Ahwaz Human Rights News >>>>>

On 12 and 13 November 2009, five Iranian groups were represented at the Second Session of the Forum on Minority Issues - the Ahwazi-Arabs, the Kurds, the Baloch, the Azeri-Turks and the Lur. Their attendance was facilitated by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) who is committed to offering nations and peoples an entry point into international fora.

The session was based on the theme of "Minorities and Effective Political Participation" and representatives utilised the platform to identify obstacles to their involvement in political processes and offer recommendations for best practice to improve their situation. Delegates from Iranian groups wore traditional dress to represent the diversity of Iran's ethnic, cultural and historical composition.

Dr. Alireza Nazmi Afshar, Director of the Iranian Turks Studies Center spoke under the agenda item for 'Conditions required for effective political participation.' He highlighted that Iran's ruling elite predetermines electoral outcomes by tightly controlling who can run as a candidate and excluding representatives of ethnic groups from the process. He suggested that "change must happen at both the structural and policy levels" recommending constitutional modifications to promote a 'civic republic.' This would advance democratic society and give greater fiscal and legislative autonomy to ethnic groups.

Monireh Sulemani of the Balochistan Peoples Party identified that Balochistan faces problems of underdevelopment and poverty with some of the worst UN indicators for life expectancy, primary school enrolment and adult literacy in all of Iran. She argued that widespread discrimination in politics represent a violation of Article 19 of the Iranian Constitution. The Balochistan Peoples Party advocates a participatory structure of government under which minorities enjoy the same rights as the majority group, which involves transforming the current centralised structure to a federal system with common institutions. Ms Sulemani stated that the Baloch nation must be recognised within its boundaries and given greater autonomy for national sovereignty.

In support, Karim Abdian of the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization stressed the need for a decentralisation of power and the establishment of a local Ahwaz representation under a federal system of governance. This should involve free and fair elections allowing the involvement of Arab-constituted political parties. He stressed the need for Iran to have more than one national language and campaigned for greater autonomy for ethnic groups where all ethnicities have right to introduce their own candidates without government interference.

UNPO welcomes the opportunity for dialogue with Iranian authorities however regrets the Iranian Permanent Mission's unconstructive response to issues raised by the minority groups during two interventions to the Forum. The Mission accused delegates of making 'baseless allegations' on 'totally irrelevant issues' and suggested UNPO representatives held 'fake names and titles.' These statements further confirm Iran's failure to take seriously appropriate measures to address issues facing Iranian minorities and represent a distraction from the pertinent issues brought to the Forum.

The independent expert on minority issues, Ms Gay McDougall will now compile contributions from the Forum to develop recommendations to report to the Human Rights Council. She thanked the delegates suggesting that no one country had found a solution to the lingering problem of political participation. In her final remarks, Ms McDougall concluded, 'Politics count, representation matters and policy makers make all the difference.'

A full UNPO report on the Forum is forthcoming which will include statements impacting on other UNPO members including the Hungarian Minorities in Romania, Batwa, Assyria, Khmer Krom, Montagnards, Sindh, Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraqi Turkmen.

For a pdf version of UNPO's Press Release please click here

From UNPO website

Labels: activism, minorities, UN

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05 November, 2009

Greetings to Ahwazi Mandaeans

The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) sends its greetings to the Mandaean community in the Ahwaz region at the time of their Dahwa Hnina (Eid al-Sagir) celebrations. The event lasts for three days and involves baptisms and remembrance of the dead with ritual feasts.

Mandaeans are a persecuted religious minority in Iraq and Iran. They traditionally live along the Shatt al-Arab waterway that forms the border between the two countries Although they are a peace-loving people, they have been targeted by Islamic extremists who are seeking to intimidate them into conversion. Methods used include murder, throwing acid in their faces, abduction, rape and torture. The religious extremists aim to physically eradicate the existence of Mandaeans, while forced assimilation has been officially practised in Iraq and Iran to undermine or destroy their cultural distinctiveness.

Around 80% of 60,000 Iraqi Mandaeans have fled to Jordan and Syria following the 2003 Iraq War. In Iran, they are prevented from participating in public life by the Gozinesh Law, which restricts access to employment, education and other public services through ideological screening. It is believed that up to 10,000 Mandaeans live in the Ahwaz region, although many are emigrating to North America and Europe for safety and freedom.

BAFS and other groups working with the Ahwazi Arab minority, which also faces persecution and discrimination under Iranian rule, extend their solidarity and support to the Mandaean community.

Labels: minorities

28 October, 2009

Ahwazis oppose sectarianism: setting the record straight

By Abu Moussa Zafrani

Ignorance of the Ahwazi Arabs has prompted some journalists, governments and international human rights organisations to portray their struggle as a sectarian conflict between Sunni Arabs and the Shi'ite state.

In an appeal to set the record straight, the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) points out that 80-90 per cent of the Ahwazi Arab population in the southwest of Iran (Khuzestan) are Shi'ite. Ahwazi Arab culture is devoid of religious sectarianism and is instead based around tribal associations that are often mixed Sunni and Shia.

The Sunni Arab population is traditionally concentrated around the Shatt al-Arab (Arvand Rood), particularly Mohammareh (Khorammshahr). A small number of Ahwazi Arabs have converted to Sunnism and Christianity as part of a rejection of the regime's ideology and an extreme fringe minority have been influenced by radical doctrines such as Wahabbism. Most Arabs continue to follow Shi'ite beliefs, while rejecting Khomeinism as a heresy created to justify political oppression and ethnic persecution.

