Ahwazi: Appeal Against Executions
The Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) has issued an appeal for the international community to condemn the recent execution of three Ahwazi Arabs and to apply pressure on
Below are extracts from an appeal by the
To: United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and other World Leaders, Human Rights Organizations and International NGOs.
Yesterday [13 September 2007], Reuters quoted Ahwaz prosecutor Mr. Pirani that
1. Abdolreza Sanawati, 34 years old, married, resident of
2. Mohammadali Sawari, 38 years old, teacher, married with 4 children
3. Jafar Sawari, 23, University Student, a resident of
This brings the number of executions of Ahwazi Arab political and human rights activists in the past twelve months to at least 15.
All three men were charged first for converting from Shi'a to Sunni, then for preaching Wahabbism and finally for bombing of oil installations in 2005 and 2006 in Zergan in Khuzestan. The charges were denied by all accused. Their trial lasted one day without legal representation.
Abdulreza Nawaseri has been sentenced to 35 years and has been in prison since 2000. His brother, Mehdi Nawaseri, 20 was hanged in public in
The other two men, brothers Mohammad Ali Sawari and Jafar Sawari had been in prison since 2005, along with a third brother, Hamzah Sawari. They also denied the charges of bombing oil installations. No evidence has been produced to substantiate the government's charges.
Following the execution on Monday, 11 September, 2007, some Ahwazi Arabs held spontaneous anti-government demonstrations in the streets of Kut Abdullah and in
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
On December 19, 2006 and on January 24 January, 2007 seven other Ahwazi human rights activists were executed for "waging war on God" in Ahwaz City. This was done one day after the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning
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, a resolution by 48 British MPs and similar actions by other EU parliaments, the execution of the these men were delayed. Now however, the executions of these men are imminent, according to Mr.Musa Pirbani in an interview with the Iranian News Agency on Wednesday, September 13, 2007
On 8 June, 2006,
All aforementioned men and women are members of the persecuted Ahwazi community in Southwestern Iranian
Although the Ahwazi-Arab homeland in
Peaceful opposition among Ahwazi Arabs […] has been brutally suppressed. Since April 15, 2005 […] over 5,000 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
We appeal to you to condemn the execution of these three men and call upon Iranian authorities to halt the imminent execution of the others. We also appeal to you to call upon
For further information, please see a dossier of other human rights violations against indigenous and ethnic Ahwazi-Arabs in
Sincerely,
(Source: