Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)
Ref.IMHRO.60
29/06/09
The latest meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Security (SCO) in Russia regarding the security situation in Iran is a major cause of concern for Iranian minorities.
Iran Corporation with SCO is not only against minorities in Iran but is threatening world security. In the long term it could cause another cold war.
Chinese, Russian, and Belarusian companies have made major investments in the oil and gas industries, ignoring environmental concerns. And it is not only oil and gas.
“The Iranian government already allows Russia to have great influence on security issues in Iran. IMHRO can confirm that the Ervand Free Zone project in the southwest of Iran in the Ahwaz area is, in fact, a cover-up of a Russian interception station for US forces in Iraq. “There is, reportedly, highly sensitive equipment installed on those sites”, Reza Washahi told IMHRO.
The Iranian government is planning to build two more nuclear reactors in the Ahwaz area. Chemical and Biological weapons factories are reported being built in Kurdistan, Ahwaz and Azerbaijan. Training camps in various parts of Ahwaz, Kurdistan and Baluchistan have been set up to train terrorists and militia with the purpose of harming neighbouring countries.
“Minorities in Iran do not want to be blamed for the destructive ambitions of the Iranian government. They want to live in peace with the world. They have enough challenges with poverty and the oppression of the Iranian government”
The Iranian government should stop these projects in minority neighbourhoods. They would have great environmental impact on minorities.
IMHRO appeals to the International community to put pressure on Iran regarding these activities.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Sunday, 28 June 2009
CNN: Feared Basij militia has deep history in Iranian conflict
They may wear a uniform, or ordinary street clothes. Their numbers are unclear. They rush the streets with brute strength.
They are the Basij, Iran's volunteer paramilitary group that for more than a week has cracked down on the thousands of protesters in the bloody aftermath of the Islamic republic's disputed presidential election.
Amateur video shows members of the Basij, wearing plain shirts and pants and wielding clubs and hoses, dispersing protesters and beating a handful of Iranians at a time.
"The Basij militia forces tried to break up the demonstrations using batons, electric shock and water cannons," a student in Tehran, whose name was withheld for his safety, told CNN's Don Lemon on Sunday. The student said he was injured at a protest by the feared militia.
Monday's demonstrators dismissed a warning from the Revolutionary Guard that people who "disturb the peace and stand up to security forces" would be met with a strong response. "The guardians of the Islamic revolution and the courageous Basiji together with the security forces are following the orders of the supreme leader and following him unquestioningly," the Guard said, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
While the Basij -- the word means "mobilization" in the Farsi language -- is often described by outsiders as shadowy and mysterious, Iranians have had run-ins with the militia for three decades.
The Basij was established in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who famously declared that Iran could never be destroyed with a 20-million-man militia. Khomeini, who ushered in the Islamic revolution that ousted Iran's ruling shah 30 years ago, felt that his country suffered from Western influences that the shah embraced.
He created the Basij as a popular auxiliary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, a military unit under the direct control of Iran's supreme leader, to defend the principles of the movement.
The group, at least at first, was made up of men either too old or young to serve in the Revolutionary Guard. Until now, they were perhaps best known for the "human wave" attacks during the Iran-Iraq war that reportedly cleared out minefields for the professional military. Many of the Basij reportedly received plastic keys to wear around their necks like dog tags, marking their entry to "paradise" when they died in martyrdom.
"Basij members made up with zeal what they lacked in military professionalism," said Michael Eisenstadt, a senior fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program.
After the Iran-Iraq war, the Basij returned to its role as an internal security force to enforce Islamic morality. While Iran in recent years has claimed more than 12 million in the ranks of the group, Middle East experts put the figure closer to 300,000 -- though they concede it's difficult to quantify a sprawling militia that has full-time and reservist cadres.
The militia is known to recruit members from rural and urban areas and to organize mainly at mosques around Tehran and other major cities. Watch report on Basij militia »
"Through the mosques, they have funds, ideological and political indoctrination and military training," said Ali Alfoneh, a fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute who has researched the relationship between Iranian civilians and the Revolutionary Guard.
The Basij has had a growing role since 2003, when it was beefed up as a first line of defense amid suspicions of a possible U.S.-led invasion, Eisenstadt said
"I think cannon fodder is a fair way to characterize them," said Eisenstadt, who noted the militia seems to emerge during the initial moments of an uprising as the Revolutionary Guard and law enforcement forces organized their reaction. See timeline of events in Iran »
"I think cannon fodder is a fair way to characterize them," said Eisenstadt, who noted the militia seems to emerge during the initial moments of an uprising as the Revolutionary Guard and law enforcement forces organized their reaction. See timeline of events in Iran »
While experts say there is a hardline ideological core to Basij, its members, who often come from lower-class backgrounds, are attracted to the perks that the Basij (and its superior agency, the Revolutionary Guard) has to offer: a little cash, a seat at a university and a bit of authority.
"Not every single one is devout, not every single one is ready to kill," said Alfoneh, a native of Iran.
The Basij noticeably took the lead in crowd control last week when tens of thousands of Iranian demonstrators spilled into the streets of Tehran to protest the presidential election. Iran's election authority declared hardline incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner of the presidential race, sparking outrage in supporters of popular opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi.
"The first people who were really available were the Basij," Eisenstadt told CNN. "There are Basij bases throughout the city and beyond, and they were able to respond quickly."
As the government got a handle on the massive demonstrations in recent days, the Basij remains present and vigilant in the aftermath of the June 12 election.
Badi Badiozamani, an Iran analyst, has sifted through scores of amateur video from the frontlines of the protests. Dozens of those clips show Basij members, wearing black shirts and pants or plainclothes with camouflaged vests, detaining young men outside their homes as their mothers and sisters scream in the background.
Badi Badiozamani, an Iran analyst, has sifted through scores of amateur video from the frontlines of the protests. Dozens of those clips show Basij members, wearing black shirts and pants or plainclothes with camouflaged vests, detaining young men outside their homes as their mothers and sisters scream in the background.
One clip shows a young man whose head is hooded in a dark cloth, squatting behind a car, while another man is shown face down with his hands tied behind his back.
"We saw that these forces took the detained person out into the alley, and into an unmarked car," Badiozamani said. "Today I saw again Basijis grab a young man, put him on a unmarked motorcycle and take him away."
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
guardian: Iran bans election protest footballers
Their gesture attracted worldwide comment and drew the attention of football fans to Iran's political turmoil. Now the country's authorities have taken revenge by imposing life bans on players who sported green wristbands in a recent World Cup match in protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.
According to the pro-government newspaper Iran, four players – Ali Karimi, 31, Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, Hosein Ka'abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 – have been "retired" from the sport after their gesture in last Wednesday's match against South Korea in Seoul.
They were among six players who took to the field wearing wristbands in the colour of the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, which has been adopted by demonstrators who believe the 12 June election was stolen.
Most of the players obeyed instructions to remove the armwear at half-time, but Mahdavikia wore his green captain's armband for the entire match. The four are also said to have been banned from giving media interviews.
The fate of the other two players who wore the wristbands is unknown. None of the team members were given back their passports upon returning to Tehran after the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw – a result that ended Iran's hopes of qualifying for next year's tournament.
Karimi is one of Iranian football's best-known stars, having played for the German club Bayern Munich. Ka'abi played for Leicester City for several months during the 2007/8 season. Hashemian and Mahdavikia play for the German teams Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt.
The gesture acutely embarrassed Iranian officials. The team's chief administrative officer, Mansour Pourhiedari, initially claimed the wristbands had been intended as a religious tribute to a revered Shia figure in the hope that it would deliver a victory on the pitch.
Iran's hardline media have since linked the protest to the arrest on Saturday of Mohsen Safayi Farahani, who headed the country's football governing body under the former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami. He is one of several dozen opposition politicians, intellectuals and journalists to have been detained.
Hezbollah, a pro-Ahmadinejad website, accused Farahani, a member of the pro-reform Islamic participation front, of bribing the players to wear the symbols. Farahani was one of several prominent figures accused by Ahmadinejad of corruption during the recent election campaign.
Ahmadinejad, a known football fan, has taken a close interest in the sport's affairs. In 2006 Iran was banned from international competition by the world governing body Fifa after claims of improper interference by his government. The ban was later lifted.
This year the national team coach Ali Daei was sacked, reportedly on Ahmadinejad's orders, after a 2-1 home defeat by Saudi Arabia.
According to the pro-government newspaper Iran, four players – Ali Karimi, 31, Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, Hosein Ka'abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 – have been "retired" from the sport after their gesture in last Wednesday's match against South Korea in Seoul.
They were among six players who took to the field wearing wristbands in the colour of the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, which has been adopted by demonstrators who believe the 12 June election was stolen.