The Ahwazi Arab struggle has nothing to do with religion, it is a fight against social, economic and cultural marginalisation and persecution. The misunderstanding is the result of a campaign of disinformation by both the Iranian regime and some opposition groups who want to deny the problem of ethnic persecution in Iran in order to advance their political agendas.

The regime has vilified and dismissed the Ahwazi struggle as a Wahabbist insurgency. This is intended to demonise Ahwazi resistance as akin to Al-Qaeda, even though it is devoid of any religious ideology. Meanwhile, certain opposition groups and individuals are keen to play down cultural activism - particularly among Arabs - to control the political agenda. These wealthy opposition groups, controlled by middle-class chauvinist nationalists, have unfortunately had high-level access to the media and government, thereby distorting the real cause of the Ahwazi Arab uprising.

An example is the recent US State Department report on religious freedom, which states that Sunnis complain of under-representation "in government-appointed positions in the provinces where they form a majority, such as Kurdistan and Khuzestan Provinces."

In reality, the complaints are overwhelmingly about ethnic not religious representation. In some cases, notably Kurds and Balochis, ethnic groups are overwhelmingly Sunni, but their demands are based on collective rights, such as political devolution and self-determination, economic development, human rights and linguistic equality. While there is no doubt that non-Shi'ite groups such as the Baha'is, Christians, Sufis, Jews, Mandeans and others suffer violent persecution, there must also be recognition of the importance of ethnic persecution in Iran.

At an international level, Kurds and Balochis have worked closely with Shi'ite-majority ethnic groups such as Ahwazi Arabs and Azeri Turks to highlight the problem of ethnic persecution in Iran. Religion has not been a barrier to mutual co-operation and solidarity since few want to live under theocratic rule, either Shi'ite or Sunni. Ethnic rights activists seek to work with Iranians of all religions, ethnicities and ideologies to create a free society with fair elections and a political system in which they can live without intimidation and with respect. Misinformation can only create division.

Labels: features

24 October, 2009

Rape: Iran's weapon against Arab women

Iranian security forces are using rape in an effort to silence discontent within the country's Arab population.

According to credible reports received by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) and its Danish sister organisation, the Dansk Ahwazi Venskabsforening (DAVF), two young Ahwazi Arab women were gang raped by four members of the Hefazat-e Etelaat-e Sepah Pasdaran, the intelligence service of the Revolutionary Guards that answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

The women are aged 25 and 26 years old and were raped at a Revolutionary Guards prison in Charshir district of Ahwaz City on 1 September. They had been arrested in an ongoing campaign by the regime against Arab cultural and political activists. One of the women was previously raped in 2006. The rapes were filmed by the intelligence services to blackmail the women's families into silence and to humiliate them in order to break them psychologically.

In Iran, victims of rape, including children and pregnant women, are executed for adultery and 'crimes against chastity'. But even if the women are not charged with adultery for being raped, their relatives fear being socially ostracised for the dishonour and shame that comes with extra-marital sex. In this way, families can be silenced and sometimes they carry out 'honour killings' if the wider community finds out.

BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: 'These families should have no shame as their daughters, sisters and wives are victims. The shame belongs to Ayatollah Khomenei, who is directing rape gangs in all prisons under his control, and the Iranian security infrastructure. Rape is used to divide and silence. Those who accuse victims of being criminally culpable are collaborators with the regime.

'In defiance of the Iranian regime, we say to our Ahwazi sisters and their families that you bear no shame or responsibility for this evil violation. We mourn with you and on your behalf we will fight harder against Tehran's fascist government for the liberation of Ahwazi Arab women from cultural, political, social and gender oppression.'

In a separate development, two women were executed earlier this month in Karoon prison in Ahwaz City. They were identified only by their first names - Fozieh and Khadijeh. The Iranian media claimed they were drug traffickers. Three men were executed at the same time on similar charges.

Labels: women

20 September, 2009

Iran: Concern mounts over mass arrest of Arab civilians

There are mounting concerns over the fates of a number of Ahwazi Arabs arrested by the Iranian security forces and tried in secret Revolutionary Courts on unknown charges.

According to reports received by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), 18-year-old Fazel Haidari was arrested and tortured for 45 days in Sepidar Prison in Ahwaz, although the accusations against him are unclear. Khalil Ghate Kaabi and Saeed Rahim Sadi have each been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment or sentenced to death, according to different reports. Issa Kazim Kaabi was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment, while Mrs Nabiyeh Abdul Hussein Kaabi was sentenced to five years in prison.

Nabiyeh was arrested in April after her home in Shooster (Tostar) in the Shoeibiyah valley was raided by security forces. She is sister of an opposition activist who was executed with other Ahwazi Arab activists. Khalil Ghate Kaabi, her husband and her father in law, Majid Ghate Kaabi, were also arrested at the same time. The arrests occurred after clashes between Arab residents and security forces in Shoeibiyah. The area has seen extensive land confiscation by the state for the creation of massive sugar cane plantations.

There is also alarming news that Saeed Saki (pictured), a UNHCR-mandated refugee who was illegally repatriated to Iran from Syria in May 2005, has been sentenced to have a hand and a leg amputated. He had been due to be resettled in Norway. BAFS has been following his case since he was arrested in Syria and has repeatedly warned that he is in danger of torture and execution. Another repatriated refugee Saeed Hamadi also received five years imprisonment in Tehran, hundreds of miles from his family. The UNHCR had also expressed alarm at the arrest and repatriation of Saki and other refugees, but has in recent years lost interest in the plight of refugees supposedly under its protection and largely abandoned Ahwazi Arab refugees in Syria to their fate.

Labels: death penalty, human rights, refugees

16 November, 2009

05 November, 2009

28 October, 2009

24 October, 2009

20 September, 2009