On Wednesday 2 May, Executive Director of Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) -Brussels was verbally and physically abused my a pro-Iranian government Professor Mr.Abolfazl Beheshti. After the screening of the documentary “The Deminer” during “One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival “ in Brussels. A panel was held to discuss the movie which was centred on demining in Iraq. During the Q&A Shima Silavi from Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation asked representative of United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC). The Reason why no funds are dedicated to demining missions in southern and south-western borders of Iran where thousands of land mines from Iraq-Iran war are left untouched and everyday Kurdish and Arab children fall victims of land mines. In repose UNRIC responded that: “The Iranian government has to make such demand and according to that United Nation can dedicate fund to demining and currently there has not been a demand. Iraq and Syria are the current priorities for United Nations.” At the end of the panel a person who introduced himself as “Abolfazl Beheshti”, professor of International relations and Vice-President of European Network for Environment and Sustainable Development (ENESD) criticised Silavi for her comment. Beheshti verbally and physically abused AHRO’s representative in Brussels stating “you are a traitor and liar” “The Deminer” directed by the Swidish-Kurdish directors Hogir Hirori and Shinwar Kamal is a documentary about the late Major. “Fakher Berwari”, a Kurdish deminer who defused thousands of land mines and road bombs single handedly sacrificing his own life. Major “Berwari” passed away in 2014 during a demining mission. The Reaction and the physical abuse of Mr.Beheshti who introduced himself as Iranian embassy employee is a clear attack on the freedom of speech and demonstrates the extent of the violence of Iranian government supporters. Harassment of Ahwazi Arab and Kurdish and other Iranian political and human rights activists by Iranian government embassy agents in European countries is not acceptable. Iranian government has a long and dark history in assassination and intimation of its opponents outside its borders. Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation Team fully supports Ms.Silavi’s decision in case she decides to press charges against Mr.Bhehshti. Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO) 3 May 2018
click here and watch the speech of Mona Silavi fromAhwazi women organisation "Napiraso" speaks at 10th UN Forum on #MinorityIssues 1 Dec 2017 As I understand this Forum is intended to be a dialogue, so I will put my speech aside and I would say do not get surprised if we minorities get nervous if we do not get our 2 minutes. Most of minorities here which work as NGOs are denied ECOSOC status, so only once a year for 2 minutes we have the chance to speak. For this reason we get nervous if we do not get our 2 minutes. We get nervous if we can not talk within the subject that have been chosen for this forum, because it is hard for me to know there is a young Ahwazi waiting for execution while Iam sitting here and talking about social media. It is hard Believe me it is hard. I am happy that Iranian delegation is here , I would like them to take note of this name Yousef son of Abbas silavi , my father, victim of enforced disappearance since 2009 .
He was lost and last seen in my homeland of Ahwaz. It makes wonder, Iran a country with more than 12 parallel security service bodies, why can not they provide us with any information about one Arab citizen that went missing years ago.
If my father is not kidnaped due to political motivation then why my mother is denied a passport to leave the country? I hope that they can give me some answers because my mother keeps on searching relentlessly and authorities inside Iran do not give her any information.
So please excuse us minorities if we get nervous if we want our 2 minutes. We are denied the ECOSOC, so we can not enter UN to speak out loud about our problems.
For the first time minorities from all around the world gathered to make their own United Nations (UNPO) Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation which has more than 40 minority members and even this NGO is denied the ECOSOC. We minorities have been working together since 1991 when UN had not yet recognised the right of minorities. This forum started its work only 10 years ago in 2007. So excuse us if we talk politics! Please let me use my 2 minute to express my opinion freely.
Let me tell the Iranian delegation that I can provide them with detailed reports of Ahwazi Arab students that can not study because there are no schools in their villages despite the fact that there are huge oil wells in the backyard of their houses, and they have to deal with the oil spill that destroys their farms and kills their animals and poisons their water.
I do not believe the claim that Iran does not have enough resources to combat these issues. According to UN reports, Iranian government spent up to 15 billion$ a year for the past 6 years in order to keep Bashar Assad in power . These resources are the right of Iranian people that should be spend in development and respect the right of every citizens.
