A number of activists and families of Ahwazi Arab protestors gathered in front of the office of Abdul Karim Farhani, member of the Board of Experts of the Iranian leadership and the office of Mohammad Ali Jazairi, representative of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Ahwaz, to follow up on their families cases and asked for their release. Activists told Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation that the relatives of the detainees have said that their family members were innocent and one of the detainees is not even an Arab but a Persian guest form the city of Arak in Markazi province who had wore the Arabic traditional clothes as a sign of friendship with his Arab friend. He has been arrested in the street and there are no news about his whereabouts. The son of the Ahwazi Arab host who is mentally disabled by Down syndrome was also arrested in “Malashieh” area. Another individual was a soldier who was serving his military service in Northern Iran, in the city of Rasht and was detained while visiting his family during the spring break. This soldier was arrested while walking in Ahwaz market.
The rest of detainees were arbitrarily arrested and were accused of participating in April demonstrations of Ahwaz. Ahwaz Human Rights Organisations condemns the continuation of the detention of Ahwazi Arab men and women and calls for the international community and human rights organisations to exercise pressure on the Iranian government for their immediate and unconditional release.
According to AHRO’s primary statistics 12 days into the peaceful demonstrations in Ahwaz, 250 Ahwazi Arabs have been detained for participating in peaceful demonstrations. Ahwazi Human Rights Organisation strongly condemns the crackdown of demonstrations and the arrests of hundreds of Arab citizens in Iran and expresses their deepest concerns for the safety and well-being of the detainees. Previous experiences have confirmed that the Security service and Intelligence treat detainees with outmost brutality in addition to inflicting physical and mental torture, severely abusing their human rights. Unfortunately, the Iranian government has chosen once again to take the path of violence and suppression in order to confront the masses and during the past 2 weeks, Ahwaz has turned to a military barracks and collective and arbitrary arrests have been taking place, constantly ,for days.
The following video has been sent to AHRO by a citizen journalist and shows a young Arab male in Kut-Abdallah being violently forced into a police car by dozens of policemen and government agents disguised in civilian clothing.
The following is the list of detainees among which are women and minors:
1-Adanan Khasraji
2-Saeed Nawaseri
3-Mohammed Hezbian
4-Mohammad Jalil Kanoon
5-Asad Nawaseri
6-Mansoor Tamimi (Sayyahi area)
7- Khalid Mahawy (Akhar- Asphalt area)
8-Mahmood Beit Sayyah (Akhar- Asphalt area))
9-Khadija Neissi (Shuaybieh area)
10-Aysha Neissi (19 years old -Shuaybieh area)
11-Wisam Sawari (19 years old- Sepidar area)
12- Ali Khasraji (23 years old - arrested in Ahwaz along with 4 of his friends on March 30th )
13- Shahab Na’ami ( Khaledieh area “Kianpars”)
14- Hasan Kenani ( Khaledieh area “Kianpars”)
Detainees of 31st March 2018 in Ma’ashur “Mahshahr”
15-Foad Hardani
16-Fazel Albosubeih
17-Hussein Albosubeih
18-Ibrahim Al-buali
19-fazel Awadi
20- Mohammad Alboghobeish
21-Sattar Albosubeih
22-piruz Albosubeih
23-Hamid Alboghobeish (Zubeidi)
24- Reza Alboghobeish
25- Mehdi Alboghobeish
Detainees of 1st April 2018 in Kut-Abdallah-Ahwaz
26-Sajjad Jamei’i (25 years old)
27- Mohammad Fatlawi (27 years old)
Detainees of Abadan in Selech area:
28-Salah Baghlani
29- Ali Baghlani
Detainees of April 1st 2018 - Thawra area of Ahwaz
30- Adnan Bayanan Sakini (37 yeas old)
31- Jom’a Sawari (32 yeas old)
32- Suri Saalebi (Sawari)- (47 years old)
33-Kazem Turfi (40 years old)
34- Nader Alboghubeish arrested in Taleghani area of Ahwaz on April 6th 2018
Detainees of march 31st 2018 in Hamidieh
35-Ali Abidawi bin Taleb
36- Ali Abidawi bin Warwar
Detainees in Ahwaz city
37- Sajjad Sawari bin Ziab (32 years old, married from Thawra area arrested on April 5th )
38- Sadeq Sawari (from Thawra area arrested on April 2end 2018)
39- Basem Sawari (from Thawra area arrested on April 2end 2018)
40- Abdul-al Doraqi ( from Cantex area- 50 year old poet , arrested on April 5th 2018 ,severely tortured )
41-Majed Zuheiri Bin Karim ( Thawra area)
42-Saeed Sawari ( Arrested on April 3rd 2018 )
43-Khaledieh Turfi Bint Hamid Al-Asi ( from Camp - Polonia “camppolo” area arrested on April 4th 2018)
44- Ali Ebeyyat Bin Semij
45-Mustafa Sawari ( from Thawra area arrested on April 5th 2018)
46- Naeem Hamidi ( Journalist)
Demonstrations started as protest against Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) following a program in which Arab’s existence in Iran and their identity was ignored, once again. Demonstrators demanded an apology and until now neither IRIB nor channel 2 producers issued an apology.
Demonstrations over the insulting TV show has turned to full scale manifestations on a daily basis against all forms of racism and marginalisation against ethnic Arabs of Iran. Protesters expressed their disapproval of Tehran’s plans of demographic change that has been in work for years through influx of immigrants from other areas and excluding indigenous Arab population from the job market in Iran’s richest areas.
The following are among the demands of Ahwazi Arabs: an end to unemployment and exclusion from social, political and economic life, end to transfer of Karun river, stop the destruction of environment and change the security approach of Tehran toward Ahwaz which has turned this region to a military barracks and the release of all political and cultural activists who are currently in detention.
Demonstrators also demand the right to establish independent newspapers and news agencies in Arabic, improvement of living conditions in this region and to allocate part of the oil’s revenue to the reconstruction and development of the region and the fight against poverty and marginalisation.
The Ahwazi Human Rights Organisation affirms the right of Ahwazi Arabs to continue their peaceful demonstration and calls for an end to the repression of these legitimate protests, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees.