Most of the players obeyed instructions to remove the armwear at half-time, but Mahdavikia wore his green captain's armband for the entire match. The four are also said to have been banned from giving media interviews.
The fate of the other two players who wore the wristbands is unknown. None of the team members were given back their passports upon returning to Tehran after the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw – a result that ended Iran's hopes of qualifying for next year's tournament.
Karimi is one of Iranian football's best-known stars, having played for the German club Bayern Munich. Ka'abi played for Leicester City for several months during the 2007/8 season. Hashemian and Mahdavikia play for the German teams Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt.
The gesture acutely embarrassed Iranian officials. The team's chief administrative officer, Mansour Pourhiedari, initially claimed the wristbands had been intended as a religious tribute to a revered Shia figure in the hope that it would deliver a victory on the pitch.
Iran's hardline media have since linked the protest to the arrest on Saturday of Mohsen Safayi Farahani, who headed the country's football governing body under the former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami. He is one of several dozen opposition politicians, intellectuals and journalists to have been detained.
Hezbollah, a pro-Ahmadinejad website, accused Farahani, a member of the pro-reform Islamic participation front, of bribing the players to wear the symbols. Farahani was one of several prominent figures accused by Ahmadinejad of corruption during the recent election campaign.
Ahmadinejad, a known football fan, has taken a close interest in the sport's affairs. In 2006 Iran was banned from international competition by the world governing body Fifa after claims of improper interference by his government. The ban was later lifted.
This year the national team coach Ali Daei was sacked, reportedly on Ahmadinejad's orders, after a 2-1 home defeat by Saudi Arabia.
Monday, 22 June 2009
MNN: Five more Christians arrested by Iranian Security officers
Iran (MNN) ― Adding to the recent arrest of two Christian Iranian women, Iranian security forces recently raided an underground church in Karaji and arrested five Muslim converts to Christianity.
Among them was the church leader, Javad Abtahi. During the raid, plainclothes security officers confiscated several Bibles and then handcuffed the Iranian Christians and took them to an unknown location.
Jonathan Racho, regional manager for Africa and the Middle East with International Christian Concern, said, “We believe that the latest arrest shows that there is a spike in persecution against Christians in Iran.” This “clamp down on Christians,” as he called it as well, also includes the arrest of two Iranian women, Marzieh and Maryam, back on March 5.
The location of these women is known as they are being held in the “notorious Evin prison,” Racho said. The prison is located in Tehran, the capital and largest city of Iran.
Since the five Christians were arrested, there still has been no news as to their location. A relative of one of the five asked official for a location, but the official would not give them the information.
“There is no news about their release, so we assume that they are still imprisoned,” Racho said. Thus, he said they believe the Christians could be facing any sort of hardship at the hands of the Iranian officials.
Racho recently said, speaking to ASSIST News, “Iran should refrain from invading Christian houses, arresting converts and confiscating their properties. Iran must allow its citizens to choose what religion to follow. We call upon Iranian officials to release the five Christians arrested in Karaji as well as Marzieh and Maryam.”
Though the church in Iran now must be more careful than ever where and when they meet, the recent arrests have not stopped the Gospel from spreading in Iran.
“It has not stopped Christianity from spreading in Iran. We have information that Christianity is truly spreading like a wildfire in Iran,” Racho said. “Many Muslims—thousands of Muslims—are coming to Christ, thanks to the courage of Iranian Christians who are working very hard to spread the Good News.”
Racho and the rest of ICC ask you to pray for revival in Iran as many more Iranian Muslims come to Christ. He also asked everyone to pray for the safety and release of the five Christians and the two women, Marzieh and Maryam, earlier arrested.
In addition to prayer, Racho mentioned two tangible ways you can help ICC and the church in Iran. First, you can go to their Web site - www.persecution.org - and sign a petition for the release of Marzieh and Maryam.
Then, he asked you to please continue supporting ICC as they help with evangelism efforts and the underground house church in Iran. Click here if you would like to help.
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Monday, 15 June 2009
IMHRO: Many arrested in minorities area
Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)
Ref.IMHRO.59
15.06.2009
After fixing the election result demonstration wide spread in the minorities’ area in Iran.
In respond Iranian security service arrested many people on 13th and 14th of June.
Police opened responded by live ammunition in Ahwaz, Kurdistan, Baluchistan and Azerbaijan. In Ahwaz area in Susa city at least 2 people killed and many injured. In Mariwan city in Kurdistan reported that young 2 men shot, in Baluchistan in Zahedan 3 people killed and in Azerbaijan and Ardabil at least 3 people killed during demonstration.
Revolutionary guards and Militia forces like Basij, Ansar Hezb Allah and Ashura Brigade Equipped by chain, knife and guns attacked people.
A.J form Ahwaz told IMHRO that “slogans soon changed toward supreme leader in Iran”,
H. K from Kurdistan said they arrested many people in mid night, they took them from bed”
Reza Washahi IMHRO researcher said “Many minorities did not take apart in election. They just took the opportunity to express their opposition against the system. How ever election in Iran is not meeting international standards of election”.
Mobiles and land line phones cut and also power cut reported in some areas. Main road blocked and curfew ordered in some minority’s area. Iran also jammed BBC and Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting in Middle East and partly in Europe.
IMHRO condemns recent arrest and suppression of minorities In Iran.
Ref.IMHRO.59
15.06.2009
After fixing the election result demonstration wide spread in the minorities’ area in Iran.
In respond Iranian security service arrested many people on 13th and 14th of June.
Police opened responded by live ammunition in Ahwaz, Kurdistan, Baluchistan and Azerbaijan. In Ahwaz area in Susa city at least 2 people killed and many injured. In Mariwan city in Kurdistan reported that young 2 men shot, in Baluchistan in Zahedan 3 people killed and in Azerbaijan and Ardabil at least 3 people killed during demonstration.
Revolutionary guards and Militia forces like Basij, Ansar Hezb Allah and Ashura Brigade Equipped by chain, knife and guns attacked people.
A.J form Ahwaz told IMHRO that “slogans soon changed toward supreme leader in Iran”,
H. K from Kurdistan said they arrested many people in mid night, they took them from bed”
Reza Washahi IMHRO researcher said “Many minorities did not take apart in election. They just took the opportunity to express their opposition against the system. How ever election in Iran is not meeting international standards of election”.
Mobiles and land line phones cut and also power cut reported in some areas. Main road blocked and curfew ordered in some minority’s area. Iran also jammed BBC and Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting in Middle East and partly in Europe.
IMHRO condemns recent arrest and suppression of minorities In Iran.
Women imprisoned for their faith
Iran (MNN) ― Iranian security forces arrested Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad and Maryam Rustampoor on March 5, 2009, labeling them "anti-government activists," Voice of the Martyrs reports.
Since then, the two women have been held in three different police detention centers and finally were sent to Evin Prison, which is notorious for its treatment of women. They have been subjected to repeated interrogation, but authorities have told their families that no judge is available to review their case.
""Their only crime is that they are committed Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus," Farsi Christian News Network explained. "They are being unfairly labeled as 'anti government activists' because of the hostility of the government towards practicing Christians."
The prison allows 30-year-old Marzieh and 27-year-old Maryam to call their families on the telephone for just one minute each day. Marzieh reported in the last telephone call, on March 28, that she had an infection and a high fever. "I am dying," she said. Maryam is also ill and needs medical attention.
Bail has been posted at the exorbitant amount of US $400,00. Authorities also searched the two women's apartment, confiscating their belongings. However, their faith in God remains strong despite their circumstances.
"I've taken up my cross; I now have to bear it," one of them said.
Muslims make up 99 percent of the population of Iran, which is a theocratic Shiite republic, and Christians make up less than half of one percent. The constitution guarantees religious freedom, but in reality, Christians face discrimination when they try to meet even the basic needs of their lives, including housing, education, and employment.
Evangelism and the production of Christian literature are also prohibited. Defection from Islam is punishable by death.
Friday, 12 June 2009
IMHRO Condemn Bombing and Execution in Zahedan
Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)
Ref.IMHRO.58
IMHRO strongly condemns the bombing campaign at the mosque in Zahedan, and also condemns the Iranian Government for the execution of 3 Sunni Baluchi men, charged with involvement in the bombing, just 2 days after bombing happened.
“This clearly shows that the three Baluchi men did not have access to a lawyer, and did not have a right to appeal against the death penalty. It is a case of arbitrary arrest and execution: they just rounded up these three men and hanged them,” Reza Washahi IMHRO researcher said.
This is not the first time that the Iranian government has rounded up people and quickly executed them. We are never able to find out the details of theses cases.
Ref.IMHRO.58
IMHRO strongly condemns the bombing campaign at the mosque in Zahedan, and also condemns the Iranian Government for the execution of 3 Sunni Baluchi men, charged with involvement in the bombing, just 2 days after bombing happened.
