Portuguese Socialist MEP Paulo Casaca has called on European Commission President José Manuel Borroso to intervene to save the lives of Ahwazi Arabs due to be executed by the Iranian government this week.The men were convicted of "enmity with God" for their alleged role in bomb attacks in Ahwaz, but international and Iranian human rights organisations have cast serious doubt on their one-day trials, which were held in secret with minimal contact with lawyers and no witnesses.
In his letter, Casaca, who serves as Chairman of the European Parliament's delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, claimed that the executions were part of a pattern of behaviour that amounted to ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs. He said that the daily atrocities against Ahwazi Arabs were well documented by "several human rights defenders associations and organisations, namely Amnesty International, and can not be left unanswered by the European Union diplomacy."
Yesterday, British Green MEPs Dr Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert condemned the ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs and called for international intervention to stop the planned executions (click here for further details).
Labels: EU
permalink
keywords: ahvaz ahwaz ahwazi arabistan khuzestan khuzistan khuzestani arab arabistan iran iranian human rights security oil news ahmadinejad ethnic cleansing
.......................................................................................