UNPO Call to Stop Public Executions of Ahwazi Arabs in Iran
Among the 11 ethnic Arab-Iranian (Ahwazi-Arabs) rights activists, just Monday, November 13, 2006, Saeed Hamedan confessed to insurgency on Iranian TV, indicating that he will be among the executed. Unlike the other ten sentenced to die, he has not been sentenced by Iranian courts, making his execution the consequence of an illegal summary judgment by Iranian authorities. All 11 Ahwazi Arabs were convicted after one-day secret trials that were internationally condemned. Early Monday, the forced confessions of the 10 convicted Ahwazi Arabs, among the 19 Ahwazis convicted for mohareb (enmity with God) after being originally convicted of terrorism offences, were broadcast on Iranian television.
British and European Parliamentary members contacted by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) - including Green MEPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert, Labour MP Chris Bryant, and Conservative MP Michael Gove - condemned the executions and urged the European Commission to take action immediately. Not only were confessions obtained under torture, but the ten men were denied access to their lawyers, and many of their lawyers were arrested for complaints regarding the unfair, secret trials. Two Ahwazis among those sentenced to death were in prison, serving time for the crime of insurgency, when the bomb attacks they were allegedly involved in occurred. The Iranian Judiciary failed to provide dates and details of the trials of 9 of the convicted men.
Dr. Lucas stated that the policy of the Iranian government towards the Ahwazi Arabs was one of ethnic cleansing, and asked the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) to investigate the systematic practice of imprisoning and executing Ahwazis. The Ahwazis, an indigenous Arab group, comprise 3 percent of
UNPO remains deeply concerned about the imminent executions and the ongoing situation for the Ahwazi Arabs in
- urge Iran to stop the execution of the 11 convicted men and grant fair trials to the 19 men convicted of the bombing;
-call upon the Iranian government to cease its execution of
-address the issue of unfair trials and extrajudicial and summary executions of the indigenous