“This clearly shows that the three Baluchi men did not have access to a lawyer, and did not have a right to appeal against the death penalty. It is a case of arbitrary arrest and execution: they just rounded up these three men and hanged them,” Reza Washahi IMHRO researcher said.
This is not the first time that the Iranian government has rounded up people and quickly executed them. We are never able to find out the details of theses cases.
Violence is the result of suppression: all Baluchi political parties are banned in Baluchistan and members of them are in exile. The vacuum left by absent of political parties has provided an environment in which extremist activity can grow in the area.
The International Community must investigate arbitrary arrest and execution in the Baluch area. In recent weeks at least 90 people have been arrested in Baluchistan.
Background
There are at least 10 Million Baluchi people living in south east Iran and they suffer from various forms of discrimination. The Baluchi people, alongside other minorities in Iran, must not speak their mother tongue, and do not have social, economic, or political rights. Lack of state investment also results in a high unemployment rate.
As Baluchi people are mainly Sunni, they also suffer from discrimination in education and when seeking work. The official theocratic ideology of the Iranian Government considers non Shia as infidels, and many Sunni leaders have been executed in Baluchistan.
Action
Please write to one or more of the following, asking them to investigate the situation in the Baluchi area of Iran.
Secretary General United Nations
The Honourable Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Headquarters,
Room S-3800,
New York, NY 10017,
USA
Supreme Leader of Iran
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei,
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
E-mail via web site
http://www.leader.ir/
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Ms. Navanethem (Navi) Pillay
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Palais des Nations,
CH-1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland
Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
E-mail via web site
http://www.president.ir/en/
European Parliament Human Rights Committee
Ms Hélène FLAUTRE
Bureau d'Hélène Flautre au Parlement Européen,
8G130, rue Wierz,
B-1049, Bruxelles,
Belgique
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave
South of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Resources:
http://www.radiofarda.com/content/f3_zahedan_prison_bombing/1748639.html
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Time: Can Iran's Minorities Help Oust Ahmadinejad?
The presidential candidate was greeted last Monday at the airport by a jubilant throng, chanting "Azerbaijan is awake, and is supporting its son!" That slogan, shouted in the Azeri language, might sound a little discordant, given that Mir-Hossein Moussavi is running for President not of Azerbaijan, but of Iran. But the enthusiasm of his home-state crowd in East Azerbaijan may help explain — at least in part — why Moussavi is currently the strongest challenger to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election.
The rights and concerns of Iran's ethnic minorities are enjoying a prominence in this year's race far greater than during any previous election in the Islamic Republic. Both Moussavi and the other reformist candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, have traveled far and wide in Iran to court Lors, Kurds, Arabs, Turkomans, Azeris, Baluchis and other non-Persian minorities who together make up almost half of the population. Under Ahmadinejad's government, there has been greater repression of political and media activity among the minorities, a fact the state justifies by citing U.S. government efforts to undermine the Islamic Republic by funding opposition activities among minorities in the border regions. Despite the country's patchwork of intertwined ethnicities, religions and languages, Iranians from all backgrounds harbor a strong sense of national identity. Still, the central government has historically been wary of the minorities who mostly inhabit Iran's peripheral provinces. (See pictures of Ahmadinejad visiting New York)
At a campaign event in Tehran last week, Moussavi blasted what he called the current government's "securitization of minorities," and said if elected, he would allow greater official use of minority languages. He also nodded to calls by the country's Sunni Muslims to build a mosque in Tehran. (Read "Will the Economy Be President Ahmadinejad's Downfall?")
In Tabriz on Monday, addressing a cheering crowd of about 30,000 in his native Azeri, Moussavi trumpeted, "Azerbaijan has always stood up against dictators. Azerbaijan's champions have changed the destiny of Iran." He cited the names of important Azeri figures in Iran's democratic tradition.
Azeris are the most integrated and influential among Iran's minorities. While it is rare for a Kurd or an Arab to occupy a high office in the Islamic Republic, many of the leading figures in today's regime are Azeri, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Read about women trying to run for president in Iran's election)
As his name indicates, the country's most powerful man is from Khameneh, a breezy town northwest of Tabriz, dotted with sycamore trees, gushing streams and approximately 5,000 residents. Portraits at a local museum highlight the small town's disproportionately large share of Iranian VIPs, starting with Khamenei, going back about a century, and ending with reformist candidate Moussavi.In fact, Moussavi is not only from the same town as Khameini, but according to locals is actually related to the Supreme Leader. Moussavi's relative Majid Motameni, 82, a gentle old man with sparkly eyes, when asked about Moussavi's rumored family ties to the Supreme Leader, told TIME that Moussavi is
the grandson of Khamenei's paternal aunt.
Khamenei himself was actually born in Mashhad in the northeast, where his father had been studying at a seminary. Another local relative said that when SAVAK, the Shah's intelligence service, had been chasing the revolutionary cleric, Khamenei had hidden at his aunt's place in Khameneh for one night. Even as they reminisced about the town's most powerful son, its people prepared to welcome the candidate of reform who hopes to succeed the conservative Ahmadinejad. The town square was covered with neon-yellow get-out-the-vote banners proclaiming "Every citizen a campaign headquarter."
Esmail Pourshaban-Khameneh, 60, a motorbike mechanic, has set up an actual Moussavi campaign headquarters and closed down his garage for a month in order to mobilize support for the reformist. Pourshaban supports the candidate, "not because he's from here, but because we remember his service during the war [against Iraq in the 1980s, when then-prime minister Moussavi is credited with helping overcome crippling shortages]. Back then we were in a dire economic situation, yet no one felt that food was too expensive."
Despite Iran's unprecedented oil income over the last four years, many Iranians are struggling financially amid high rates of inflation and unemployment that plague most families. Thus the candidate's economic focus at his Tabriz rally. "Iran is a rich country," Moussavi said. "Poverty is not our destiny. It is the government's mismanagement that has led to this."
In response, supporters chanted, "Death to the government of potatoes," referring to Ahmadinejad's distribution of some 400,000 tons of free potatoes in villages and town across the country last month. The potatoes were snapped up in a blink, but many accused the government of trying to buy votes.
Moussavi's campaign swing through East Azerbaijan has been a sweet homecoming. Almost everyone asked on the streets said they would vote for him because of his past record as a wartime prime minister — and, of course, because of his Azeri background. But to best Ahmadinejad, Moussavi will need not only on the votes of the urban elite and ethnic minorities, but also the backing of many of those villagers all over Iran who were grateful for those potatoes.
Monday, 8 June 2009
CNN: Baha'is say jailed leaders in Iran face harsh new accusation
Seven Baha'i leaders jailed in Iran face a possible new accusation that could lead to the death penalty, the religious group said Thursday, and a major human rights group has called for their release.
The seven -- six arrested on May 14, 2008, and another arrested in March 2008 -- have been charged with espionage for Israel, propaganda against Iran, and "insulting religious sanctities," an Iranian deputy prosecutor said in February.
Now Baha'i officials say families of those imprisoned have been told that the seven may face the charge of "spreading of corruption on Earth," a count that the group says "carries the threat of death" under Iran's penal code.
Kit Bigelow, director of external affairs of the National Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, told CNN the seven have not had a trial or access to their lawyer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. She said that while they have been told of their charges, they haven't gone to court to hear the charges.
"They have been denied due process," Bigelow told CNN. "Technically, they have been in jail for a year without having been formally charged. The charges have been made in the public domain, but not in the legal domain."
"They have been denied due process," Bigelow told CNN. "Technically, they have been in jail for a year without having been formally charged. The charges have been made in the public domain, but not in the legal domain."
Human Rights Watch, the world rights monitoring group, used the anniversary of the arrests of six of the Baha'is to call for their release or a prompt trial, with "fair and open proceedings."
"These Baha'i leaders have been languishing in prison for a year now, with no access to their lawyers and no glimmer of a trial date," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement on Thursday. "These reported new charges only add to the fears for their lives under a government that systematically discriminates against Baha'is."
Other governments and groups, including the United States, have criticized the accusations and the jailing. In February, the U.S. State Department issued a condemnation of the accusations, saying they "are part of the ongoing persecution" of Iranian Baha'is.
The Baha'i community -- which numbers approximately 300,000 -- has been persecuted in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where they have been regarded as apostates and heretics. A recent survey by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal agency, documented the repression of the group in Iran.
More than 200 Baha'i leaders have been executed there since 1979, when the Islamic republic was formed, and more than 10,000 "have been dismissed from government and university jobs" and recently have endured "increasingly harsh treatment," the USCIRF report said.
USCIRF said Baha'is may not establish places of worship, schools, or any independent religious associations in Iran and "are barred from the military and denied government jobs and pensions as well as the right to inherit property, and their marriages and divorces are also not recognized." Baha'i holy sites have been desecrated and destroyed, the agency said.
In a news release this week, the Baha'is say the new accusation of "being spreaders of corruption" had been leveled against the Baha'is executed after the Islamic republic came into being.
"That it may now be resorted to in this case is a further demonstration that the authorities have no basis for any allegation against these seven individuals, other than blatant religious persecution," the Baha'i movement said.
An Iranian official told CNN in February the Baha'i leaders are accused of masterminding "the secret activities of Baha'ism which is banned by law."
"They are accused of espionage and unlawful connection and getting money from outside and other activities," said Mohammad-Javad Larijani, secretary general of Iran's Human Rights Committee.
"I think unfortunately there are people, not all of them, there are people under the Baha'i names, they are engaged in a lot of activity against Iran and used by the White House especially and the Zionist regime," Larijani said. "We are very, very sensitive on the issue of espionage and using the civil structure in Iran for other external services."
Thursday, 4 June 2009
IMHRO 2009 Mine Monitoring Report: Mine fields increased in Minorities’ areas of Iran
Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)
Ref.IMHRO.57
Iranian government have increased the number of minefields in South West, Mid West and South East Iran, as well as expanding the minefields which are already there. Minefields in these areas are some of the largest minefields in the Middle-East and include one of the largest minefields in the world, which has more than 20 million mines. The minefields have been left following 8 years war between Iran and Iraq[i].
The Iranian Government have not yet signed the Ottawa Treaty, which includes the following declaration: “Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction”[ii]. 158 countries have signed the Ottawa Treaty so far.
According to sources inside Iran, the government are planning further minefields despite their misleading propaganda which talks about decreasing the number of minefields.
Almost every week somebody becomes the victim of a mine; mainly women and children. Many archaeological sites belonging to minorities have been damaged by minefields, as Government try to wipe out their ancient background. There is also a policy inhibiting the return of indigenous farmers to these areas. The demography of the area is behind Iran’s policy to increase minefields.
IMHRO is very concerned regarding the expansion of minefields in Iran. The problem is not only mines; it is also Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) and in particular, Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), left behind following war and military maneuvers made by the Iranian army. Many children playing in these areas are at risk of being injured by unexploded ordinance.
Between September 2008 and April 2009 at least 250 people have become victims of minefields, most of them women and children. Local media are banned from reporting mine-related casualties.
Ahwaz
New minefields have added to the large number of minefields already present following 8 wars between Iran and Iraq. The government has only cleared up the minefields in areas surrounding new oil fields that are being developed.
Policy of no return of farmers to their land in Ahwaz area is blamed for not acting to clear up of minefields. (I’m not sure about the policy so don’t know how to re-word this bit)
Azerbaijan
New minefields are being developed alongside the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan. Minefields increased in new oil development.
Baluchistan
Number of minefields has increased in the areas of Narmshir and Pir Sooran. The Government have been using drug smugglers and armed rebels as an excuse for expanding the minefields. Government also continue to block the news of mine-related casualties from Baluchistan.
Kurdistan
In the Mid and North West there are new minefields. Many villages have suffered casualties and the Government deliberately do not clear up minefields in Kurdish areas. Ghasreh Shirin, Mehran, Dehloran, Sumar, Dashteh Zahab, Azgaleh, Nousood, Baneh, Sardasht, Asbeh Shiler and Mariwan cities are among the areas most highly affected by minefields.
Turkmen Sahara
Many people living in rural areas are affected by and become casualties of minefields. Minefields have increased around farms and ports.
Export of mines
Not only has the Iranian Government not stopped the increase of minefields inside Iran but they’ve also increased the illegal export of mines to Afghanistan and Iraq. They have supplied mines to terrorist groups in Afghanistan[iii] and Iraq. The export of mines to African countries has also been reported.
Background
One of the big issues for minorities in Iran who live alongside the border is being surrounded by huge minefields. Despite more than 20 years having passed since the end of the last war, the Iranian government continues to delay clearing minefields and instead have increased minefields, using security as an excuse for not taking action.
Iran is a producer of mines. It has been recently reported that landmines made in Iran were found in Afghanistan[iv]. Afghanistan is one of the biggest victims of minefields in the world.
In November 2006 the UN group monitoring the arms embargo on Somalia reported shipments of arms including landmines from Iran to combatants in Somalia in violation of the arms embargo on the country. The November report states that on 25 July 2006 an aircraft carrying arms, including an unknown quantity of mines, from Iran landed at Baldogle airport and was met by senior members of the Courts Union and the Dayniile Islamic Court. The type of mine, antipersonnel or anti vehicle was not specified.[v]
Action
Please write an appeal to UN Mine action bodies and ask them to call on Iran to clear their minefields of mines and UXO. Ask that they halt the increase and expansion of minefields. We urge you also to write to the Iranian government to show your support for Minorities, voice your concerns and ask for mine clearance in Minority areas.
Please send your appeal to:
United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)
Two United Nations Plaza,
6th Floor,
New York, NY 10017,
USA
United Nation Development Programme (UNDP)
Mine Action TeamOne United Nations Plaza,
20th Floor, New York,
NY 10017,
USA
United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
United Nations,
Room S-3170,
New York, NY 10017,
USA
Supreme leader of Iran
Sayyed Ali Khamenei
E-mail via web site
http://www.leader.ir/
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Ms. Navanethem (Navi) Pillay
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Palais des Nations,
CH-1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland
Chairwoman of European parliament Human Rights committee
Mrs Hélène FLAUTRE
Bureau d'Hélène Flautre au Parlement européen,
8G130, rue WierzB-1049,
Bruxelles, Belgique
[i] http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/3/171446.shtml
[ii] http://www.icbl.org/treaty/text/english
[iii] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7623496.stm
[iv] http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/01/d4846c20-8760-4d23-a2a9-fd23d07a0df3.html
[v] Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1676 (2006),” S/2006/913, 22 November 2006 p. 62
Ref.IMHRO.57
Iranian government have increased the number of minefields in South West, Mid West and South East Iran, as well as expanding the minefields which are already there. Minefields in these areas are some of the largest minefields in the Middle-East and include one of the largest minefields in the world, which has more than 20 million mines. The minefields have been left following 8 years war between Iran and Iraq[i].
The Iranian Government have not yet signed the Ottawa Treaty, which includes the following declaration: “Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction”[ii]. 158 countries have signed the Ottawa Treaty so far.
According to sources inside Iran, the government are planning further minefields despite their misleading propaganda which talks about decreasing the number of minefields.
Almost every week somebody becomes the victim of a mine; mainly women and children. Many archaeological sites belonging to minorities have been damaged by minefields, as Government try to wipe out their ancient background. There is also a policy inhibiting the return of indigenous farmers to these areas. The demography of the area is behind Iran’s policy to increase minefields.
IMHRO is very concerned regarding the expansion of minefields in Iran. The problem is not only mines; it is also Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) and in particular, Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), left behind following war and military maneuvers made by the Iranian army. Many children playing in these areas are at risk of being injured by unexploded ordinance.
Between September 2008 and April 2009 at least 250 people have become victims of minefields, most of them women and children. Local media are banned from reporting mine-related casualties.
Ahwaz
New minefields have added to the large number of minefields already present following 8 wars between Iran and Iraq. The government has only cleared up the minefields in areas surrounding new oil fields that are being developed.
Policy of no return of farmers to their land in Ahwaz area is blamed for not acting to clear up of minefields. (I’m not sure about the policy so don’t know how to re-word this bit)
Azerbaijan
New minefields are being developed alongside the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan. Minefields increased in new oil development.
Baluchistan
Number of minefields has increased in the areas of Narmshir and Pir Sooran. The Government have been using drug smugglers and armed rebels as an excuse for expanding the minefields. Government also continue to block the news of mine-related casualties from Baluchistan.
Kurdistan
In the Mid and North West there are new minefields. Many villages have suffered casualties and the Government deliberately do not clear up minefields in Kurdish areas. Ghasreh Shirin, Mehran, Dehloran, Sumar, Dashteh Zahab, Azgaleh, Nousood, Baneh, Sardasht, Asbeh Shiler and Mariwan cities are among the areas most highly affected by minefields.
Turkmen Sahara
Many people living in rural areas are affected by and become casualties of minefields. Minefields have increased around farms and ports.
Export of mines
Not only has the Iranian Government not stopped the increase of minefields inside Iran but they’ve also increased the illegal export of mines to Afghanistan and Iraq. They have supplied mines to terrorist groups in Afghanistan[iii] and Iraq. The export of mines to African countries has also been reported.
Background
One of the big issues for minorities in Iran who live alongside the border is being surrounded by huge minefields. Despite more than 20 years having passed since the end of the last war, the Iranian government continues to delay clearing minefields and instead have increased minefields, using security as an excuse for not taking action.
Iran is a producer of mines. It has been recently reported that landmines made in Iran were found in Afghanistan[iv]. Afghanistan is one of the biggest victims of minefields in the world.
In November 2006 the UN group monitoring the arms embargo on Somalia reported shipments of arms including landmines from Iran to combatants in Somalia in violation of the arms embargo on the country. The November report states that on 25 July 2006 an aircraft carrying arms, including an unknown quantity of mines, from Iran landed at Baldogle airport and was met by senior members of the Courts Union and the Dayniile Islamic Court. The type of mine, antipersonnel or anti vehicle was not specified.[v]
Action
Please write an appeal to UN Mine action bodies and ask them to call on Iran to clear their minefields of mines and UXO. Ask that they halt the increase and expansion of minefields. We urge you also to write to the Iranian government to show your support for Minorities, voice your concerns and ask for mine clearance in Minority areas.
Please send your appeal to:
United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)
Two United Nations Plaza,
6th Floor,
New York, NY 10017,
USA
United Nation Development Programme (UNDP)
Mine Action TeamOne United Nations Plaza,
20th Floor, New York,
NY 10017,
USA
United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
United Nations,
Room S-3170,
New York, NY 10017,
USA
Supreme leader of Iran
Sayyed Ali Khamenei
E-mail via web site
http://www.leader.ir/
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Ms. Navanethem (Navi) Pillay
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Palais des Nations,
CH-1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland
Chairwoman of European parliament Human Rights committee
Mrs Hélène FLAUTRE
Bureau d'Hélène Flautre au Parlement européen,
8G130, rue WierzB-1049,
Bruxelles, Belgique
[i] http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/3/171446.shtml
[ii] http://www.icbl.org/treaty/text/english
[iii] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7623496.stm
[iv] http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/01/d4846c20-8760-4d23-a2a9-fd23d07a0df3.html
[v] Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1676 (2006),” S/2006/913, 22 November 2006 p. 62
AP: Arson attack in restive Iranian city kills 5
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An arson attack on a bank killed five people on Monday in a southeastern Iranian city where a mosque bombing days earlier killed 25, state media said.
The attacks were both in the restive city of Zahedan, which sits at a crossroads between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran and has seen a sudden explosion of violence in the run-up to June 12 presidential election.
The mosque bombing on Thursday was claimed by a Sunni militant group Jundallah, or God's Soldiers, which Iran says has links to al-Qaida. The group has been fighting a low-level campaign against Iran's Shiite leadership for years.
State-owned Press TV said the arson attack targeted the Mehr Financial and Credit Institute, linked to the paramilitary Basij militia which is often involved in crackdowns on dissidents. The state news agency said the city was now calm and police had arrested suspects.
State-owned Press TV said the arson attack targeted the Mehr Financial and Credit Institute, linked to the paramilitary Basij militia which is often involved in crackdowns on dissidents. The state news agency said the city was now calm and police had arrested suspects.
Three men convicted of involvement in the mosque bombing were hanged in Zahedan on Saturday. Clashes erupted Sunday in the city after rumors that a local Sunni cleric had been attacked. On Friday, gunmen fired on President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's campaign office in Zahedan, injuring three people.
Pakistan's ambassador to Iran was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry over the bombing, the state news agency reported. Two Pakistani officials said Monday that Iran had partially closed a border crossing between the two countries.
Qamar Masood, a senior official in Baluchistan province on the Pakistan side of the border, said the crossing at Taftan had been closed for trading but that foot traffic was still being allowed.
The country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused enemies of promoting sectarian conflicts in Iran. Though he did not name any country, the use of the term "enemy" by Iranian officials is usually a reference to the U.S.
"Enemies were trying to create chaos but all people should remain aware," Khamenei said Monday on state radio, adding that the enemy was targeting national unity in the country.
"Enemies were trying to create chaos but all people should remain aware," Khamenei said Monday on state radio, adding that the enemy was targeting national unity in the country.
Zahedan is the capital of the large Sistan-Baluchistan province, home to a million of Iran's Sunni Muslim minority. Sunnis are believed to make up some 6 million of Iran's 70 million people.
Jundallah, has carried out bombings, kidnappings and other attacks against Iranian soldiers since the early 2000s to press its campaign for more rights for impoverished Sunnis under Iran's Shiite government.
Iran says the group operates across the border in Pakistan, a source of concerns for the two governments which cooperate closely on the problem.
The region's Sunni discontent has led to sectarian rioting and clashes in the past.
The Sunnis are from Iran's ethnic Baluchi minority, a community also found over the borders in neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Sunnis are from Iran's ethnic Baluchi minority, a community also found over the borders in neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Iran has repeatedly accused the U.S. of backing militants including Jundallah specifically and ethnic opposition groups to destabilize the Iranian government.
The militant group was behind a car bombing in February 2007 that killed 11 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards near Zahedan.
Jundallah also claimed responsibility for the December 2006 kidnapping of seven Iranian soldiers in the Zahedan area. The seven were released a month later, apparently after negotiations through tribal mediators.
Adding to the region's lawlessness, the crossroads between the three countries is also a key smuggling point for narcotics. It is scene of frequent clashes between police and drug gangs.
Iran has faced several ethnic and religious insurgencies that have carried out sporadic, sometimes deadly attacks in recent years — though none have amounted to a serious threat to the government.
Besides the violence in the southeast, ethnic Arab militants have been blamed for bombings in the southwestern city of Ahvaz — including blasts in 2006 that killed nine people. Some Iranian Kurds based in northern Iraq have also stepped up incursions into Iran.
Late on Saturday, an Iranian airliner was also forced to return to a southeastern airport minutes after takeoff when a homemade bomb was found aboard, said state television, in an incident a security official called a sabotage.
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Telegraph: Three hanged for mosque bombing in Iran
The men were convicted of being "mohreb" (enemies of God) and accused of belonging to a terrorist group allegedly backed by the United States, which strongly denied involvement.
The blast at Thursday evening prayers in the Shia mosque, two weeks before crucial presidential elections, also injured 125, making it the worst loss of life in an attack in Iran since the war with Saddam Hussein ended two decades ago.
The city is the capital of a troubled province on the borders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan, home to a separatist insurgency supported by many from Iran's Baluch minority, and a major trafficking route for opium smugglers.
The men were also accused of being involved in a bomb attack in the city in 2007 which killed 13 revolutionary guards.
The men were also accused of being involved in a bomb attack in the city in 2007 which killed 13 revolutionary guards.
Jalal Sayyah, from the governor's office of the province, said: "The terrorists, who were equipped by America in one of our neighbouring countries, carried out this criminal act in their efforts to create religious conflict and fear and to influence the presidential election."
After they were executed, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a statement demanding that investigators quickly find and punish foreigners who he said were behind the bombing, although he did not mention any nation by name.
US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly denied emphatically that Washington was behind the attack, which it condemned.
He said: "We do not sponsor any form of terrorism in Iran and we continue to work with the international community to try to prevent any attacks against innocent civilians anywhere."
Iranian authorities have blamed a shadowy organisation called Jundollah for attacks in Zahedan. The group claims to fight for the rights of Iran's Sunni minority, but Iranians accuse it of being linked to al-Qaeda and backed by the United States.
Friday, 29 May 2009
BBC: Iran: Many die in Zahedan mosque bombing
A bomb in a mosque in south-east Iran has killed at least 19 people and injured 60, the governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province said.
The explosion happened in Zahedan, the provincial capital, at the time of evening prayer, Ali Mohammad Azad told Iranian state TV.
He said "terrorists", who had planned to detonate more bombs, were arrested.
The province is often the scene of lawlessness, including clashes between police and drug dealers or militants.
The province is often the scene of lawlessness, including clashes between police and drug dealers or militants.
Zahedan is a mainly Sunni Muslim city in a mostly Shia country.
'Suicide attack'
'Suicide attack'
Part of the Amir al-Mohini mosque was destroyed, the official news agency Irna reported.
Rescue teams were taking out the bodies of the dead and injured.
"It was a terrorist attack and the bomb was exploded by a terrorist," Mr Azad said, according to Irna, adding that members of a terrorist group had been arrested.
Mr Azad said "bandits and terrorists intended to disturb the order in the province before the election considering the insecurity in the eastern neighbouring countries".
Although it occurred in a remote region, the explosion comes at a time of heightened political sensitivity nationally, with just over two weeks before the
.
Fars news agency quoted witnesses saying the incident had been a suicide attack, and that a second bomb had been defused near the mosque. The reports could not be verified.
Although it occurred in a remote region, the explosion comes at a time of heightened political sensitivity nationally, with just over two weeks before the
.
Fars news agency quoted witnesses saying the incident had been a suicide attack, and that a second bomb had been defused near the mosque. The reports could not be verified.
Thursday was a public holiday marking the death of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, Fatima.
