Aug 03, 2006

Ahwazi: Urgent Appeal by AHRO


The Ahwazi Human Rights Organization (AHRO) has issued an urgent appeal to world leaders concerning the imminent execution of 10 ethnic Arab-Iranians (Ahwazi-Arabs) in Ahwaz, provincial capital of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran.
The Ahwazi Human Rights Organization (AHRO) has issued an urgent appeal to world leaders concerning the imminent execution of 10 ethnic Arab-Iranians (Ahwazi-Arabs) in Ahwaz, provincial capital of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran.


Urgent Appeal

New wave of Political Executions of Ahwazi-Arabs in Iran

To Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, World Leaders, Ms. Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, General Secretaries of the Conference of Islamic States and the Arab League, International NGOs, UN Special Rapporteurs, Head of U.S. Congress, the EU Parliament and heads of the parliaments of other states.

We are writing to inform you of the possibility of imminent execution of 10 ethnic Arab-Iranians (Ahwazi-Arabs) 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 (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

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.

This brings the Ahwazi men who face death and risk of executions to twenty two:

1- Ali 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)


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. Masoumeh Kaabi (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 husbands 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. Faleh Abdullah al-Mansuri
8. Jamal Abdawi

Evidently, three of the above have been released and four remain in detention in Syria.

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 take immediate action to prevent the executions of these political prisoners.



Ahwazi Human Rights Organization