Speech by Mr.Qusay Doraghi the representative of the Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz (DSPA): click here and watch the speech. Ahwazi Arabs in Iran are faced with discrimination in the Iranian civil service.According to the university of ahwaz less than 1% high administrative positions granted to ahwazi arabs in the province! This means that almost 70% of the populations of Ahwaz region (the Arabs) held back of the key and important governmental positions due to their ethnicity. With inadequate political representation, the Ahwazi Arabs are unable to address the injustices faced by their people in the economic, cultural, political and judicial sphere. Indigenous Ahwazi Arab students drop out of schools at a rate of 30% at elementary level, 50% at secondary and 70% at high school because they are forced to study the “official language”, Farsi, a language which is not their’s Ahwazi-Arab people have been subjected to a forcible population transfer program. In the past 15 years 1.2 million Ahwazis have been forcefully displaced into central provinces whilst 1.5 million non-Indigenous Persians were relocated into government-funded resettlement towns such as Ramin, 1, 2, 3, and Shirin-Shahr in Arab cities in Ahwaz region. More than 6,000 hectares of my tribes - Ahwazi farmland north of Shush which has been taken to “resettle the faithful non-indigenous Persians”, according to directives by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Revolutionary Corp Command. Ahwazis cannot realize their economics, social and cultural rights unless the Iranian state respects Ahwazi arab minority collective rights and allow us internal autonomy to build our civil society and develop our cultures, languages, histories and economies. At the end i would say that, We as AHWAZI youth would like to be known as a nation whom concerned about freedom, equality, justice and prosperity for all the people in the world particularly in Iran.
Speaker : Mr. Hamid ATIYEH - Ahwaz Studies Centre PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF MINORITIES YOUTH RIGHTS click here and watch the speech. Side event in Human Rights Council,Tenth session – 30 November -1 December 2017_ Genev I am speaking on behalf of Ahwazi-Arab youth minority group in Iran. Ahwzi-Arabs or Arab minorities in Iran suffer from denial of thier identity Residing mainly in the southwest of Iran – their population is estimated to be 5-7 millions or some 10% of the population. the region name was changed by iranian government in 1936 from Arabistan to the Khuzestan – this was done to deny their Arab identity of the region. Arab-majority Khuzestan accounts for up to 90% of Iran’s oil revenue- yet Ahwazis live in abject poverty.
young ahwazis are subjected to stereotype and government media is enforcing the negative image of young arab men and women systemically. for example arab young portrait as uneducated , emotional and criminals and for women are mostly shown as dispred, unable to control her life. young minority youth don't have real representation in the political life within iran, and arab community never had a political party to reflect their demands. the political activities is banned and even count as a crime. civil activists been detained and subjected to arbitrary arrest for example the Iranian security services arrested number of ahwazi youngs due to their activities in the field of promoting Arab culture and organising cultural events to preserve the Arabic identity in the face of Iranian government systematic forced assimilation of Arabs in Iran, as well as civil activities such as the assistance of the victims of the floods that hit (Alahwaz). Despite of the high number of unemployment between educated young Ahwazis and lack of personals in the education section in the Ahwaz. in last governmental work appointment in the section of education in Al-ahwaz only less than 10 percent of assigned personals were from arabs . respecting the language right is cornerstone concern the minorities all around the world and in iran as well. iran has only one official language. And no mother tongue in the education system is allowed. Even activist from all minority groups have subjected to persecution for demanding the implementation of the article 15 in iranian constitution which refer to right of minorities to study in their language. Speaking in arabic in class room between students are forbidden, last month a teacher punished to girls in the classroom for speaking arabic. So not only studying in mother tongue is forbidden , not only speaking in arabic lead to discrimination and punishment , but even teachers from locals areas are not appointed in the region. Administration of education this years past new regulations for teachers. According to those regulations minorities can not be a teacher, because they speak Persian with accent from the mother tongue. so in the end, unless this centric , nation state governing change to inclusive , decentralized system the discrimination of the minorities will continue and will escalate which nobody can predict how will finish. we young of ahwazi arabs aside other minorities in iran hope for better future base on mutual respect.
Middle East Forum for Development co-organised a panel event on 27th of February together with the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion or Belief titled ‘The Persecution of Religious and Ethnic Minorities in Iran’. The speakers included Dr Ahmed Shaheed, current UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights situation in Iran; Mosa Zahed, executive director of Middle East Forum for Development; Amir Saedi, representative of Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation UK; a representative of Iran’s Christian minority and Paulo Casaca, executive director of Alliance to Renew Co-operation among Humankind.
