Roji Kurd; On the sidelines of the 36th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a Symposium titled Violations of Rights of non-Persian ethnicities by the Iranian State ‘ has been held.
The Tuesday event was organized by the Ahwazi Organization for the Defense of Human Rights and a number of other organizations from different countries including the International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Geneva International Center for Justice, the International Organization for Education and others.
Several revered figures spoke at the event, including Portugal’s Paolo Casca, former member of the European Parliament, Taher Boumedra, former representative of the UK at United Nations, Amad Al Quraishi, Political Analyst from Pakistan, Karen Parker, who attended on behalf of International Education “of the United States, and Clanuz Siddaminova, Senior Human Rights Researcher.
The speakers stressed the need to highlight the violations of Iran in the non-Persian peoples, especially in Ahwaz since such issues have been out of the limelight over the past years.
They yet stressed the clerical regime targets all the brackets of the Ahwazi people without exception. And the Iranian regime itself runs the networks of drug trafficking aimed to destroy lives of youths.
About the Iranian Kurdish human right situation, Karen Parker, said: “Execution of Kurds, Baluchis and Arabs in Iran is a political action, an act done to physically suppress them. In eight months, more than 53 of Kurds, in Iranian Kurdistan, have been executed in different prisons. The number of killed victims is certainly higher than those previously announced. Secret and unannounced group executions continue inside Iranian prisons and their family members are under pressure by the Iranian authorities.”
She also added, “inJuly and August 2017 more than 40 Kurdish people have been executed in Iran. Among the Kurds, who were executed in eight months, three women have been killed with their husbands, of which, Salahaddin and his wife Shahlam, Kurush Razayi and his wife Zeynab Hossaini. Sheikh Morad Ibrahimi, who has been executed in August 2017, had a daughter who has autism. Actually Loukman and Zaniar Moradi and Kamal Hassan Ramadan are in danger because they will be executed.
She also said: “Loukman and Zaniar have been imprisoned for 8 years in Rajayi Shahr Jail, pending execution. They have written more than four letters to Ahmad Shahid and Asime Jahangirm, but no one worries about them. During the last eight months of 2017, more than 350 Kurdish people have been arrested in different towns in Iranian Kurdistan, this high level started in the last two years. First, after “Rasan”, the Kurdish new period of military operations in Iranian Kurdistan takes their freedom. Secondly, in the last two months, after shootings at Khomeini’s tomb and Parliament.”
In June, 7 2017, the data proved that this attack was a joke, the regime started a new period of arrests and executions in Kurdistan, Baluchistan and also Al Ahwaz. In this two period of arresting in Iranian Kurdistan based on clear data, more than 800 Kurdish people in Iranian Kurdsitan have been arrested.
Also five Kurdish civil person have been killed in the last two months, because of directly shooting of Iran Regimes in Kirmanshah and meriwan, just because of doubt of Iranian Guards that they have trafficked goods, but it was not true, and they have been killed innocent.
Habib Mohebbi, Mohammad bagher qeytuli and two of their passengers have been killed in July and August 2017.
About Kurdish prisonated personsd she said: “Also Mahammad Nazari, Omar Faqipour and Khlaed Fareiduni, have been in prison for about 25 years, without the right of vacation and meeting with their families. In the past two years, especially many Kurdish women have been arrested in Iranian Kurdistan and they have been condemned to long-time prison.”
Kurdish women situation in Iran was the anthere them of her reaport: “Nashmil Sohrabi, Manizhe Fatehim, Farzaneh Abdi, Prshang Fatehi, Sara kamangar, Sahar Fayzi, Asrin Aminzadeh, Trouske Waisi, Najibeh Salihzadeh, Sara Rostami are some of these Kurdish girls that have been arrested and condemned to long-time jail. Also Sahar chouini, Sheyda Hatami, Shilan Roushandel, seyran Majidi, are Kurdish university students, who have been killed in university.
Karen Parker also saي: “The documents show that these Kurdish student activists have been killed by Basij. Also Mahdis Mirqawami, on 27 January 2017, killed himself after being arrested in Kirmanshah by Ittelaat. The documents proved that she has been raped in Ittelaat in Kirmanshah. The situation of Kurish Yarsan (a religious minority) is getting worse, recently, two of Kurdish Yarsan burnt themselves to protest against discrimination and pressures. The Human right situation in Iranian Kurdistan, Baluchistan, Al-Ahwaz, is getting worse day to day, even in Ruhani’s period this situation is worse than before. Mother tongue language is forbidden and all of promises are just the words and promise, and no hope to be better.”