Drugs trade
Sistan-Baluchestan is one of the most deprived regions in Iran.
Its location on the borders of both Afghanistan and Pakistan make it a key route in the drugs trade.
Its location on the borders of both Afghanistan and Pakistan make it a key route in the drugs trade.
Despite Iran's best efforts, a huge proportion of the world's opiates, such as heroin and morphine, are smuggled by heavily armed drugs gangs, often in large convoys.
There are also a number of militants in the area, many of them with links to the drugs gangs, and clashes with the security forces are common.
Two years ago at least 11 people, including members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, were
Foreigners are strongly advised to avoid the area, and a recent visit by a number of diplomats was accompanied by extremely heavy security, says the BBC's John Leyne in Tehran.
The insurgency is linked with the area's large Sunni population - at odds with Iran's Shia-led government.
But the Iranian government also accuses the US and Britain of supporting the militants.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
EU: Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the violation of religious freedom in Iran
The European Union expresses its deep concern about the increasing violation of religious freedom in Iran.
In particular, the European Union condemns the continuing persecution by the Iranian authorities of legitimate expressions of Christian belief. According to available reports, the Iranian nationals Hamik Khachikian, Jamal Qalishourani and Nadereh Jamali, arrested in January 2009, continue to be detained without charges, as are Marzieh Amirizadeh and Maryam Rustampoor, arrested in March 2009. In March 2009, Seyed Allaedin Hussein, Homayoon Shokouhi and Seyed Amir Hussein Bob-Annari received a commuted sentence of eight months in prison. Available evidence suggests that the aim of this persecution is to suppress the free choice and expression of religious belief.
The European Union reiterates its concern about the situation of seven members of the Bahai religious community in Iran –Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naimi, Said Rezaei, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm – who have now been held in detention for more than one year and are facing serious legal charges. Again, evidence suggests that the persecution deliberately aims to suppress Bahai religious identity and legitimate community activities. Concerns relating to this case are further reinforced by numerous reports of official harassment of members of the Bahai community, including detentions; police summons and pressure to desist from community religious activities.
The European Union further expresses its concern at the plight of the Iranian Shiite ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, who has been imprisoned for his religious activities along with several of his followers. According to available reports, Boroujerdi is being denied hospitalization despite his serious health condition.
The European Union urgently calls on the Iranian authorities to uphold their international legal undertakings to safeguard religious freedom and to stop their persecution of legitimate religious activities. The European Union also reminds the Iranian authorities of their duty to safeguard the health of all persons in prison or under detention.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
Monday, 25 May 2009
SAA: Beyond The Wall: Sources Of Iran’s Terror Campaign In Balochistan
By Belaar Baloch
23 May, 2009
Southasiaanalysis.org
The decades-old and artificial division of Balochistan between Iran and Pakistan is bringing yet new grief to its population. Amid speculation that the United States may take coercive measures to forestall Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, the regime in Tehran is heavily fortifying its border regions, especially its “vulnerable” southeastern frontier known as Sistan-va-Balochistan, where it connects with Pakistani-controlled eastern Balochistan, its other half. While the international community is focused upon the most pressing issues, i.e., the war on terror and the boiling crisis over Iran’s nuclear activities, the voice of the Baloch people—repressed by both Iran and Pakistan—is either unheard or, for political reasons, deliberately ignored.
Unlike other ethno-national groups that fell victim to the decolonization process, Baloch miseries began early, when rival imperial forces confronted each other in a long game of geopolitics. This game ultimately cost the Baloch people their sovereign statehood and resulted in the arbitrary division of their homeland. Those who are familiar with the history of the “Great Game” will know how imperial Britain appeased Iran by serving up the western part of Balochistan in an effort to stem the feared Russian advance towards the warm waters of the Arabian Sea.
Locked in its intense geopolitical rivalry with Russia, Britain had left untouched the semi-sovereign status of the eastern part of Balochistan, hoping eastern Balochistan would serve as a buffer to help preserve its richest colony, India. In the aftermath of the First World War, a confident British foreign secretary Lord Curzon, then assuming the control of Iraq as a protectorate under the League’s mandate, and realising the great importance of this region, summed up the Imperial forward strategy in this way:
“Now, that we are about to assume the mandate for Mesopotamia, which will make us conterminous with the western frontiers of Asia, we cannot permit the existence between the frontiers of our Indian Empire and Balochistan and those of our new protectorate, a hotbed of misrule, enemy intrigue, financial chaos and political disorder. Further, if Persia were to be alone, there is every reason to fear that she would be overrun by Bolshevik influence from the north. Lastly, we possess in the south-western corner of Persia great assets in the shape of oil fields, which are worked for the British navy and which give us a commanding interest in that part of the world.”
With partition of the subcontinent in 1947, however, Britain colluded with the founders of the newly created state of Pakistan to force eastern Balochistan to join Pakistan.
The Baloch living in these forcibly annexed territories, however, never accepted the new status quo. From the outset, the Baloch perceived this division and arbitrary rule of their homeland by the Persians and Punjabis as illegitimate.
The Baloch refused to abandon their socio-cultural identity and adopt the alien values imposed by the Persians. Despite the creation of the unnatural border known as the Goldsmith Line, the Baloch from both sides not only maintained their socio-cultural ties, but even strengthened these links in order to counter the threats of assimilation they felt emanate from both Pakistan and Iran.
Iran’s recent decision to physically separate Balochistan with a hundreds of kilometre-long wall, turning it into two non-communicating halves, is an extraordinary affirmation of state power and one that reflects Iran’s general readiness to aggressively control the Baloch population. In justifying this move, Iran uses border infiltrations as a pretext.
From the Qajars to the Pahlavis and, in recent times, under its revolutionary idealogues, Persians have claimed jurisdiction over ethnic minorities on the basis of their racial “supremacy” and the “higher” values of their civilisation. These xenophobic attitudes towards ethnic minorities have a long history. In the heyday of his rule, Reza Shah who was desperately seeking an ideology to unite the “nation” chose fascism. Describing Shah’s fascination with fascist ideology, Stephen Kinzer notes in his book “All The Shah’s Men” that Mussolini, Franco and Hitler “seemed to him to be embarked on the same path he had chosen, purifying and uniting weak, undisciplined nations. He launched an oppressive campaign to obliterate the identity of minority groups, especially Kurds and Azeris and glorify his ideas and person.”
Unfortunately, this history of terror against minority populations does not end with Reza Shah. His son Muhammad Reza Shah chose to reinforce his father’s mission by giving a free hand to SAVAK, one of the most dreaded intelligence organizations of its time. SAVAK’s death squads conducted numerous overt and covert operations in Balochistan, driving ordinary people out of settled areas.
Eventually facing a revolt by the Baloch, Iran became the first country to establish formal diplomatic ties with Pakistan in order to legitimize the Goldsmith Line—the border dividing Baloch territory into Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. The Baloch members of the West Pakistan Assembly, however, did not recognize the conclusion of the boundary commission and challenged its recommendations in Pakistan’s apex court. Fears related to the integrity of the Iranian borders led Muhammad Reza to send a large contingent of Iranian forces armed with Huey Cobra attack helicopters to support the Pakistani army in its efforts to crush the Baloch insurgency in 1973 in eastern Balochistan.
In the aftermath of its recent revolution, the theocratic regime in Tehran became even more aggressive, particularly against its non-Shi’ite minorities. Soon after consolidating their grip on power, the revolutionary zealots embarked on a plan to accomplish “Imam’s” mission: “purifying” and “enlightening” the Sunni Baloch population. The revolutionary utopians were in search of an enemy and revenge. Just as Khomeini and his lieutenants found an external enemy, i.e., the United States—the most formidable “enemy” of Islam and its revolution, so did they identify an internal one, depicting the Baloch as a “proxy” of Iraq, bent on the destabilization of the revolutionary state. Under the Shah, as one astute observer put it, “Iranian sense of excellence and racial pride had expressed itself in snobbery and hauteur. In Khomeini’s crusade, and in the magnificent isolation of its embattled position, Iran evoked—and Khomeini has insisted on this—the solitude of the Prophet Mohammad’s mission donned a religious guise.”
Nevertheless, the ideals of a modern-day Mahdi had serious limits; his appeal did not extend beyond the Persian realm as non-Shi’ite minorities rejected his design to establish a more “authentic” and “pure” social order based on the repressive Shi’ite sectarian doctrine invented by Khomeini and his faithful ideologues. Since then, Tehran has perceived the Baloch as a threat to its national security and has employed various methods—from state-led terror to the policy of assimilation—to counter this perceived threat.
