme. This is a diversion from the greater problem of Iranian terrorism which is waged against both the peoples of Iran - particularly ethnic, religious and sexual minorities, women and trade unionists - and those outside Iran.

"No matter how many human rights reports, appeals, demonstrations and documentary evidence produced to show that ethnic cleansing is taking place in Iran, the European Commission turns a blind eye. Our modest demand for an EU fact-finding mission to Iran has gone unheeded.

"We support peaceful means to resolve the crisis in Al-Ahwaz, but the longer the European Commission ignores the problem, the sooner the crisis will develop into an uncontrollable insurgency. This will have major implications for regional security and world oil supplies as the Ahwazi homeland produces 10 per cent of OPEC oil output. Sooner or later, Europe will be affected by the Ahwazi intifada.

"We want Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner and other European leaders to look at the mutilated face of Kamal Daghaghleh, an innocent man involved in a peaceful protest gunned down in cold blood by Iranian terrorists. And we want answers and solutions, not more rhetoric and denial."

Link: Iran's brutality exposed in shocking photos

Please note: reproduction of photographs from this website is permitted for non-profit purposes, but please remember to credit British Ahwazi Friendship Society.

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16 April, 2006

Intifada anniversary protests against the Iranian regime

The Al-Takat Party of Al-ahwaz demonstrated peacefully on Saturday to commemorate the first anniversary of the April 2005 intifada. More than 150 Ahwazis participated in the protest in Al-Grane (Shiban area), which quickly spread to the Hay Al-Thora and Hay Al-Malashya districts.

The protestors flew the UN flag alongside the Ahwazi flag to appeal for UN involvement to end ethnic cleansing. State security forces broke up the demonstrations. They also carried a banner with the letters "UNPO", referring to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation which has been lobbying on behalf of the Ahwazi rights at an international level.

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has obtained a video clip of the demonstration in Al-Grane - right-click here and save to view the clip .

Hamidiya city also saw a demonstration by Ahwazis, who reportedly clashed with security forces and set light to government buildings and the Saderat Bank. BAFS has received a report of one unconfirmed death during the unrest.

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15 April, 2006

Ahwazi politician assassinated in Iraq by Iranian death squad

An Ahwazi Arab politician living in exile in Iraq has been murdered after he was kidnapped in Basra, where he and his family live.

Ra'ad De'ayer Al-Bestan Banitorfi was kidnapped on 9 April and four days later his mutilated body was found. It is believed that he was tortured to death. Reports from Iraq suggest the kidnapping and assassination was carried out by militias under the influence of Iraq's Interior Ministry and at the behest of the Iranian regime. Relatives say that Al-Bestan had been followed by Iraqi intelligence officials for weeks. They fear his close family are at risk and they have no financial means to support themselves.

Several Ahwazi groups have condemned the assassination of Al-Bestan, whose father was killed by the monarchist regime in the 1970s. The killing came at the same time as Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr admitted there were sectarian death squads present in Iraq, but although many wore uniforms, they were not under the ministry's control.

Last year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees highlighted the problems facing exiled Ahwazi Arabs in Iraq. It says some 2,500 Ahwazi refugees were ordered to leave their homes by Iraqi militias and are now camped out in the desert or are occupying derelict buildings ( click here for report ). Palestinian refugees are also affected by death squad activity, with 88 refugees currently camped at Iraq's border with Jordan after a series of killings ( click here for Amnesty International's report ). In 2005 the Minister of Displacement and Migration is reported to have said that Palestinians were not welcome in Iraq and should leave the country, according to Amnesty.

Nasser Bani-Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "The Iraqi administration is failing in its obligation to protect refugees under international law. Dominated by parties that were bankrolled by Tehran, the administration is permitting, if not encouraging, the assassination of political dissidents from foreign countries by armed militias. There has never been any suggestion that Al-Bestan broke Iraqi laws. If there were any such allegations, then he should have been given a free and fair trial. The real reason for Al-Bestan's assassination is that Iran wanted him dead and sent its Iraqi henchmen to kill him, probably with the full knowledge of the Basra authorities.

"We are concerned about Iran's growing influence in the region. Earlier this year, Kuwait and Iran agreed a security deal on regional security that could have implications for Kuwait's large Ahwazi Arab population, where Ahwazi opposition groups are active. Last year, the Syrian authorities arrested and later released Ahwazi activists, apparently on the orders of the Iranian authorities. Iran has also supported Shi'ite extremists in Bahrain, which are seeking to overthrow the island's monarchy and could be used to carry out assassinations.

"There are no safe places for Ahwazi political refugees in the Middle East due to growing Iranian influence. We appeal to the governments of the European Union to allow Ahwazi refugees to seek asylum in Europe, even if they have travelled through Kuwait, Iraq, Syria and Bahrain before arriving. These countries are no longer safe for Ahwazi Arabs to claim asylum. We hope that Ahwazi asylum applications will be met with sympathy by authorities in Europe."

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07 April, 2006

IRAN'S BRUTALITY EXPOSED IN SHOCKING PHOTOS

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has obtained the following photographs of a disabled man tortured and shot by Iranian security forces (see bottom of this article).

Although BAFS rarely publishes the horrific pictures it regularly receives from Iran, the group feels that the enormity of the problem facing the Ahwazi Arabs is being ignored by the international community. We believe that the world will only act to stop the ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs, an oppressed minority in a region that supplies 10 per cent of OPEC oil, when it is confronted by the gruesome evidence of the Iranian regime's ethnic cleansing programme.

The pictures at the bottom of this article are of Seyed Sultan Albu-Shokeh, a 45 year old farmer from Falahya (Shadegan) who was recently murdered by the security forces. He was an amputee and it is believed that he lost his leg when he stepped on a landmine; Khuzestan has one of world's worst landmine amputee records in the world, due to the amount of unexploded ordnance left by the Iran-Iraq War. He was accused of being a member of a banned Ahwazi Arab political party and was killed i cold blood by the regime as part of its "anti-terrorism" operations. He was shot in the head through the jaw. His left leg, the lower portion of which has a prosthetic limb, also has bullet holes.

The Iranian authorities demanded 30 million rails (US$3,300) for the price of the bullets that killed him and 500 million (US$55,000) for the return of the body to his family for burial. The demands are well beyond the means of any Ahwazi Arab, particularly farmers. Since his murder, his brother has been arrested and has disappeared. He has not been properly buried by the family, although the regime claims to uphold Islamic values which place great importance on funeral rites.

Nasser Bani Assad, BAFS spokesman, said: "Khuzestan is a bloodbath. The only reason for this man's death is his ethnicity. He was crippled, so how could he be a threat to anyone? Why is the regime demanding ransoms for dead bodies? On what basis is it holding Ahwazi children as young as two years old in prison? Why are pregnant Ahwazi women being tortured in Sepidar prison? The answer is that this is collective punishment of Ahwazis for their political opposition to the regime. This represents the most vile intimidation by a murderous government that is being appeased by the European Union."





Please note: reproduction of photographs from this website is permitted, but please remember to credit British Ahwazi Friendship Society.

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12 March, 2006

Iran Slammed fror 'Barbarian' Treatment of Ahwazi Arabs

Portuguese Socialist MEP Paulo Casaca, the head of the European Parliament's delegation to NATO, has slammed the Iranian regime's "show trials" of Ahwazi Arabs.

He has also raised the possibility that the regime itself is responsible for terrorist attacks in Ahwaz in order to blame them on the Ahwazis, who hard-liners have accused of "waging war on God".

Mr Casaca has previously called Iran's treatment of its Ahwazi Arab population "ethnic cleansing", referring to the regime's mass expulsions of the indigenous Arab population of Khuzestan.

Following the latest wave of executions, he told the British Ahwazi Friendship Society that "the Iranian show trials seem to be heading still further than its Stalinist predecessors: people are convicted for putting bombs in the city in spite the fact that they were in custody while the bombings take place. It might be a particularly cynical way to confess that the State planted the bombs in the first place.

"The totalitarian theocracy that is oppressing Iranians and exporting its fanatic model elsewhere in the Middle East is nowhere so bararian as with its own citizens of Arab descent. How can the Arab World go on ignoring this?"

The Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a British think tank on foreign policy, has also brought attention to the persecution of Ahwazi Arabs following the executions. In an article on the HJS website, the society's Greater Middle East Section Director Martyn Frampton says: "Determined to secure access to energy resources and to use Khuzestan as a launch-pad for interfering in Iraq (which it borders), Ahmadinejad's regime has stepped up pre-existing repression of the province's Ahwazi Arab population. Falsely accused of 'disloyalty' to the state, the Ahwazis have been exposed to abuses ranging from cultural repression to whole-scale 'ethnic cleansing.'"

Mr Frampton also states that Iranian accusations of British responsibility for the Ahwaz bomb attacks, however unfounded, "mean that the UK, whether it wants to be or not, is involved." He criticises the West's fixation on the nuclear issue, while ignoring the problem of human rights abuse in Iran.

On Saturday, Ahwazi Arabs staged a demonstration outside the European Commission's offices in London calling on the European Union to stop being silent on the Iranian regime's imprisonment of pregnant Ahwazi women and children. They called on the EU to help protect the Ahwazis from Iran's violent ethnic cleansing project.

Links
"While the West Fiddles, Iran's People ..." , Martyn Framption, Henry Jackson Society
Iran is ethnic cleansing Ahwazis claims senior European politician , British Ahwazi Friendship Society, 19 January 2006

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11 March, 2006

Iran imprisons pregnant Ahwazi women and children - new details

Ahwazi Arab women suffer a double persecution by the Iranian regime due to their ethnicity and their gender. The Ahwazi Arab homeland has more oil than the United Arab Emirates and more poverty than Palestine, due to the Iranian regime's policy of forced displacement, land confiscation, "ethnic restructuring" and Persianisation.

Groups representing Ahwazis are highlighting the plight of Ahwazi women currently imprisoned by the regime: Masouma Kaabi, Sakina Niassi, Fahima Ismail Badawi and Soghra Khdhirawi.

Fahimah, a teacher from the Kot Abdoudalla district, is another pregnant woman being held in prison. She is four months pregnant and is extremely ill with many fearing she could suffer a miscarriage. She is the wife of detainee Ali Madouri-Zadeh.

Meanwhile, 40-year-old Sakina (pictured), an imprisoned pregnant Ahwazi woman also being held in Sepidar prison, appears to have suffered a miscarriage as a result of her treatment in prison. Her life is at risk as she is reportedly receiving little or no medical treatment.

Soghra is being held with her four-year-old son Zeydan. She is in prison after her husband Khalaf Dehrab was murdered by the Iranian regime.

Masouma, 28, is being held in the notorious Sepidar prison with her four-year-old son Aimad (both pictured). The woman and baby have been imprisoned to punish Ahwazi political activist Habib Nabgani, Masouma's husband and Aimad's father, but Aimad is reported to have fallen ill due to poor prison conditions.

None of the women have been charged with any crime. The imprisonment of women and children is a tactic used by the regime to silence opposition among Ahwazi Arabs, who have staged a number of large anti-government demonstrations since last April's Ahwazi intifada when the regime lost control over parts of Al-Ahwaz in south-western Iran.

We demand that Ahwazi women and children be freed by the Iranian regime!
We demand that the European Union acts to protect Ahwazi women from oppression!
WE DEMAND AN END TO THE FASCIST ABUSE OF AHWAZI WOMEN!
WE DEMAND AN END TO THE EUROPEAN UNION'S SILENCE!

Ahwazi groups are staging a demonstration outside the European Commission's offices in Storey's Gate, London, on Saturday, 1pm-3pm

Click here to download a leaflet

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06 March, 2006

Call to Iran: Release Ahwazi Women and Children

Ahwazi activists are continuing to press for the release of 28-year-old Masouma Kaabi, her four-year-old son Aimad and her mother-in-law from prison. The women and baby have been imprisoned to punish Ahwazi political activist Habib Nabgani, Masouma's husband and Aimad's father, but Aimad is reported to have fallen ill due to poor prison conditions.

Human rights activists are also concerned about the well-being of 40-year-old Sakina Naisi, an imprisoned pregnant Ahwazi woman who appears to have suffered a miscarriage as a result of her treatment in prison. Her life is at risk as she is reportedly receiving little or no medical treatment.

There have been a number of other reports of children under 16 as well as women being held in prison by the regime. The imprisonment of women and children is a tactic used by the regime to silence opposition among Ahwazi Arabs, who have staged a number of large anti-government demonstrations since last April's intifada when the regime lost control over parts of Khuzestan province.

Executions of Ahwazis have also risen, accompanied by forced confessions broadcast on the provincial television channel. Last week, two Ahwazi Arabs - Mehdi Nawaseri and Muhammad-Ali Afrawi - were publically hung in Ahwaz City accused of being responsible for bomb attacks in Ahwaz ( click here for further information ). The regime claimed they were Sunni extremists working for the British. Basiji militants loyal to the ruling mullahs chanted "Death to Israel! Death to America!" while watching the executions. The executions were followed by a bomb attack in the Kianpars district of Ahwaz City and rioting in the Hay Althwra (Shilangabad), Hay Zerghan, Zowyeh, Malasheyah and Koot Abdoula districts. Three other Ahwazis were executed in Karoon Prison two days previously.

The hangings were condemned by a number of human rights organisations, including the Arab Commission for Human Rights. Non-governmental organisations also criticised the men's trials, which they say failed to meet minimum international standards. Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty, had led a campaign to prevent the men's execution.

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has obtained exclusive pictures of Masouma and Aimad (above) and is distributing them to the United Nations, European Commission and British parliament to attract international attention to human rights abuses against Ahwazi Arabs.

BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: "The EU and UN should send investigators to Al-Ahwaz immediately to assess the situation there. We believe that the UNCHR should refer Iran to the UN Security Council over the gross human rights violations and ethnic cleansing suffered by the Ahwazi Arabs. It is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue and the UN Convention on Human Rights must be upheld."

