[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 11




IRAN:

Urgent Appeal to EU Foreign Affairs Chief over Iran Executions



The Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation has issued the following appeal to
Javier Solana, High Representative for the EU's Common Foreign and
Security Policy, over continuing executions and human rights violations
against Ahwazis by the Iranian regime:

We are writing to inform you of the imminent execution of 10 ethnic
Arab-Iranian (Ahwazi Arab) youth in Ahwaz, provincial capital of Khuzestan
in southwestern Iran.

On June 7 and 8 the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Ahwaz, in secret
trials, sentenced these human rights activists to death. They are awaiting
the execution order from the Supreme Court in Tehran. Their names are as
follows:
1. Yahia Nasseri
2. Nazem Boraihi
3. Abdolemam Zaeri
4. Abdolzahar olichi
5. Hamza Sawaeri
6. Jafar Sawari
7. Reisan Sawari
8. Abdolreza Nawaseri
9. Ali Helfi
10. Zamel Bawi

After the public hanging of Ali Afrawi (age 17) and Mehdi Nawaseri (20
years old) in Ahwaz and seven other political prisoners inside prisons in
March and April of this year, the Iranian regime is once again embarking
on a new wave of executions of Ahwazi Arabs.

Last month, Prosecutor-General Iraj Amirkhani, in an interview with
Iranian official news agency ISNA, announced that 22 Ahwazi Arab political
activists had been arrested and are expected to be tried and sentenced to
death. These men, like the 10 named above, are also being tried in secret
without the presence of independent observers. They are accused of being
"Mohareb" or enemies of god which carries death sentence. Other charges
are "Destablizing the Country", "attempt to overthrow the government",
"possession of home made bombs" and "sabotage of oil installations".
However, no evidence has been presented. The government has accused them
of working as agents for the US, the UK and Israel, and claimed they have
received training in Iraq. Again, the regime has failed to produce any
evidence.

This brings the Ahwazi men who face death and risk of executions to thirty
two. This number includes three brothers, university students, who are
among a number of activists listed below:
1. Imad Bawi
2. Mohsen Bawi
3. Taregh Obiat
4. Dr Awdeh Afrawi
5. Tarigh Obeyat
6. Ali Manbouhi
7. Jallil Bureihi
8. Hadi Bateyli
9. Mohammad Sawari
10. Moslem Al-Ha'
11. Saeed Hameydan
12. Abdulamam M Zaeri
13. Abdulzahra Khazali
14. Hamzeh Lefteh
15. Aliredha Salman Delfi
16. Ali Matouri-Zadeh

We are also concerned about the arrest of the wives and young children of
political activists in what appears to be an attempt to pressure them into
making false confessions or returning from exile. Ali Matourzadeh and his
wife Fahima Ismaili Badawi have been detained since February 28; Fahima
gave birth to their daughter, Salma, in Sepidar Prison in Ahwaz in March.
Matourzadeh is founder of the reformist Hizb-i Vifaq (Unity Party). His
whereabouts are unknown, while his wife and daughter are being held at
Sepidar Prison in Khuzestan Province. Amnesty International has suggested
Fahima and Salma are being held in order to force Ali Matourzadeh to
cooperate and the group demanded their unconditional release.
Other recently arrested Ahwazi women and children are:

1. Ma'soumeh Ka'abi (f) and her sons Imad (m), aged 4, she is the wife of
political activists, Habib Nabgan. (Released and re-arrested several
times).

2. Sograh Khudayrawi (f) and her son Zeidan (m) aged 4. Her husbands name
is Khalaf Khudayrawi, who is currently being held at Sepidar Prison.

3. Sakina Naisi (f), mother of five and wife of Ahwazi opposition activist
Ahman Naisi.

4. Hoda Hawashem (f) and her son Osameh (m), aged 2 and her other son
Ahmad (m), aged 4 and wife of opposition activist, Habib Faraj-allah.

Iran and its ally Syria are also violating the Geneva Conventions on
refugees by returning or threatening to return Ahwazi refugees registered
with the UNHCR back to Iran, where they face arrest and likely torture and
execution. Iranian Arab refugee Saeed Awda al-Saki was arrested on 11 May
in the Syrian capital, Damascus, at the request of the Iranian
authorities. He was forcibly returned to Iran three days later and now is
held incommunicado at an undisclosed place. Saeed Awda al-Saki, is
registered and recognized as a political refugee by the UNHCR. According
to Amnesty International he is also facing torture and ill-treatment, and
possibly death sentence.

Under pressure from Iran, on May 11, 2005, eight Ahwazi men were detained
by the Syrian authorities. These are all mandate holder political
refugees, registered and recognized by UNHCR in Syria:
1. Mousa Sawari
2. Issa Alyassin
3. Gamal Obaidy
4. Ahmad Abiat
5. Taher Ali Mazraeh
6. Rasool Mezrea'
7. Faleh 'Abdullah al-Ansuri
8. Jamal 'Abdawi
Three of the above have been released and four remain in detention in
Syria.

Since the Ahwazi Intifada (uprising) began on April 15, 2005, more than
25,000 Ahwazis have been detained, at least 131 have been executed and
over 150 have "disappeared" (believed to have been tortured and killed by
Iranian security forces). Confiscation of Ahwazi Arab farmland, forced
displacement and other measures of ethnic cleansing and ethnic
restructuring are other examples of repression and persecution of Arab
ethnic minority in Iran. Iranian authorities level accusations against the
US, UK and Israel as the cause of Ahwazi demands for democracy, social and
economic justice.

We urge you and the Council of EU to take immediate action to prevent the
executions of these political prisoners.

Links:
Iran: Retry Ethnic Arabs Condemned to Death - 24 June
UNPO Urgent Appeal Concerning Ahwazi Executions
Ahwazis face arrest, deportation and execution - 1 June
Amnesty International: Eleven Ahwazis Face Execution - 17 May
Iran prepares for new round of executions in Ahwaz - 13 May
Executed: Young Men Hung by Iranian Tyrants - 2 March
Iran prepares to execute tribal family - 19 February
Iran sentences seven over Ahwaz bombings - 15 February
Iran increases repression in Ahwaz - 8 February
Ahwaz Bombings Come After Weeks of Unrest - 24 January

(source:  British Ahwazi Friendship Society)