Oct 19, 2006

Ahwazi: Dutch Activist in Prison Torture Chamber


According to the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, Faleh Abdullah Al-Mansuri, a Dutch citizen and the leader of the Ahwaz Liberation Organisation (ALO) has been transferred to Evin prison after being extradited to Iran.
Faleh Abdullah Al-Mansuri, a Dutch citizen and the leader of the Ahwaz Liberation Organisation (ALO) (pictured with the mayor of his home town Maastricht), has been transferred to Evin prison after being extradited to Iran by the Syrian authorities.

Al-Mansuri is being held in Section 209 of the notorious Evin prison, according to Iranian human rights activists. Section 209, where high-profile political prisoners are held, is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence, which conducts continuous interrogations involving torture. In the prison's torture chambers, inmates are forced to confess to crimes and repent. Prisoners are shackled and kept in solitary confinement with many dying from poor sanitary conditions. Summary executions are often carried out by firing squad.

The ALO advocates Ahwazi Arab independence from Iran and views itself as a government-in-exile. However, no proof has been provided that it has been involved in any terrorist activities, nor is it among the number of different organisations that have claimed responsibility for bomb attacks in Ahwaz over the past 18 months.