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03 February, 2006

Iran: Don't forget human rights and poverty

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) Arab rights lobbying group has called on the international community to put human rights abuse and economic mismanagement at the top of relations with Iran.

Opposition groups feel that Iran's deteriorating domestic situation has been neglected due to the controversies surrounding the nuclear issue. The first few months of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration have seen a rise in human rights abuses, while the problems associated with high levels of poverty go unaddressed. However, this is occurring with little or no criticism.

The situation facing the Ahwazi Arabs is particularly bad. Since Ahmadinejad's election last June, human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation have recorded the imprisonment of a large number of peaceful pro-democracy activists, including tribal leaders, imams journalists and teachers (see www.ahwaz.org.uk/reports.html ). Traditional Arabic dress has also been banned following mass public prayers in Ahwaz by Arabs wearing the kuffiyeh in a sign of their resistance to ethnic oppression.

In its latest urgent action, Amnesty International has highlighted the incarceration of two children - 11-year-old Reza Haidari and 14-year-old Kazem Sayahi - following demonstrations during Eid-al-Adha in January. The organisation fears that they, along with scores of other Ahwazi Arabs held in custody, could be facing torture at the hands of Iranian security officials.

BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: "Iranians would rather have the huge resources spent on the nuclear programme directed towards poverty alleviation. The Ahwazi Arabs feel particularly aggrieved as the oil revenues generated by land confiscated from them are being squandered on this project. In contrast, legislation to redistribute just a fraction of these revenues to Khuzestan was overturned for a third time in January.

"The regime is building a nuclear plant in earthquake-prone Khuzestan. A containment failure in the event of a natural disaster would devastate not only the Ahwazi homeland but also Kuwait and parts of Iraq. This nuclear facility comes at the expense of Ahwazi Arabs' security and economic well-being.

"Experts say it will be years before Iran can develop nuclear weapons, if that is the regime's intention. But the ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs from their homeland and their deliberate impoverishment by the regime is happening today. It is an emergency situation that is being eclipsed by the nuclear issue. The international community should not abandon those oppressed by the Iranian government.

"Only a federal democratic Iran that respects human rights can ensure long-term stability and security in the Middle East and prosperity for the people. This is what many Iranians, particularly Ahwazi Arabs, are demanding."

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01 February, 2006

Leading Ahwazi Arab intellectual subpoenaed by revolutionary court

Leading Ahwazi Arab intellectual Yousef Azizi Bani Torouf has been subpoenaed to appear at branch three zone seven of Tehran revolutionary court, according to a report by the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) .

Bani Torouf was detained for 68 days in 2005 following an uprising by Ahwazi Arabs. Human rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation led a campaign for his release. He was released on IRR200 million bail.

Bani Torouf has written on Arab identity in Iran and has criticised the regime's human rights abuses, but has never advocated armed struggle or a secession. He has said that "Arabs of Khuzestan, as a nation or an ethnic group ... are inseparable parts of the Iranian nation. But despite the fact that we are part of the Iranian nation, we do have our own identity that is somewhat different from the rest of the Iranian peoples."

ILNA reported that Bani Torouf, a member of the Iranian Writers Centre, has been ordered to attend the court on 8 February to hear charges against him. The case had been previously heard by Khuzestan (Al-Ahwaz) revolutionary court, where he was accused of acting against Iran's national security. However, the court was not eligible to rule on the matter and the case was moved to the Tehran revolutionary court.

Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, said: "Revolutionary courts are renowned for staging show trials. If Bani Torouf is found guilty, he could face execution. There is growing pressure from among hard-liners to stage high-profile executions of famous Ahwazi Arab figures in order to terrorise the Arab population, which has held several anti-government protests in recent months. Bani Torouf's life is in serious danger. His execution would enrage the Ahwazi Arab population. It could provoke massive unrest and in turn give the regime an excuse to step up its ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs in the name of national security.

"What makes this matter worse is that Bani Torouf is by no means a separatist or a terrorist. He has only ever called for the recognition of Ahwazi Arabs and their rights and an end to state terrorism. He is voicing the opinion of the Ahwazi Arab mainstream, but as a result he is facing imprisonment and execution. Any conviction of Bani Torouf will be a direct assault on the Ahwazi Arab people."

Links
"The Identity and Ancestry of the Indigenous Khuzestani Arabs of Iran" - speech by Youssef Azizi Bani Torouf to University of Isfahan
Arbitrary arrest/fear of torture and ill-treatment, Yousuf Azizi Bani Toruf - Amnesty International Urgent Action, 4 July 2005
Arbitrary arrest/fear of torture and ill-treatment, Yousuf Azizi Bani Toruf - Amnesty International Urgent Action, 6 May 2005
Reports of Ethnic Violence Suppressed - Human Rights Watch, 11 May 2005
Yosef Azizi Banitrouf freed on bail after 68 days in prison - Reporters Without Borders, 1 July 2005

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29 January, 2006

Iran: Liberty or death for Ahwaz imam on hunger strike

According to the Mohammara News Agency (MONA), Sheikh Saleh Haidari, the imam of Dayiereh mosque, has been on hunger strike since Wednesday.

Sheikh Haidari was arrested after he led the Eid-ul-Adha mass prayer and peaceful demonstration on 11 January . The demonstration was fired upon by Iran's security forces, killing an unknown number of civilians. Sheikh Haidari is reportedly refusing both food and water and is certain to die soon. He is being charged with threatening national security. The protest he led was peaceful and demanded an end to ethnic cleansing, the persecution of Arabs, poverty and unemployment and called for the release of political prisoners arrested following the Ahwazi uprising of April 2005.

Meanwhile, in Ahwaz City, the government is currently cracking down on Ahwazi Arab street vendors. Many Arab farmers made landless due to the government's land confiscation programme have been forced into informal sector employment in the cities, selling items by the roadside to feed their families. Street vendors live on the margins in the shanty towns of Khuzestan, one of the world's most oil-rich areas. The government's ban on street vending will worsen poverty among Ahwazi Arabs and is likely to prompt further anti-government demonstrations in the province.

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26 January, 2006

Photos of two Ahwazis martyred by Iran

These are the pictures of two young Ahwazi Arab men murdered by Iranian security forces during recent anti-government demonstrations: Abdolah Saidi-Nawaseri (age 17) and Asmad Mojadam (age 24).

An unknown number of Ahwazi Arabs have been summarily executed by Iran in the past two weeks following peaceful demonstrations in Eid-al-Adha. The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) has received the names of five unarmed Ahwazis killed by the Iranian regime during the protests: Ahmad Naseri (age 22), Jaber Sawari, Sayed Chabawi, Abdolah Saidi-Nawaseri (17) and Asmad Mojadam (24).

There has been a complete global media blackout on the killings and mass arrests of Ahwazi Arabs and violent state repression. This is in contrast to this week's bombings in Ahwaz, which are believed to be the work of the Baseej paramilitaries seeking to justify the oppression of Arabs and portray the Iran state as the victim instead of the perpetrator of terrorism. Bomb attacks by the quasi-military religious vigilante group are increasingly common in Iran.

Links
Iran's crack-down as Ahwaz Eid protests continue
Iran authorities arrest hundreds and shoot demonstrators in Ahwaz
More arrests in Ahwaz

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17 January, 2006

Amid Increased International Tension UNPO Highlights Oppression of Minorities in Iran

On Saturday 14 January at the Ahwazi Culture House in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ahwazi representatives from all over Scandinavia gathered on the occasion of Eid-al-Adha. In addition to marking the major Muslim feast, the event was held to discuss various current issues affecting the Ahwazi Arab people.

The Ahwazis have been a UNPO Member since 2003, and on this occasion Mr. Goran Hansson, Chairman of the UNPO General Assembly, attended the event and gave a presentation on the organisation's behalf.

Whilst world attention currently centres on Iran's nuclear ambitions, with remaining tools of diplomacy to 'solve' the issue being explored, the situation for minorities in the republic continues to warrant increasing concern. UNPO highlights the need for the realization of democracy and human rights in Iran and is particularly alarmed by the continuing systematic social, ethnic and cultural discrimination against various ethnic minority groups in the region. UNPO further recognizes the exploration of initiatives to advance a genuine process of democratization in Iran as crucial.

Recent reports on the situation for the Ahwazi minority indicates a growing clamp down on symbols of Arab identity and violent crack-down of peaceful protests. Several voices of other minorities in Iran are expressing growing criticism and condemnation of the regime's internal, as well as external, policies. Some claim President Ahmadinejad is conducting an exercise in deflecting public attention in Iran away from domestic crises to strengthen his national power base.

Meanwhile, as international tension and confrontation is on the rise, UNPO calls upon democratic leaders, institutions and organizations to support initiatives to find peaceful solutions for the many oppressed minority groups in Iran, towards the establishment of a democratic and stable Iran, in which the human rights of all minority groups are respected.

UNPO press release

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03 January, 2006

IRAN: Freed Ahwazi Arab prisoner speaks of treatment

A young Ahwazi Arab recently released from jail has spoken of his treatment after his arrest during demonstrations in Ahwaz City, which coincided with Eid Al-Fitr in November .

His account has been given to BAFS, translated and published below:

"After we were informed that there will be a demo on Eid-al-Fitr, I, my brother and my cousin met with around 500 youths in the 'Dialogue Garden' along the bank of Karoon river. All happy and dressed with white dishdasha [a long robe commonly worn by Arabs] and red khaffiyeh [Arab head dress], we marched to join the rest of demonstrators.

"At the end of Kianpars, we were met with a convoy of Pasdaran cars full of soldiers headed by Shiraz. They stopped and questioned us, asking where we were going. We said that we were celebrating the Eid, our most celebrated day, like our ancestors did, etc. They asked us to disperse and also offered to give us rides to go back to our homes. Some 30 people, including me agreed to catch a ride across the river. Instead, we were taken straight to jail. We were fooled.

"When we were there, we saw many children young and old people in jail with red khaffiyeh. We were kept in a room for two days without any food or water. On the third day, we were given some water and a little bread and cheese.

"On the fifth day, we were taken to the prosecutors office with Mr Giveh-che as the judge and Mr Farhadi-Rad as the prosecutor. The judge kept asking the same questions: who asked you to demonstrate, who is behind the demo, who are your leaders, what organization do you belong to? The prosecutors kept saying: they are separatist, they want to turn Khuzestan to Arabistan, they are Wahabis, that wearing red khaffiyeh is a political message, etc. We were handcuffed and they asked soldiers to severely beat all us.

"We were sentenced to three years in prison with at least six months mandatory prison term. Although I and my brothers were later released on bail, many more arrested during 15 April [a day of mass anti-government agitation in Ahwaz] and Eid Al-Fitr are still rotting in prison."

The youth cannot be named for his own security. His testimony reveals the nature of state aggression against Ahwazi Arabs who display their own cultural symbols in public, in this case the khaffiyeh. The Eid demonstrations were more of an assertion of cultural identity than a political statement. They followed the arrest of senior members of the Ahwazi Arab Bawi tribe, two of whom have received the death penalty . A number of Ahwazi Arabs arrested during Eid remain in detention and some have been the subject of an appeal by Amnesty International .

There are also concerns about the well-being of Ahwazi Arabs who were arrested during the April uprising and subsequent police crack-downs and are still in detention. Most are held in incommunicado detention and are probably suffering torture and abuse.

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10 December, 2005

Amnesty appeal for Ahwazis in Iran detention

Amnesty International published an urgent action this week highlighting the incommunicado detention and possible torture of four Ahwazi Arabs who participated in demonstrations by Arabs during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations.

The detainees include the poet 23-year-old poet Nasr Daraji (also known as Firouz Abou Farhan), who is a supporter of Arab rights and had allegedly helped lead the Eid protests. Brothers Karim and Abdulali Douraghi as well as a man known only by his surname, Eshagi, were also named in the Amnesty report as being potential victims of torture.

According to the Amnesty report, Daraji had fled his family home after friends had warned him that he was on a "wanted" list: "He went into hiding, but returned to his home late in the night of 6 November, to visit his aging parents and get some clean clothing. The house was immediately raided by police and he was arrested at about 3am. Police reportedly beat his mother, who is aged about 65 and suffering from diabetes, when she asked why her son was being arrested and where he was taken."

The Eid demonstration was intended by the organisers to be a peaceful show of Arab identity and culture, but police attacked the crowd with tear gas grenades as the marchers approached the city's 5th bridge and beat and arrested youths. Some Ahwazi homes raised black flags in protest at the regime's repression during Eid.

The regime tried to portray the demonstration as a separatist ploy to generate unrest, claiming that a group called the Arab People's Group had staged a riot. No group of this name exists. Protests by Ahwazi Arabs are largely the result of economic deprivation and political and cultural oppression, with the government's own statistics revealing high levels of unemployment, poverty, illiteracy and child malnutrition. The Amnesty report stated that "the Arab population do not feel they have benefited as much from the oil revenue as the Persian population; historically they have been marginalised and discriminated against, for instance being denied the right to an education in their own language."

The march and demonstration were largely a show of local defiance against state repression, which has increased following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's installation as president. More than 200 demonstrators were arrested during the Eid protest. The security forces were ordered to attack by General Amir Hayat Moghadam, recently appointed the Governor of Khuzestan by President Ahmadinejad. He had warned the demonstrators that any Ahwazi Arab wearing traditional Arabic clothing would be arrested, indicating that the regime would not tolerate any display of Arabic culture.

Days before the Eid protests, 81 Ahwazi Arabs were arrested while conducting a cultural play called Mahibis , a popular event performed during iftaar , following fasting in the month of Ramadan. The arrested included Zahra Nasser-Torfi, a feminist leader and director of the Ahwaz Al-Amjad cultural center, Arab-Iranian poet Hamid Haydari and the entire Mojadam family - Mohammad Mojadam, Hamid Mojadam, Mehdi Mojadam, Rasoul Mojadam, Khaled Bani-Saleh and Hassan Naisi. These arrests were a contributing factor to the Eid protests.

Tensions have also been running high over the arrest of seven sons and close relatives of Arab tribal leader Hajj Salem Bawi. In October, two of his sons were sentenced to death for alleged insurrection. Their executions will be carried out if the Supreme Court approves the death sentence issued by the lower court. All seven have been tortured in prison. Previous Arab political detainees have been lynched or executed summarily while in prison and their bodies have been dumped in the Karun River.

Khuzestan is off-limits to reporters and outside observers while maintaining state of siege of the province whose population is 70 per cent is indigenous Arab. Al-Jazeera was banned in the province after it covered demonstrations by Arabs against the government's plan to reduce the proportion of Arabs in the province to a third of the total population.

The Amnesty International report can be downloaded by clicking here .

Labels: Amnesty , human rights

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15 November, 2005

Ahwazi and UNPO Appeal to Javier Solana

Below is a letter sent by Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) drawing EU attention to state violence against Ahwazi Arabs in Iran's Khuzestan province:

Your Excellency,

To the kind attention of: H.E. JAVIER SOLANA High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union The Hague, 09 November 2005 On behalf of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO), I present my compliments to Your Excellency, and would hereby like to bring the following matter to Your urgent attention.

The past few weeks have seen an intensification of state violence, including arbitrary arrests and executions, against the Ahwazi Arabs in Iran's province of Khuzestan. We have had reports of a lynching by security forces, extra-judicial killings in Karoon prison and deaths during the dispersal of political demonstrations.

On Friday 4 November, during the Muslim ceremony of Eid al-Fitr, 3,000 Ahwazis staged a peaceful march towards the centre of Ahwaz City, but at 12.30pm were surrounded at the fifth bridge by Iranian security forces who fired tear gas grenades at the crowd. Two Arab youths fell unconscious into the Karoon river and drowned as a result of the attack. More than 200 demonstrators were arrested. The security forces were ordered to attack by General Amir Hayat Moghadam, recently appointed the Governor of Khuzestan by President Ahmadinejad.

Earlier in the same week, 81 Ahwazi Arabs were arrested while conducting a cultural play called Mahibis, a popular event performed during iftaar, following fasting in the month of Ramadan. The arrested included Zahra Nasser-Torfi, a feminist leader and director of the Ahwaz Al-Amjad cultural center, Arab-Iranian poet Hamid Haydari and the entire Mojadam family - Mohammad Mojadam, Hamid Mojadam, Mehdi Mojadam, Rasoul Mojadam, Khaled Bani-Saleh and Hassan Naisi.

Furthermore, tensions have been running high over the arrest of seven sons and close relatives of Arab tribal leader Hajj Salem Bawi. Two of his sons have been sentenced to death for alleged insurrection. Their executions will be carried out if the Supreme Court approves the death sentence issued by the lower court. All seven have been tortured in prison. On 11 October, Esmail Ghasem Abyat and Lefteh Sarkhi, both human rights activists and students at the Chamran University in Ahwaz, were arrested. Meanwhile, Reza Salman Delphi, a 34-year-old businessman also known as B. Behjat, has been detained since 11 August and denied medical treatment for heart and kidney diseases. The refusal of medical treatment could result in his death.

In the past several weeks, dozens of political prisoners and as well as those recently arrested have been tortured into giving forced television confessionsand a political prisoner at Karoon prison, Said al-Khalafi, was executed in the prison yard. During the last month a spate of bombings - blamed on the British and Canadian governments, separatists, Ba'athists, Israelis, Wahabis, etc - have occurred in Ahwaz. It is widely believed that the bombings have been carried out by government security forces ahead of Mustafa Moin, a reformist candidate in the June presidential elections, threatened to quit as a candidate after complaining that a string of bomb attacks in Ahwaz were being staged to encourage the election of a military candidate.

The Iranian regime is embarking on a massive crack-down on the local Ahwazi population due to growing dissent in the province. This wave of arrests is taking place while many detainees from demonstrations held in April 2005 are still being held without charges and family members fear that they may be executed in a highly charged atmosphere.

Reporters and outside observers have no access to the province, maintaining the state of siege of Khuzestan whose population is 70 per cent is indigenous Arab. Al-Jazeera was banned in the province after it covered demonstrations by Arabs against the government's plan to reduce the proportion of Arabs in the province to a third of the total population.

On basis of the above, we kindly urge You to call upon Iran to stop killing of innocent indigenous Ahwaz Arab people of Khuzestan; and to dispatch an EU fact finding mission to the province as soon as possible.

I hope Your Excellency will give due consideration to the content and request contained in this communication.

Sincerely,

Marino Busdachin
General Secretary
Unrepresented Peoples and Nations Organization

Karim Abdian
Executive director
Ahwaz Human Rights Organization

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06 November, 2005

More Details Emerge of Iran's Eid Crack-Down in Ahwaz

The Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) has released further details on the Eid protests by Ahwazi Arabs.

AHRO reports that on Friday 3,000 Ahwazis staged a peaceful march towards the centre of Ahwaz City, but at 12.30pm were surrounded at the 5th bridge by Iranian security forces who fired tear gas grenades at the crowd. Two Arab youths fell into the Karoon river and drowned as a result of the attack. More than 200 demonstrators were arrested. The security forces were ordered to attack by General Amir Hayat Moghadam, recently appointed the Governor of Khuzestan by President Ahmadinejad.

Earlier in the week, 81 Ahwazi Arabs were arrested while conducting a cultural play called Mahibis , a popular event performed during iftaar , following fasting in the month of Ramadan . The arrested included Zahra Nasser-Torfi, a feminist leader and director of the Ahwaz Al-Amjad cultural center, Arab-Iranian poet Hamid Haydari and the entire Mojadam family - Mohammad Mojadam, Hamid Mojadam, Mehdi Mojadam, Rasoul Mojadam, Khaled Bani-Saleh and Hassan Naisi. These arrests were a contributing factor to the Eid protests.

On Saturday, the families of those arrested during the protests marched to the Governor's provincial headquarers wearing traditional Arabic clothing, dishdasha (ankle-length robe) and kafieh (scarf). The families demonstrated to demand the release of those arrested during Friday's demonstration and requested a meeting with the Governor. Using a loudhailer, Governor General Heyat Mojadam began calling them terrorists and Arab nomads, using foul language to insult the families' dignity, culture and identity. He warned the demonstrators that any Ahwazi Arab wearing traditional Arabic clothing would be arrested and ordered the security forces to disperse the crowd violently.

Tensions have been running high over the arrest of seven sons and close relatives of Arab tribal leader Hajj Salem Bawi. Two of his sons have been sentenced to death for alleged insurrection. Their executions will be carried out if the Supreme Court approves the death sentence issued by the lower court. All seven have been tortured in prison. On 11 October, Esmail Ghasem Abyat and Lefteh Sarkhi, both human rights activists and students at the Chamran University in Ahwaz, were arrested. Meanwhile, Reza Salman Delphi, a 34-year-old businessman also known as B. Behjat, has been detained since 11 August and denied medical treatment for heart and kidney diseases.

In the past several weeks, dozens of political prisoners and as well as those recently arrested have been tortured into giving forced television confessions. In the past week a political prisoner at Karoon prison, Said al-Khalafi, was executed in the prison yard. Also, last week the body of an Ahwazi Arab activist was found in Karoon Rover, which runs through Ahwaz City, and another was lynched in the Arab city of Hamidieh and hung from a street light.

In the past few weeks a spate of bombings - blamed on the British and Canadian governments, separatists, Ba'athists, Israelis, Wahabis, etc - have occurred in Ahwaz. It is widely believed that the bombings have been carried out by government security forces ahead of an intensification of the government's land confiscation and ethnic cleansing along the Shatt Al-Arab . Mustafa Moin, a reformist candidate in the June presidential elections, threatened to quit as a candidate after complaining that a string of bomb attacks in Ahwaz were being staged to encourage the election of a military candidate. However, the regime has blamed the British government for training "terrorists".

Khuzestan is off-limits to reporters and outside observers while maintaining state of siege of the province whose population is 70 per cent is indigenous Arab. Al-Jazeera was banned in the province after it covered demonstrations by Arabs against the government's plan to reduce the proportion of Arabs in the province to a third of the total population.

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20 April, 2005

Human rights groups voice concern over Ahwaz

Amnesty International and the Paris-based Arab Commission for Human Rights (ACHR) have voiced serious concerns over continuing violence and human rights abuses in Iran's Khuzestan province, following a week of unrest.

Following riots over the government's programme of "ethnic restructuring" in the oil-rich province, the ACHR says it has received reports of "heavy casualties" from hospitals and called on the government to desist from using deadly force against unarmed protestors. The commission has also urged the release of all political prisoners and respect for minority groups' right to free speech.

Amnesty also criticised the regime in Tehran, saying: "The cycle of violence in Khuzestan must end to avoid further loss of life, injury, arbitrary arrest and damage to private and state property." It also called on the government to resume water supplies to Arab areas, which had been cut off to punish the Arab population.

Amnesty added: "There have also been reports of excessive use of force, unlawful killing and possibly of extra-judicial executions of protesters following circulation of reports that up to seven police or security officials had been killed by demonstrators and that the security forces are now operating a 'shoot-to-kill' policy."

Labels: human rights , intifada

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