Ahwaz Human Rights Org - AHRO Ahwaz Human Rights Org

More than 60 Ahwazis killed in Iran protests

More than 60 protesters have been killed in the southwestern province of Khuzestan (Ahwaz) since anti-government protests erupted across Iran over gasoline price hikes last Friday, according to local sources of the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO).

Protesters in Iran initially took to the streets to protest a sudden government decision last week to raise the minimum price for gasoline by 50 percent.

The Islamic Republic’s violent crackdown on the protests led to protesters chanting for the fall of the dictatorial regime of Iran.

While the death toll has been estimated to be at at least 250, Khuzestan has had the highest number of protesters killed so far, according to independent human rights organizations.

Due to the Internet shut-down imposed by the regime in Iran, as well as the complete censorship of any independent reporting, AHRO has so far only been able to obtain the names of a fraction of the killed protesters:

In the city Khorramshahr (Muhammara):

1- Meysam Meniat

2- Mohsen Mohammad poor 17 years old

3- Hassan Ghazli

4- Milad Hamidi

The city of Abadan:

5- Ebrahim Matouri

6- Ali Baghlani (son of Taher)

The city of Shooshtar:

7- Seyed Ahmad Mousavi Jeawleh

The city of Ahwaz:

8- Hamza Sawari (22 years old)

9- Mohammad Reza Assafi Zirgani (20 years old)

10- Meysam Mojadam

The city of Mahshahr (Ma’shour):

11- Shahab Hattawi (Son of Abdollah)

12- Ghasem Bawi (Son of Mansour)

13- Mohammad Khaledi

14- Adnan Helali

15- Mojtaba Ebadi

16- Mansour Dris

17- Abbas Asakereh

18- Ahmad Khajeh Albuali

19- Ali Khajeh Albuali

20- Mohammad Khaleghi

21- Reza Asakereh

22- Mrs Etghi (Wife of Mokhtar Etghi)

23- Yousef Khaledi

City of Behbahan:

24- Mohammad Hossein Ghanawati

25- Ehsan Abdollahnejad

26- Mehrdad Dashtiniya

27- Mahmoud Dashtiniya

28- Ahmad Hashmdar

29- Shabnam Diyani

30- Tadin (first name unknown)

31- Farzad Ansari

32- Farzad Tazmipour

The city of Ramhormoz (Ramez):

33- Mousavi (first name unknown)

34- Hadi Ghorbani

A number of security forces have also been killed in the city of Shadegan (Fallahiya), were more than 12 protesters were killed.

Human rights activists have also reported that Iranian authorities have declared the Khuzestan province a closed military zone, and have blocked all access and exit routes to cities and areas of the region, enforcing the rules of a military regime.

Security officials have also reportedly turned a school building in the city of Abadan into a detention centre, keeping hundreds of detainees in there in completely inhumane conditions.

The Internet across Iran remains largely shut-down, and the country is in a complete state of media censorship. Given this, the regime-affiliated media has been unilaterally publishing fake news and false reports aimed at justifying the unprecedented repression of protesters by the Islamic Republic.

The governor of the capital Tehran had previously said that there were protests in 22 out of a total of 31 provinces in Iran.

So far in these protests, more than 251 citizens have been killed, 3,700 have been injured, and more than 7,000 people have been arrested, based on reports by human rights organisations and activists on social media.

AHRO strongly condemns the unprecedented killing and repression of protesters by the Islamic Republic regime, which at this point can be classified as a crime against humanity.

We at AHRO call on the international community to intervene to put an end to the bloodbath in Iran, and hold the regime and all the perpetrators of the crimes committed against the people of Iran in the past week accountable for their crimes.

AHRO also calls for a fact-finding committee to be sent by relevant international bodies to investigate the killings and crimes of the Iranian regime against defenceless civilians and calls on international organizations to press the Islamic Republic to lift the ban on the Internet.

AHRO also calls on international organizations and human rights organizations to press Iran to officially announce the names of all the killed, wounded and arrested, and to release all the arrested as soon as possible.

AHRO also calls on international organizations and human rights organizations to press Iran to provide the conditions for peaceful demonstrations for Iranians in accordance with international laws and covenants.

The Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO)

22 November, 2019

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 07 December 2019

URGENT: Around 30 Ahwazi Arab activists on the verge of execution in Iran

The commander of IRGC forces in Khuzestan, Hassan Shahvarpour, announced on Thursday September 19 at a press conferance that a number of detainees arrested following the attack on the military parade on September 22, 2018 in Ahwaz will be executed soon, Iranian state media reported.

Local sources have had informed Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) that fears had been raised about the imminent execution of 30 Ahwazi activists, including coerced confessions obtained under torture. The names of the defendants sentenced to death by Iranian judicial or security authorities have not yet been made public. Following the attack on the military parade in Ahwaz on 22 September 2018, more than 800 Ahwazi activists have been arbitrarily arrested by the security services. The arrests have been inhuman, harsh and without charges in different detention centers in Ahwaz including the central prison in Shaiban district.

Previously, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry released a video of 22 people allegedly arrested in a private house, and the authorities claimed they have found explosives and military communication equipment.

Despite the Intelligence Ministry’s announcement of arresting 22 people and Islamic State "IS" adoption of the attack, the security forces, police and the revolutionary guards launched another wave of arrests in Ahwaz the provincial capital and other Arab cities and arbitrary arrested more than 800 activists and ordinary citizens, including women and men, elders and youth.

Many detainees in telephone calls to their families spoke about the torture, severe beatings and coerced confessions during interrogations. The families expressed serious concern about the fate of their children under these circumstances.

On the other hand, the security services’ actions indicate that the issue of large-scale arrests has nothing to do with an attack adopted by ISIS, as the majority of the population of the Ahwazi Arabs are Shiite and this extremist group (ISIS) has no place among the people.

The region (Al-Ahwaz) has never witnessed any activity or military operations by ISIS, which makes the whole process a scenario created by the Iranian security services for several reasons, including competition among themselves, fabricating a security atmosphere to suppress the escalating protests in Ahwaz province (Khuzestan) and the arrest and execution of Arab activists under the pretext of “opposing the revolution” and “destabilizing the security, stability and unity of the country.”

The ruling minority in Al-Ahwaz province (with the help of the security services and the Revolutionary Guards) has tried to create a security environment in the region to justify the arbitrary and racist policies of the authority and to confront the general dissatisfaction among the various Ahwazi Arab people, which has recently been on the rise.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organization condemns all the death sentences and calls for a fair and transparent trial for all defendants and detainees in Ahwaz. AHRO also calls on the UN authorities and international human rights organizations to put pressure on the Iranian authorities and the Iranian judiciary so that detainees can see their relatives and be tried according the standards set in international charters.

AHRO strongly condemns the retaliatory measures against the Ahwazi Arab people and peaceful Arab activists and calls on the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Rahman Javaid, to intervene for an independent investigation into the death sentences and arbitrary and unprecedented arrests of Arab activists and citizens in Iran.