At present, the Baloch are suffering a “second revolution.” Under the leadership of Khomeini’s faithful followers, there are those who vow to take the revolution back to its roots. This new generation of followers has recently renewed their hostility towards the Baloch and other ethnic groups, particularly those concentrated in bordering regions. This time Shi’ite totalitarian ideology is not the sole source of adventurism, but also a recently revived Persian nationalism. These two aggressive impulses derive from the regime’s increasing paranoia: that Baloch political groups are being “aided” by western states in order to create internal instability.
In search of the “enemy within,” the new revolutionaries, under the banner of Shi’ite authenticity and Persian nationalism, have reinforced their terror campaign in the towns and villages across the Baloch region. After a long and unsuccessful campaign to indoctrinate ordinary Baloch into Shi’itism, the regime recently revived old terror tactics used to intimidate innocent civilians. During the shah’s despotic rule, SAVAK’s clandestine agents ruled Baloch streets; under Khamenai, the task was given to the thugs of Marsad (Ambush). But methods and tactics remain the same and these include: systematic use of violence to eliminate political activists, extrajudicial killing of Baloch political activists and religious clerics, forced eviction of ordinary people, the destruction of houses and agricultural farms, thereby creating a general climate of fear in order to force the Sunni Baloch into submission.
With its failed attempt to garner support from the non-Persian population for its nuclear quest, the regime has also employed violent means to silence those who are unwilling to share in its euphoria over its nuclear program. Following a chilling defeat at the hands of the Baloch resistance fighters in the heart of Zahedan city, the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps turned their guns on innocent civilians and conducted barbaric public executions. In so doing, the Persian leadership proved to the world that even in this modern age, they are not ashamed to carry out the medieval and ruthless purges characteristic of their past.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the subject of moral stature, the Persian leadership never forgoes an opportunity to teach Persian “moral” values to the world. On the eve of releasing the British sailors the President of Iran, addressing a large media audience, seized this opportunity to deliver a lecture to a western audience, trying to claim the moral high ground. In his hypocritical speech, he demonised the western system, depicting it as unfair and unjust, especially with regards to women’s rights, notwithstanding the fact that the Islamic Republic is the only state in the world that permits the execution of children, most recently the barbaric hanging of Said Qmabarzai, a seventeen-year old teenager.
For the Baloch, Kurds, Awazis, Turkomen and Azeris, the sky will not fall when U.S. cruise missiles overwhelm Iranian nuclear sites, because the subjugated minorities do not share the agenda of the Persians: to make this state a regional hegemon. For generations, these minorities have been denied their basic rights under Persian rule. And the Baloch, with a distinctive history and character, were never, after all, a part of “Greater Persia.” Nor will they benefit if they choose to become a component of this Persian megalomaniac state. Similarly, the Baloch in Pakistan have no incentive to embrace a Punjabi regime that has converted Baloch eastern territory into a nuclear dumping ground: its hills are still covered with radioactive dust and its soil contaminated.
Now obsessed with Iran’s nuclear program, the West has failed to condemn the regime over its human rights abuses against the Baloch and other ethnic minorities. The strategic considerations of the West take priority over human suffering. It is true that the notion of justice has never been a popular feature in the realm of international politics, especially in that part of the world where hydrocarbon politics is central to the shrewd practitioners of realpolitik, who in their very tradition, are willing to overlook human suffering at the cost of “stability” and “order.” However, the obsession to preserve this order at the expense of human catastrophe has blinded policymakers to the fact that it is this very international order that is threatened by both Pakistan and Iran.
The former is armed with nuclear weapons and employs jihadi groups as a foreign policy tool in its efforts to gain strategic depth. It regards Afghanistan as part of its strategy to gain an economic foothold in the Central Asian republics. The later is vigorously meddling in an unstable Iraq, as well as pursuing the development of nuclear arsenals to dominate the region. Imagine a world with these two rogue states, both armed with nuclear weapons, and their foreign policies driven by militant Shi’ite and Wahabi ideologies.
Ironically, Washington has rediscovered its “reliable” ally in the war on terror. The nature of its “cooperation” with the Punjabi military regime provides the answer as to why the West is overlooking Pakistan’s policy of repression in eastern Balochistan. While America pours billions of dollars into Pakistan to appease its army, the whole region has been transformed into a military garrison, one in which the local Baloch have been driven out of their towns and villages and compelled to live as refugees on their own soil. America’s policy has brought neither stability to Afghanistan , nor has it helped dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.
Facing state-led ethnic cleansing by both Iran and Pakistan, the Baloch demand protection from the international society. While moral rhetoric in the foreign policy of civilized nations rarely overrides strategic interest, in this case, it is in their own interest to save the secular and tolerant Baloch, who are at present besieged in a heartland of extremists and fanatics.
(The writer is a Baloch academic living abroad. He is working in areas related to strategic and security issues. His E-mail address is: belaar3@yahoo.com)
23 May, 2009
Southasiaanalysis.org
The decades-old and artificial division of Balochistan between Iran and Pakistan is bringing yet new grief to its population. Amid speculation that the United States may take coercive measures to forestall Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, the regime in Tehran is heavily fortifying its border regions, especially its “vulnerable” southeastern frontier known as Sistan-va-Balochistan, where it connects with Pakistani-controlled eastern Balochistan, its other half. While the international community is focused upon the most pressing issues, i.e., the war on terror and the boiling crisis over Iran’s nuclear activities, the voice of the Baloch people—repressed by both Iran and Pakistan—is either unheard or, for political reasons, deliberately ignored.
Unlike other ethno-national groups that fell victim to the decolonization process, Baloch miseries began early, when rival imperial forces confronted each other in a long game of geopolitics. This game ultimately cost the Baloch people their sovereign statehood and resulted in the arbitrary division of their homeland. Those who are familiar with the history of the “Great Game” will know how imperial Britain appeased Iran by serving up the western part of Balochistan in an effort to stem the feared Russian advance towards the warm waters of the Arabian Sea.
Locked in its intense geopolitical rivalry with Russia, Britain had left untouched the semi-sovereign status of the eastern part of Balochistan, hoping eastern Balochistan would serve as a buffer to help preserve its richest colony, India. In the aftermath of the First World War, a confident British foreign secretary Lord Curzon, then assuming the control of Iraq as a protectorate under the League’s mandate, and realising the great importance of this region, summed up the Imperial forward strategy in this way:
“Now, that we are about to assume the mandate for Mesopotamia, which will make us conterminous with the western frontiers of Asia, we cannot permit the existence between the frontiers of our Indian Empire and Balochistan and those of our new protectorate, a hotbed of misrule, enemy intrigue, financial chaos and political disorder. Further, if Persia were to be alone, there is every reason to fear that she would be overrun by Bolshevik influence from the north. Lastly, we possess in the south-western corner of Persia great assets in the shape of oil fields, which are worked for the British navy and which give us a commanding interest in that part of the world.”
With partition of the subcontinent in 1947, however, Britain colluded with the founders of the newly created state of Pakistan to force eastern Balochistan to join Pakistan.
The Baloch living in these forcibly annexed territories, however, never accepted the new status quo. From the outset, the Baloch perceived this division and arbitrary rule of their homeland by the Persians and Punjabis as illegitimate.
The Baloch refused to abandon their socio-cultural identity and adopt the alien values imposed by the Persians. Despite the creation of the unnatural border known as the Goldsmith Line, the Baloch from both sides not only maintained their socio-cultural ties, but even strengthened these links in order to counter the threats of assimilation they felt emanate from both Pakistan and Iran.
Iran’s recent decision to physically separate Balochistan with a hundreds of kilometre-long wall, turning it into two non-communicating halves, is an extraordinary affirmation of state power and one that reflects Iran’s general readiness to aggressively control the Baloch population. In justifying this move, Iran uses border infiltrations as a pretext.
From the Qajars to the Pahlavis and, in recent times, under its revolutionary idealogues, Persians have claimed jurisdiction over ethnic minorities on the basis of their racial “supremacy” and the “higher” values of their civilisation. These xenophobic attitudes towards ethnic minorities have a long history. In the heyday of his rule, Reza Shah who was desperately seeking an ideology to unite the “nation” chose fascism. Describing Shah’s fascination with fascist ideology, Stephen Kinzer notes in his book “All The Shah’s Men” that Mussolini, Franco and Hitler “seemed to him to be embarked on the same path he had chosen, purifying and uniting weak, undisciplined nations. He launched an oppressive campaign to obliterate the identity of minority groups, especially Kurds and Azeris and glorify his ideas and person.”
Unfortunately, this history of terror against minority populations does not end with Reza Shah. His son Muhammad Reza Shah chose to reinforce his father’s mission by giving a free hand to SAVAK, one of the most dreaded intelligence organizations of its time. SAVAK’s death squads conducted numerous overt and covert operations in Balochistan, driving ordinary people out of settled areas.
