Ahwazi: Detainees Remain on Death Row
Below is an appeal by
To: World Leaders, International Human Rights Organizations and Media
Despite our appeal of 1/14/2008 and the appeals of the international community and a large number of international human rights organizations, this morning at 4 AM, the Iranian regime executed Mr. Zamel Bawi, , 29 years old, married with one child, resident of Ahwaz, a small business owner and the son of Ahwazi Arab tribal leader Hajj Salem Bawi. This execution took place in Karoon prison in
In the 12 months, at least 19 Ahwazi-Arab activists have been publicly hanged (three were executed just days after UN Human Rights Commissioner, Ms. Arbour, visited Tehran in September 2007).
The following three are in danger of imminent execution:
1 Rasoul Ali Mazrea (56), a UNHCR-registered refugee slated for settlement to
2 Said Saki UNHCR-35, registered refugee slated for settlement to
3 Faleh Abdulah al-Mansouri, 60 Dutch Citizen and a human rights activist
The news of their impending executions has come from family members as well as the Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International, and the Human Rights & Democracy Activists group, and from Mr. Musa Pirbani, Khuzestan’s prosecutor. Mr. Mazrea, Mr. al-Mansouri and Mr. Saki, along with 3 other Ahwazis, were deported by the Syrian government in May 2006. The men were all recognized refugees under UNHCR protection, and were pending third-country resettlement at the time of their deportation to
The charges against Mr. Zamel Bawi and others include hoisting the Ahwazi flag, giving their children Sunni names, converting from Shi'ism to Sunnism, 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, argued that the trials of Ahwazi Arabs, including the trial of Mr. Zamel Bawi, 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
This new wave of executions is designed to intimidate and terrorize the indigenous Ahwazi-Arab population into submission. Although the Ahwazi Arab homeland in
Also, on Friday 12 October 2007, in the predominantly Arab city of
The Iranian government refuses to divulge any information on the whereabouts of the detainees.
We appeal to you the world leaders and the international community to condemn today’s execution of Zamel Bawi and latest wave of arbitrary arrests and executions. We urge you to call upon the Iranian authorities to halt the imminent execution of the others. We request that you further call upon
For further information, please see a dossier of other human rights violations against indigenous and ethnic Ahwazi-Arabs in
http://www.ahwazmedia.com/dossier.pdf
Sincerely,