Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

OutRage!: 10 Arabs face execution on Iran

pirate | 04.08.2006 16:10 | Repression | Social Struggles | World

OutRage! issues statement in support of 10 Arabs who face execution in Iran. Urges immediate action to stop these happening....

ps:Twiglet..who says we dont support people other than gays in Iran etc facing similar fates ...)

Iran - 10 Arabs face execution

Tehran is a racist state, as well as a homophobic one

Ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs in south-west Iran

London – 3 August 2006

“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,” warns
human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

“Iran’s Arab minority, who call themselves Ahwazis, are subjected to
systematic prejudice and persecution by the Persian chauvinist Tehran
regime (see more info below).

“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 (see more background
below).

“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.

Further information: Brett Lock, OutRage! London 0770 843 5917.

Copy of the Ahwazi Human Rights Organization letter to the UN:

To: The Honorable Mr. Kofi Annan, United Nations General Secretary;
From: The Ahwazi Human Rights Organization
(001) 703 806 9234 - Virginia, USA
 asc@ahwazstudies.org
www.ahwaz.org.uk

Dear Mr. General Secretary:

We are writing to inform you of the imminent execution of 10 ethnic
Arab-Iranians (Ahwazi-Arabs) in Ahwaz, provincial capital of Khuzestan
in southwestern Iran.[1]

On June 7 and 8 the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Ahwaz, in secret
trials, sentenced these human rights activists to death. The final
execution order was issued by the Iranian Supreme Court in Tehran on
7/25/2006, according to Iranian official news agency ILNA. Their names
are as follows:[2]

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 (17) and Mehdi Nawaseri (20) 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.[3]

Last month, Ahwaz Prosecutor-General Iraj Amirkhani, in an interview
with Iranian official news agency ISNA, announced that 22 Ahwazi Arab
political activists had been arrested and expected to be 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 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.

These are the 22 Ahwazis who face the risk of execution:

1Ali Motirijejad (m)
2- Abdullh Solymani (m)
3-Mlik banitamimt (m)
4- Abolamir Farjaolh Chaabi (m)
5- Mohammad Chaabpour
6- Khalaf Khozairi (m)
7- Alireza Asakereh (m)
8- Majed Albog hbaish (m)
9-Ghasem Salamat (m)
10- Abdolreza Sanawati (m)
11- Said Hamydan (m)
12- Fahimeh Esmaili Badawi (f) *
13- Toameh Chaab (m)
14- Nasser Farajolah Kia (m)
15- Majid Mazaal (m)
16- Jalil Moghadam (m)
17- Mehdi Saad Nasab (m)
18- Hoda Hedayati Rezaie (Hawashemi) f)
19-Sharif Asei nawaseri (m)
20- Jalil Boraihi (m)
21- Mohammad Sawari (m)
22- Abdolreza Salman Delfi (m)

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.

Furthermore, there has been an upsurge of arrest and detention of
wives and children of political activists who, for fear of their
lives, had to flee the country or are in hiding. This appears to be a
hostage taking attempt to pressure their return. Some of the 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 activist, 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. She is the wife of opposition activist,
Habib Faraj-allah[4].

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.[5]

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. Faleh ‘Abdullah al-Mnsuri
8. Jamal ‘Abdawi

Three of the above have been released and four remain in detention in
Syria.

Since the Ahwazi Intifada (uprising) began on April 15, 20065, 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 United Nation to take immediate action to prevent
the execution of these political prisoners.

Karim Abdian, Ph.D.

Executive Director
Ahwazi Human Rights Organization
US (001) 703 806 9234
 asc@ahwazstudies.org
www.ahwaz.org.uk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1].
 http://www.ahwazstudies.org/main/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=774&Itemid=47〈=EN

[2]  http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/26/iran13609.htm

[3]  http://web.amnesty.org/report2006/irn-summary-eng

[4]  http://www.ahwazstudies.org/main/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=465&Itemid=47〈=EN

[5]  http://www.ahwazstudies.org/main/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=571&Itemid=47〈=EN


ENDS

------------------------------------------------------

pirate

Comments

Display the following 5 comments

  1. Saudi Arabia, anyone? — Here we go again
  2. George Orwell knew 'pirate' — twilight
  3. Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran — Danny
  4. Clarification — Caz
  5. Saudi.... — pirate
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech