Reports - AHRO Ahwaz Human Rights Org

Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) expresses its deep concern over the imminent refoulement of Mr. Abdolkhazar Doraghi, along with his seven children, to Iran after the Government of Turkey informed him three days ago that he along with his family will be extradited to Iran sometime in January 2022.

Mr. Doraghi is a well-known political activist and an opponent of the Iranian regime. He is a former political prisoner, jailed in 2005 for his participation in the April 15, 2005, the Ahwazi-Arab uprising (Intifada) against the ethnic-cleansing, land expropriation and ethnic persecution of the Ahwazi Arab minority by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Mr. Doraghi had to flee Iran and seek haven in Kuwait in 2009. In 2014, the Iranian government attempted to pressure the Kuwaitis to forcefully return him to Iran. He escaped before his arrest and sought asylum under the protection of the UNHCR in Ankara, Turkey.

Mr. Doraghi was accepted as a political refugee (UNHCR Refugee Certificate 385-15C02931) in September 2014. Since then, he has lived in Turkey under UNHCER auspices and protection from forcible return to Iran. He was placed on the list for resettlement to a third country.

However, after five years of waiting to be relocated, he was notified by UNHCR on Monday 5, May 2019 that his case, along with other political refugees is now processed by the host country, Turkey.

Mr. Doraghi is a long-time member of the Democratic Solidarity Party of al-Ahwaz. (DSPA), an anti-regime political organization with presence in Iran and abroad. DSPA believes in the overthrow of the Islamic Republic through non-violent means and transition to a parliamentary democracy in a federal system. Nonetheless, DSPA has been considered a secessionist and a separatist organization and banned by the Iranian regime. Many of its members were killed by the Iranian regime.

The secessionist charge will certainly lead to a death sentence for Mr. Doraghi should he be returned to Iran under any circumstances. Mr. Doraghi survived several threats to his life by Iranian security agents while living in Kuwait. His life is in imminent danger in Turkey.

We respectfully ask Mr. Filippo Grandi, high commissioner for UNHCR, Madam Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Mr. Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Human Rights Situation in Iran, to take urgent action to stop the forcible return to Iran. We also urge that he and his family be relocated to a third country.

We urge people around the world to write to Mr. Filippo Grandi, UNHCR headquarters in Geneva: https://www.unrefugees.org/contact-us/general/ and to: UNHCR,
Turkey: Mr. Enis Behic Koryurek: Tiflis Cad. 552. Sok. No:3, Sancak Mah. Cankaya Ankara,
Yusef KEPEN. Goc idaresi Muduru, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Tel: 903124097300 Fax: 903124472173

AHRO is a US-registered human rights advocacy non-governmental organization that works in support of minorities and women in Iran.

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 30 December 2021

On April 29th, the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO) received a report about the severe beating of a group of Ahwazi Arab political prisoners by prison guards in Ahwaz’s Sheiban Prison.

The human rights organization quoted its sources stating that 3 Ahwazi Arab political prisoners Mohammad Ali Amouri, Mukhtar Alboshokeh and Qassem Sanjari had been severely beaten on Thursday, April 29th , adding: "these political prisoners were harassed by two other prisoners identified as Hossein Porkar ( convicted with embezzlement ), Adnan Zabieh and other convicted criminals. The situation escalated and the prison guards attacked the 3 political prisoners resulting in bloody injuries.

Following the beating the 3 political prisoners were sent to solitary confinement without receiving any treatment. In January 2019, the same 3 individuals along with other political prisoners including: Abdulzahra Heleichi,Yahya Naseri, Nazem Bereihi, Abdulimam Zayeri and Jaber Alboshokeh underwent a hunger strike as a sign of protest for not separating political prisoners from dangerous convicted prisoners. Prison officials responded with torture, beating and verbal abuse.

Mr.Amouri and Albushoka are Arab activists who were members of the Al-Hawar (Dialogue) cultural Institute. They were sentenced to execution by the Revolutionary Court on false security charges, but later their sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.

Sanjari is also an Arab political activist who has been sentenced to prison. Authorities in Ahwaz prisons, especially Sheiban Prison, consistently keep prisoners with dangerous criminals in the same ward as political prisoners in order to harass Arab political prisoners.

The Ahwaz Human Rights Organization, refers to the need to observe the "separation of prisoners on the basis of crime" and calls on international organizations and the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran to condemn the systematic harassment of political prisoners in Iran and to oblige the relevant authorities of the Islamic Republic to respect the rights of prisoners.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO)

April 30th 2021

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 27 December 2021

Sources of the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization reported that the death sentences of Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi and Jasem Heidary, three Ahwazi Arab political prisoners, was carried out in the Sepidar prison of Ahwaz this morning, 1 March 2021.

Sources said that security officials have also included Nasser Khafajian among the executed individuals, although he had been tortured to death during Sepidar prison protests last year.

According to human rights activists, the Ahwaz Intelligence Office contacted the families of these prisoners a day before, and asked them to go to security center situated in Chahar Shir area of Ahwaz. Once the families arrived, they were transported to Sepidar Prison in intelligence service vehicles to visit their children. During the meeting, the prisoners announced the imminent execution of their death sentence.

Earlier in November 2020, the Supreme Court of Iran upheld the death sentence of Jasem Heidary on charges of "collaborating with opposition groups" and "“armed rebellion against the state” (baghi)." This prisoner was arrested upon his return from Austria in December 2017 and was first transferred to Evin Prison and then to Ahwaz Intelligence Office Detention Center.

Amnesty International has previously written to the head of Iran's judiciary, Ebrahim Raeisi calling for the death sentences of Jassem Heydari and three other prisoners to be overturned. The statement reads:

‘’We ask you to immediately reveal the fate and whereabouts of Naser Khafajian and stop any plans to execute him and Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi and Jasem Heidary. Their convictions and death sentences must be quashed, and they must be granted fair retrials, without recourse to the death penalty and excluding torture-tainted “confessions”

Ahwaz Human Rights Organization strongly condemns the secret execution of Ahwazi Arab political prisoners who were sentenced to death during unfair trials without observing the minimum international standards, and urges the international human rights organizations, especially UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, to condemn the organized crime of the Islamic Republic of Iran against defenseless prisoners and take immediate action to rescue other prisoners sentenced to death.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organization

1 March 2021

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 01 March 2021

Following the wave of arrests of Ahwazi Arab women activists, which began last Wednesday with the arrest of Fatema Tamimi, four other women were arrested, bringing the total number of detainees to seven, including five women. In the latest case, Fatema Savari was arrested in the city of Howeyzeh.

According to local sources of Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (AHRO), on Friday evening, December 11th, the Iranian security forces arrested Fatemeh Savari, a cultural activist from Howeyzeh. Fatemeh Savari is the aunt of Zeinab Savari, who was arrested a day earlier in Roffayeh city in Ahwaz region.

Zeinab Savari is a social sciences student and Fatemeh Savari is a teacher. During the Corona crisis, they volunteered to go to deprived areas and villages around Haweyzeh and Roffayeh to teach students who did not have access to online education.

During the past few days, Fatema Tamimi, 39 years old and mother of two, was arrested in the city of Jarahi in Ma’ashour (Mahshahr) and her colleague Maryam Ameri was arrested in Ahwaz, both transferred to an undisclosed location.

Ameri and Tamimi had collected stories, lullabies and Arabic folk songs to record the Ahwazi oral literature. Tamimi's Instagram account is followed by more than 25,000 people. The result of their work was a 20 part documentary. So far, Mrs Tamimi has produced several short documentaries on poverty, addiction, unemployment and the social problems of the Arab people of Ahwaz.

Earlier, Azhar Alboghobeish, along with her two brothers, Abbas and Reza, were arrested in Fallahieh (Shadegan) for their social media activities. They are all under the age of 20.

The ongoing floods in Ahwaz and surrounding cities are among the most important issues that Tamimi had addressed and reported on. In her reports, in addition to the causes of floods and its related issues, she discussed the effects and consequences of floods on social structures in Arab regions.

So far, no information has been released by the Iranian government about the reasons for these widespread arrests, and no charges have been filed against the detainees. Efforts by the families of these individuals to find out their whereabouts have not yet been successful.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organization strongly condemns this new wave of arrest against Ahwazi Arab cultural activists who carried out all their activities peacefully and in accordance with the Iranian government’s laws.

AHRO sees these measures as an attempt by the Iranian government to divert peaceful activism and is aiming at creating an excuse to suppress these activists. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all the detainees.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organization
12/12/2020

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 12 December 2020

Ahwaz Human Right Organisation (AHRO) Condemns the arrest and abduction of Ahwazi activist Mr Habib Farajollah Chaab, known as “Habib Alsawed”. This is another crime added to the series of assassination, abductions, and executions committed against the political and civil society activists, opposition and dissidents.
In a statements on Monday, November 1, 2020, the head of the National Security Committee in the Iranian Parliament “Mojtaba Zolnouri” confirmed that the Iranian security and intelligence service have abducted Chaab, the former head of the "Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz," stressing that the detainee is currently under investigation in Tehran.

“Mojtaba Yousefi”, an Iranian PM, stated that the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence had transferred Chaab to Tehran.

The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it is aware of what has been stated by the relatives of Chaab, who holds the Swedish citizenship concerning his arrest in Turkey and extradition to Iran. According to the Swedish TV channel, the ministry said that it will not comment on the issue.

