Ahwazi: Executions Condemned
At the latest meeting of the UNPO Presidency, held at the European Parliament in
[More information on Presidency Meeting]
UNPO remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation faced by the Ahwazi in
[UNPO Appeals for Halt to Execution of 7 Ahwazi Activists in Iran]
[UNPO Appeal on Imminent Execution of Ahwazi Activists in Iran]
Since the issuing of these appeals, and the subsequent outcries of condemnation from the international community, a further four Ahwazi activists, Mohammad Chaabpour, Abdolamir Farjolah Chaab, Alireza Asakereh, and Khalaf Khanafereh (Khazirawi), were executed on 24 January 2007.
Recent reports indicate that the execution of three more activists, Abdulreza Sanawati, Majed Alboghobish and Reisan Sawari, by the Iranian authorities is imminent.
Below is an open letter published by Ahwazi Human Rights Organization (AHRO):
“To:
General Secretary of the United Nations,
World Leaders,
International Human Rights Organizations and NGOs, and to the World Media:
1. Ghasem Salami, 41, married with 6 children
2. Majad Albughbish, 30, single from Maashur (Mahshahr)
3 Abdolreza Sanawati, 34, married from
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 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”
[More information on UNHRC Press Release]
The remaining three are to be executed tomorrow.
On Tuesday December 19, 2006, the Khuzestan branch of the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported that Malek Banitamim, Abdullah Solaimani, and Ali Matorizadeh were executed for "waging war on God" in
On March of this year 2 other ethnic Ahwazi Arabs, Ali Afrawi (age 17) and Mehdi Nawaseri (20 years old), were publicly hang in Ahwaz City for similar charges, after a TV broadcast of their “confession” was shown a day earlier on Khuzestan TV.
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, as well as a resolution by 48 British MPs and similar actions by other EU parliaments, the execution of the these men were delayed.
On November 9, Abbas Jaafari Dowlatabadi, head of
On 8 June, 2006,
These men have been found guilty of allegedly bombing oil installations at Southwestern Iranian
All these men were tortured into making false confessions. Their lawyers were not allowed to see them prior to their trial and they were given the prosecution case only hours before the start of the trial, which was held in secret. The lawyers for the condemned men ( Khalil Saeedi, Mansur Atashneh, Dr Abdulhasan Haidari, Jawad Tariri, Faisal Saeedi and Taheri Nasab), all Ahwazi-Arabs but one, have been arrested for complaining about the illegal and unjust nature of the men's trials. They have been charged with threatening national security.
Although Ahwazi-Arab homeland in
Peaceful opposition among Ahwazi Arabs to the Iranian regime's racist policies of ethnic cleansing has been brutally suppressed. Since April 15, 2005 the beginning of the Ahwazi Intifada (Uprising), over 25,000 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 urge for an immediate action to pressure the Iranian government to commute these sentences. Your actions can help save the lives of these men. Thank You.”