Among attendance were officials from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, a representative of the US Embassy in London, Members of Parliament and representatives of various human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Open Doors UK and Middle East Concern. Also in attendance were members of Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran (CNFI), representing Iranian Kurds, Ahwazi Arabs and the Baloch people of Iran , in addition to Ahwazi Arab lawyers and activists .
in his speech ,Amir Saedi the director of Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation in Uk underscored that Iran’s minority groups “have not been accorded equal citizenship and their ethnicity or religion are not officially acknowledged [by the authorities].” He emphasised that “Arabs in Iran are caught in between an unfortunate phenomenon; they are subjected to racism due to historical Persian-Arab animosity.”
“Ahwazi Arabs have been one of the excluded constituent nationalities and socio-economically, among the most oppressed and rank at the bottom” and further stressed that “the Arab-populated border cities destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war have largely remained untouched. The regime damned and diverted the water of our rivers such as Karun to non-Arab areas of Isfahan, Yazd and Kerman while Khuzestan severely suffers from a shortage of [clean] drinking water.”
Full text of Mr.Saedi’s speech :
Good afternoon Ladies and gentlemen and distinguished gusts.
My Name is Amir Saedi and I am the director of Ahwaz Human Rights Organization in UK. My especial gratitude to the honorable Mr. Paulo Casaca and Mr. Mosa Zahed of Middle East Forum, he All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group, and other organizers of this event.
Iran is the most diverse country in the region. A multinational state that is comprised of six major nationalities including Arabs, Baluchis, Kurds, Persians, Turks, Turkmen and smaller groups of other ethnic/linguistic and tribal groups. No one ethnic group has a numerical majority. Iran is also home to Sunnis, Christians, Jews, Bahis, manadis and others. These ethnic and religious groups comprise at least 50 to and by some estimates 2/3 of the society. Yet these groups has not been accorded equal citizenship – their ethnicity and/or their religion are not being officially acknowledged. Constitutionally, Persian language is the sole official language, and –Jafari Shiais is the offcially-santioned religion all other are ignored, oppressed, negated or at best marginalized. According to to Mr. Hajbabaei, former deputy minster of education, only 30% of Iranian students entering first grade speak Farsi. An Iranian Shia and Fras/Persian is by default have been positioned in a great advantage and dominance visa-a-vis non-Persian nationalities – in multinational, multilingual and multicultural Iran.
Using Shia theology and Persian literature, history, language and the education, the system, strategically and deliberately, privileged one ethnic group over others, thus creating socio-economic inequality, exclusion and oppression thereby stifling any chance of democratic transformation.
Promoting aggressive nationalism in Iran often times manifest itself in anti-Arab racism and sometimes against Iranian Turks, Kurds and Baloch and non-Muslims such as Baha’is, and Sunnis and other minorities. Arabs in Iran are caught in between an unfortunate phenomenon; they are subjected to racism due to historical Persian-Arab animosity. Ahwazi-Arabs have been one of the excluded constituent nationalities and Socio-economically, among the most oppressed and rank at the bottom. There can’t be equality in citizenship if you do not speak the language of the court and the state.
Residing mainly in the southwest of Iran, the Ahwazi -Arabs are one of Iran’s most disadvantaged and persecuted ethnic groups. Arabs estimated to be between 5-7 million or about 10% of the population who live in the southwestern region of Iran, in the province of Khuzestan or as called by its indigenous name, eghlim Al-Ahwaz or Arabistan. The regime changed the Arabic name to Persian one to deny the Ahwazis their Arab identity – a durable solution would be to change to its original name, Arabistan.
Ahwazis are an ethnic, national and linguistic minority in Iran. Historically, this indigenous Arab community has been marginalized, excluded and discriminated against by successive governments in Iran. The province accounts for up to 90% of Iran’s oil GDP. Also 80% of Iranian wealth comes from our land- allocate some portion of the oil revenue to the region through legislation.
Ahwazi Arabs are subjected to a mixture of Persianisation, forced migration, violent political repression and economic exclusion – The regime has been resisting a proposal to establish a quota of 33% (1/3) employment for the local natives.