Mrs Hoda Hawashmi, the wife of Mr Habib Chaab, had confirmed in televised and radio interviews that her husband was lured to Turkey,was arrested there, and later was handed over from Istanbul to Iranian intelligence.

In recent years, and following the series of assassinations, the Iranian regime has adopted a method of abducting opponents, including the journalist “Ruhollah Zam” and the activist “Jamshid Sharmahd”.

The Iranian authorities attributed fabricated charges, including his alleged involvement in the armed attack on the annual Iranian military parade of September 22, 2018 in the city of Ahwaz, although ISIS claimed the attack and the Iranian regime later admitted that the five attackers were killed at the scene.

The Ahwaz Human Rights Organization condemns the abduction and arrest of Mr Chaab, as an act which is in contradiction with all the international covenants. It calls on the Swedish and Turkish authorities to take responsibility and pressure the Iranian authorities to reveal Chaab's fate, and to conduct a fair and transparent trial in the presence of independent lawyers to prevent accusations made against him.

AHRO also warns that Mr Habib Chaab is subjected to torture, a method known to the Iranian regime's intelligence services to gain forced confessions and displaying them on television.

The organization calls on the international community and international human rights organizations to condemn the crime of abduction and arrest of the Ahwazi activist Habib Chaab and all prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Iran.
Ahwaz Human Right Organisation (AHRO)
3 November 2020

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 03 November 2020

A number of Ahwazi Arab political prisoners in ward 5 of Ahwaz’s Sheiban prison, including Jaber Albushokeh and his brother Mokhtar Albushokeh, have gone on a hunger strike to protest new cases filed against them by the Iranian intelligence services on charges of inciting prison protests late March, local sources have told the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO).

Protests over coronavirus safety fears in Ahwaz’s Sepidar and Sheiban prisons have had dire consequences for prisoners – especially political prisoners – as most of them continue to suffer from the effects and injuries of torture by security forces.

A number of political prisoners from Sheiban prison, including Mohammad Ali Amouri, Zuhair (Abdulzahra) Heleichi, Abdulemam Zayeri, Sajad Deleimi, Ali Kaab Umair, Jaber Albushokeh and Mokhtar Albushokeh were transferred to intelligence services’ headquarters in Ahwaz on March 31 following the prison protests and were subject to torture in the intelligence services secret detention centres for two weeks.

These prisoners were returned to prison on April 13 and their condition has been reported as extremely poor due to injuries from torture and they are still being held in the quarantine section of the prison.

Security forces killed at least 35 prisoners in Ahwaz’s Central and Sepidar prisons during protests over coronavirus safety fears and authorities’ refusal to grant prisoners furlough.

The prisoners demanded to be granted leave amid the coronavirus outbreak, but their requests were met with gunfire and torture, and new cases were filed against them.

Officials of the Ahwaz Central Prison, namely Sakhrawi, Azadeh and Gholamnejad forced prisoners to go to the prison yard, threatening the prisoners using firearms. The prison officials ordered soldiers to line up in the opposite rows and create a “torture tunnel for prisoners.

The prisoners were forced to walk barefoot on glass. The prison guard had poured detergent on the glass to cause prisoners burns and extra pain. As the prisoners walked on the glass, the prison guards also beat them using batons and cables from both sides. This carried on for at least 14 hours.

The use of hunting bullets wounded countless prisoners, including Abdulreza Obaidawi, who lost one of his eyes and his intestines have stopped working due to multiple injuries.

Mohammad Ali Amouri was severely tortured by the intelligence services and his health condition has been reported as particularly poor near the head and chest area. Zuhair Heleichi, Abdulemam Zayeri, Jaber Albushokeh and Mokhtar Albushokeh have also been injured and suffer from infections due to torture.

Unconfirmed reports also indicate that Fares Albushokeh, another prisoner, was killed by direct fire.

Unconfirmed reports also indicate that Fares Albushokeh, another prisoner, was shot dead by security forces.

These political prisoners have not been sent to the hospital to receive treatment for their injuries, and most of them are at risk of having even more cases filed against them by Iran’s Prisons’ Organisation as well as the Ministry of Intelligence. These prisoners have gone on a hunger strike as a result and their physical and mental condition is reported to be very poor.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO)

23 April 2020

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 23 April 2020

Death sentences have been issued against three Ahwazi activists for allegedly attacking a police headquarters in May 2017, Iran's Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced on Tuesday.

The activist sentenced to death are 27-year-old Ali Khasraji, 31-year-old Hossein Silawi, and 34-year-old Nasser Moramadhi. The latter was a police officer.

Three of the police attackers were sentenced to death, and the rest were sentenced to prison for periods ranging from five to 15 years, Esmaili said in a press conference.