Faez Rahim, President of the Ahwazi Organization for the Defense of Human Rights, said in his speech that the organization believes it is its duty to draw the attention of the audience to the human rights situation in Ahwaz and the territories of non-Persian ethnic minorities throughout Iran. He hoped that these efforts contribute in conveying a true image of the suffering of those peoples under the tyrant rule of the Iranian state.
He reiterated that the violations of the Iranian regime stretched out to several aspects of life in a systematic way. He added that it is not possible for them to record all violations of the regime, but few recorded crimes of this regime could be enough to move the conscience of the world to pay more attention to the victims of the abuses of the Iranian regime.
Rahim stated that the regime increased the pace and scale of these violations after inking the nuclear agreement with the world powers. The regime has been given more immunity to commit horrendous crimes and get away with them. The rights tycoon noted that this ill-fated deal gave Mullahs the go-ahead to commit more abuses against human rights nationwide, with a more focus on Ahwaz.
He cited the death verdicts issued by Persian courts against two Ahwazi activists. They are named Abdullah Abbas al-Kaabi and Qassem Obeid al-Kaabi. They were nabbed in October 2015. Their families were not allowed to visit them. Moreover, they were denied their right to pick defense lawyers. The sole crime of those activists is that they are insistent on peacefully resisting the practices of the Iranian regime and defending the rights of the Ahwazi people.
Yet he pressed the Iranian state’s approach in extending its control over the Ahwazi and non-Persian peoples is manifested in denying the non-Persian ethnic minorities their rights, putting restrictions on them in the economic, legal and human rights’ aspects. Prisons are packed with those who resisted injustice, including politicians, journalists, workers, farmers and even children.
According to him, the violations of the regime varied between illegal arrests, conducted without the issuance of arrest warrants, forced disappearances, coercing detainees into confessions, and denying them their rights to have defense lawyers.
He also conveyed part of the audio recording made by the political prisoner Maher al-Kaabi, who is locked up in “Ardebil” in northern Iran. The recording came out on August 24th. Kaabi, who spoke on behalf of his fellow prisoners and all political prisoners in Iran, called on the United Nations, the World Council for Human Rights, the European Union and all the organizations concerned with human rights in the world to display solidarity with those detainees to redress their injustice and to enable them to attain their right to justice.
He warned of the harsh manners pursued during investigations conducted by Iranian intelligence against the prisoner Maher al-Kaabi in response to his voice message. And the Revolutionary Court of Iran will consider the results of these investigations as a separate case from his first case.
He also cited the Persian policies aimed to spread illiteracy among the non-Persian peoples. The regime turned Fateh primary school located in al-Thawra neighborhood west of Ahwaz into an intelligence headquarters. This school is one of a few others serving the densely-populated neighborhood.
On the environment, Rahim revealed Ahwaz, which has five major rivers, has been suffering from water shortage in the past few years, as a result of the diversion of these rivers to Iranian regions and governorates outside Al-Ahwaz for political and economic purposes. This devastated the agricultural sector in the area.
He pointed to the rampant unemployment among the Ahwazis because of the lack of opportunities in the departments, companies, and factories across Ahwaz as a result of the policy of apartheid adopted by Iranian officials.
He cited statistics published by some Iranian circles indicating that 30 thousand citizens of Ahwaz migrated from the villages of Falahiyeh town south of Ahwaz in five years due to the policies of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing in Ahwaz.
The Ahwazi figure said these violations make up no more than five percent of the total abuses perpetrated by the Mullahs. And he explained that the non-Persian peoples, who make up the majority of the populations inside Iran, who live in bad circumstances compared to the Persian minority who wrested control over power.
Rahim concluded his speech reviewing the demands of the Ahwazis under occupation, including namely the right to self-determination, the right to establish and form non-governmental organizations, the right to form political parties, the right to education in the mother tongue, the right to choose religion and the freedom of expression.
He called on the participants in the meetings and conferences of the current session of the United Nations General Assembly to issue a strong condemnation of the violations of the rights of non-Persian peoples by the Iranian regime, to pressure them into allowing international human rights organizations to visit prisons so as to reach out to the political prisoners sentenced to death and those handed down long sentences with unfair trials.
Jamal PorrkarimB, Kurdish politic activist and Helmet Maroufi, the manager of Kurdistan Human Right organization- Rojhelat (Mirovayeti) participated in this panel.
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