The Ahwazi Arab Nation in Iran has not been allowed to participate in running its own affairs. It does not have local or genuine national representation. The Arab minority in Iran is totally deprived of its civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights - a durable solution would be to allow local governance with representation from Ahwazis. Khuzestan’s political, military and security commanders, officers, mayors and all high and mid-level government officials of Khuzestan have consistently been appointed from non-Arab areas – allow local employment in government
Among Ahwazis, the illiteracy rate is 4 times the national average. And unemployment is 6 times the national average. Arabic and all other non-Persian languages such as Kurdish, Turkish and Balch are banned therefore denying them their linguistic rights and the competitiveness in the job market- Implement Iran articles 15 and 19 by allowing local Arabic mother language to be though in elementary schools
While Khuzestan oil from funds 90% of Iranian economy, Arabs live in abject poverty and do not share the riches of their land- and no part of this oil- zero%- has been allocated to them- There are not hired in the oil and gas companies- No employment quota is imposed on foreign companies to hires local Arabs, despite repeated demands by the local population.
Their demands for basic human rights, including education in mother tongue, social and economic justice has often been labeled as "separatist”, “secessionist”, “Wahabis” or called “stooges of foreign countries” or “danger to territorial integrity”.
The Islamic Republic government continues the forced resettlement policy to force the Arab population out of Arabistan by providing economic incentives and enticements to re-settle non- Arab population on the expropriated Arab farmlands.
The Arab-populated border cities destroyed during the Iran-Iraq war have largely been untouched. The regime dammed and diverted the water of our rivers such Karun to non-Arab areas, of Isfahan, Yazd and Kerman while Khuzestan severely suffers from shortage of drinking waters.
The regime does not permit any genuine Arabic newspapers and media in Arab-majority Khuzestan. Now, as in the previous regime, governor general of Khuzestan, all other province’s political, military and security commanders and officers, mayors and all high and mid-level government officials of Khuzestan have consistently been appointed from non-Arabs outside of the native Arab population.
Often, the Iranian government authorities in the Khuzestan refuse to register and issue birth identity cards to Arab newborn-babies, who do not assume Persian or Shiite names. Names of cities, towns, villages, rivers and other geographical landmarks were changed from Arabic to Persian during the previous Pahalavi regimes. These historical Arabic names existed for centuries. The regime refuses to consent to the Ahwazi Arabs’ request to change the names of these landmarks back to their historical Arabic names.
This regime, like the previous one in Iran, prevents any public mention of the Ahwazi Arab minority population. It has imposed a silence and news blockades in the national and international media against the existence of Arabs in Iran.
Iranian government in the past 8 years, a ironically in the past year since the election of Mr. Rouhani, intensified its campaign of repression against Arab freedom fighters, human rights and political activists and students by publically executing over 30 activists including writers, poets, high school teacher Mr. Shabani, Rasehedi.
Notwithstanding all the oppression, various Ahwaz-Arab political parties as well as Ahwazi-Arab confederation of tribal leaders are against and reject all forms of terrorism and violence. They struggle for the establishments of a civil society and strengthening the principles of democratic values.
Good or bad, defeat and suppression of various anti-regime democratic movements in Iran has proven that
All constituent members of Iranian society must participants in any democratic transformation. The recent June 2009 Green movement that remained confined to the capital Tehran and was crushed has shown that unless the movement can expand and spread throughout the country to the Turkish, Kurdish, Arab, Balochi and Turmen regions, the chances of any democratic transformation will be a challenging one - that is these oppressed ethnic, linguistics and religious minorities, along the women, students, youth and workers, will play a critical role in future of Iran.
for more information about the panel please click on the lick below :
The conference was organized with the collaboration of UNPO (Unrepresented Nation and People Organization) , the Assyrian Women’s Federation of Sweden and Kati Piri MEP from Social Democratic party in EU parliament.
On 24th of November Ahwaz Human Right Organization participated in 8th session of UN forum on Minority issues ,which discussed the key factors that create and perpetuate vulnerability of minority groups and their exposure to the arbitrary or discriminatory exercise of police powers, including structural discrimination. Mr.Jaber Ahmad made his speech and spoke about his own experience with Iranian government
On Thursday ,24th of September 2015 ,the representative of Südwind Human Rights organization and Ahwaz Human Rights Organization AHRO brought up Yousef Silavi case in United Nation ,during the Human Rights Council on the rights of indigenous people.
Südwind representative made a complaint on behalf of the daughter of Mr.Silavi who was present during the meeting of the human right council and appealed to exercise pressure on Iranian authorities to uncover the faith of the Ahwazi citizen who has been kidnapped from his home in Ahwaz in 2009.