In May 2017, security forces cordoned al-Malashiya neighbourhood in Ahwaz and stormed a number of Ahwazi homes.

This led to a clash between the security forces and 29-year-old Ahwazi citizen Adnan Hardani, who was killed by the security forces.

Security forces later arrested a group of Ahwazis in the city of Abbadan. The group allegedly carried out an attack against a police headquarters in Ahwaz. Security forces accused them of attempting to escape the country and flee to Iraq.

Ahwazi activists from Ahwaz have condemned the death sentences issued and stressed to the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) that the sentences were issued behind closed doors and without the presence of lawyers.

Forced confessions were also extracted from the defendants, added the activists.

AHRO calls for the repeal of these sentences and the conduct of transparent, fair and public trials for all of the accused and detainees in Ahwaz in accordance with the standards stipulated in international covenants.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO)
16 January 2020

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 16 January 2020

Iranian security forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) committed massacres that qualify as crimes against humanity by carrying field executions against Ahwazi protesters during the anti-government protests that spread across Iran last week, local sources have informed the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO).

The massacres occurred when some areas in the province of Khuzestan fell under the protesters’ control, according to the sources. Arab protesters took control of several towns and regions in the province from Saturday, November 16, until Friday, November 22, when the protesters were suppressed, say the sources.

Activists told AHRO that the special security forces used excessive force during the raid on the gatherings. The special security forces also used helicopters to send in forces to arrest protesters, particularly in the cities of Mahshahr (Ma’shour) and Shadegan (Falahiyya).

Security forces also besieged a group of young protesters from Shadegan (Falahiyya) who had escaped to the marshes in the vicinity of the city and executed about 20 of them there by shooting them.

The executions took place in retaliation for the killing of two Iranian security forces and the wounding of the city's IRGC commander during clashes with protesters, say activists.

Even more people were killed in Mahshahr (Ma’shour), where 24 protesters were killed in violent clashes with security forces and the Basij militia.

The protesters were attacked after youths responded to heavy gunfire by security forces. Initially 12 protesters were killed. Then hit-and-run operations followed during which special forces captain Reza Sayyadi was killed.

More protesters were killed when some protesters blocked the roads leading to petrochemical facilities - currently Iran's sole source of non-oil exports - as a protest against the petrochemicals company's discrimination against locals. This company systematically brings in directors, officials, contractors and workers from the rest of Iran rather than recruiting locals, denying locals employment.

Moreover, the petrochemicals company has also polluted the area, which has led to the spread of diseases and epidemics for decades.

The naval force of the IRGC based in the port of Mahshahr (Ma’shour) overlooking the Gulf, as well as the seventh brigade of the armoured force which used tanks to besiege the city, took part in the raids and shootings.

Eyewitnesses confirmed to AHRO that the protesters in the city of Ahwaz (the capital of Khuzestan province) responded to the violence practiced by the security forces during the first and second night of the protests with sit-ins, but the security forces and the IRGC started shooting and throwing tear gas at protesters and carried out indiscriminate arrests on them and beat them with sticks and batons, including women and even children.

In response to the excessive use of force by the authorities, some protesters staged sit-ins in specific areas and blocked the roads for the regime’s forces.

The protesters threw stones and closed the streets by burning tires and garbage containers and were able to take control of some areas including Kut Abdullah, Zawiyya, Zirgan, Malashiyah, al-Daera, Mandali and Shiban, according to activists.

The majority of local people sympathised with the protesters and opened their homes to them and provided them with food, medicine and basic needs. Many of them joined the protesters who were chanting against the Islamic Republic and for the release of political prisoners. Some of the chants also demanded the right of self-determination.

Ahwazi activists stressed that the burning of banks and citizens’ vehicles were carried out by the Basij militias in order to throw accusations against the peaceful protesters and justify their repression.

More than 1,000 people, including women and children were arrested, say activists, while stressing that the real figure is much higher than that as security forces and the IRGC have been using drones to monitor and identify protesters before carrying out raids and arrests.

The special security forces continue to spread fear and panic among citizens through their daily parade on motorcycles, especially in neighbourhoods where clashes have occurred.

AHRO will publish the lists of victims including the killed and arrested and all the types of human rights violations that were committed during the recent protests by the Iranian security and military forces, the IRGC, and the Basij militia.

AHRO, while condemning the field executions of Ahwazi protesters which qualify as war crimes and crimes against humanity, calls on international human rights organizations to condemn the Iranian regime and take a stance that is proportional to the atrocities committed by this regime.

AHRO also calls on the international community and the Human Rights Council to send a fact-finding committee and bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO)

27 Nov 2019

Details: Reports; Last Updated: 27 November 2019

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

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.

Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO)

20 September 2019