Eventually facing a revolt by the Baloch, Iran became the first country to establish formal diplomatic ties with Pakistan in order to legitimize the Goldsmith Line—the border dividing Baloch territory into Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. The Baloch members of the West Pakistan Assembly, however, did not recognize the conclusion of the boundary commission and challenged its recommendations in Pakistan’s apex court. Fears related to the integrity of the Iranian borders led Muhammad Reza to send a large contingent of Iranian forces armed with Huey Cobra attack helicopters to support the Pakistani army in its efforts to crush the Baloch insurgency in 1973 in eastern Balochistan.
In the aftermath of its recent revolution, the theocratic regime in Tehran became even more aggressive, particularly against its non-Shi’ite minorities. Soon after consolidating their grip on power, the revolutionary zealots embarked on a plan to accomplish “Imam’s” mission: “purifying” and “enlightening” the Sunni Baloch population. The revolutionary utopians were in search of an enemy and revenge. Just as Khomeini and his lieutenants found an external enemy, i.e., the United States—the most formidable “enemy” of Islam and its revolution, so did they identify an internal one, depicting the Baloch as a “proxy” of Iraq, bent on the destabilization of the revolutionary state. Under the Shah, as one astute observer put it, “Iranian sense of excellence and racial pride had expressed itself in snobbery and hauteur. In Khomeini’s crusade, and in the magnificent isolation of its embattled position, Iran evoked—and Khomeini has insisted on this—the solitude of the Prophet Mohammad’s mission donned a religious guise.”
Nevertheless, the ideals of a modern-day Mahdi had serious limits; his appeal did not extend beyond the Persian realm as non-Shi’ite minorities rejected his design to establish a more “authentic” and “pure” social order based on the repressive Shi’ite sectarian doctrine invented by Khomeini and his faithful ideologues. Since then, Tehran has perceived the Baloch as a threat to its national security and has employed various methods—from state-led terror to the policy of assimilation—to counter this perceived threat.
At present, the Baloch are suffering a “second revolution.” Under the leadership of Khomeini’s faithful followers, there are those who vow to take the revolution back to its roots. This new generation of followers has recently renewed their hostility towards the Baloch and other ethnic groups, particularly those concentrated in bordering regions. This time Shi’ite totalitarian ideology is not the sole source of adventurism, but also a recently revived Persian nationalism. These two aggressive impulses derive from the regime’s increasing paranoia: that Baloch political groups are being “aided” by western states in order to create internal instability.
In search of the “enemy within,” the new revolutionaries, under the banner of Shi’ite authenticity and Persian nationalism, have reinforced their terror campaign in the towns and villages across the Baloch region. After a long and unsuccessful campaign to indoctrinate ordinary Baloch into Shi’itism, the regime recently revived old terror tactics used to intimidate innocent civilians. During the shah’s despotic rule, SAVAK’s clandestine agents ruled Baloch streets; under Khamenai, the task was given to the thugs of Marsad (Ambush). But methods and tactics remain the same and these include: systematic use of violence to eliminate political activists, extrajudicial killing of Baloch political activists and religious clerics, forced eviction of ordinary people, the destruction of houses and agricultural farms, thereby creating a general climate of fear in order to force the Sunni Baloch into submission.
With its failed attempt to garner support from the non-Persian population for its nuclear quest, the regime has also employed violent means to silence those who are unwilling to share in its euphoria over its nuclear program. Following a chilling defeat at the hands of the Baloch resistance fighters in the heart of Zahedan city, the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps turned their guns on innocent civilians and conducted barbaric public executions. In so doing, the Persian leadership proved to the world that even in this modern age, they are not ashamed to carry out the medieval and ruthless purges characteristic of their past.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the subject of moral stature, the Persian leadership never forgoes an opportunity to teach Persian “moral” values to the world. On the eve of releasing the British sailors the President of Iran, addressing a large media audience, seized this opportunity to deliver a lecture to a western audience, trying to claim the moral high ground. In his hypocritical speech, he demonised the western system, depicting it as unfair and unjust, especially with regards to women’s rights, notwithstanding the fact that the Islamic Republic is the only state in the world that permits the execution of children, most recently the barbaric hanging of Said Qmabarzai, a seventeen-year old teenager.
For the Baloch, Kurds, Awazis, Turkomen and Azeris, the sky will not fall when U.S. cruise missiles overwhelm Iranian nuclear sites, because the subjugated minorities do not share the agenda of the Persians: to make this state a regional hegemon. For generations, these minorities have been denied their basic rights under Persian rule. And the Baloch, with a distinctive history and character, were never, after all, a part of “Greater Persia.” Nor will they benefit if they choose to become a component of this Persian megalomaniac state. Similarly, the Baloch in Pakistan have no incentive to embrace a Punjabi regime that has converted Baloch eastern territory into a nuclear dumping ground: its hills are still covered with radioactive dust and its soil contaminated.
Now obsessed with Iran’s nuclear program, the West has failed to condemn the regime over its human rights abuses against the Baloch and other ethnic minorities. The strategic considerations of the West take priority over human suffering. It is true that the notion of justice has never been a popular feature in the realm of international politics, especially in that part of the world where hydrocarbon politics is central to the shrewd practitioners of realpolitik, who in their very tradition, are willing to overlook human suffering at the cost of “stability” and “order.” However, the obsession to preserve this order at the expense of human catastrophe has blinded policymakers to the fact that it is this very international order that is threatened by both Pakistan and Iran.
The former is armed with nuclear weapons and employs jihadi groups as a foreign policy tool in its efforts to gain strategic depth. It regards Afghanistan as part of its strategy to gain an economic foothold in the Central Asian republics. The later is vigorously meddling in an unstable Iraq, as well as pursuing the development of nuclear arsenals to dominate the region. Imagine a world with these two rogue states, both armed with nuclear weapons, and their foreign policies driven by militant Shi’ite and Wahabi ideologies.
Ironically, Washington has rediscovered its “reliable” ally in the war on terror. The nature of its “cooperation” with the Punjabi military regime provides the answer as to why the West is overlooking Pakistan’s policy of repression in eastern Balochistan. While America pours billions of dollars into Pakistan to appease its army, the whole region has been transformed into a military garrison, one in which the local Baloch have been driven out of their towns and villages and compelled to live as refugees on their own soil. America’s policy has brought neither stability to Afghanistan , nor has it helped dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.
Facing state-led ethnic cleansing by both Iran and Pakistan, the Baloch demand protection from the international society. While moral rhetoric in the foreign policy of civilized nations rarely overrides strategic interest, in this case, it is in their own interest to save the secular and tolerant Baloch, who are at present besieged in a heartland of extremists and fanatics.
(The writer is a Baloch academic living abroad. He is working in areas related to strategic and security issues. His E-mail address is: belaar3@yahoo.com)
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Compass Direct News: IRAN: AUTHORITIES PRESSURE FATHER OF CONVERT
Government trying to quell Christian son’s human rights activities.
LOS ANGELES, May 20 (Compass Direct News) – In an attempt to silence a Christian human rights activist living in England, Iranian authorities arrested and interrogated his Muslim father for six days before releasing him yesterday.
Abdul Zahra Vashahi, a retired 62-year-old suffering a heart condition, was arrested on Thursday (May 14) in Iran’s southwestern city of Bandar Mahshahr and interrogated about the human rights activities of his son, a Christian convert who has been living in England since 2003. His son, John (Reza) Vashahi, converted to Christianity while in England and in 2008 founded the Iranian Minorities Human Rights Organization (IMHRO).
In February the elder Vashahi had received a call from local authorities telling him that if his son didn’t stop his activities, they would arrest him instead.
While his father was in custody, authorities asked the elder Vashahi many questions about his son’s activities and had him fill out forms with detailed information about his extended family and friends.
“He is very tired, because the interrogations were very long,” his son told Compass. “All the questions were about me.”
The younger Vashahi said the Iranian government started putting increased pressure on his family, whom he has not seen in six years, since he founded IMHRO.
“It is a good example of harassment even outside the country,” Vashahi told Compass by telephone today. “It is just showing how far the government will go if we let them. Inside we can’t talk, and we come to Europe and still they want to silence us; it’s a very worrying sign.”
Vashahi, unlike his father, was involved in politics when he lived in Iran. His family belongs to Iran’s Arab-speaking community, the Ahwazi, most of whom live in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
He said that even when he was living there, police had come to his father’s workplace to ask him questions, but that after he fled the country six years ago, the pressure seemed to have stopped. It began anew when he became an outspoken Christian campaigning for the rights of minorities in Iran and especially with the establishment of IMHRO, he said.
The activist is an active member of Amnesty International, and through his own organization he publicizes Iran’s human rights violations of minorities, especially Christians. He has also started a blog called “Jesus for Arabs.”
Fighting for Minority Rights
Vashahi acknowledged that his family, which is Muslim, was never happy with his choice of faith or vocation.
Asked whether he believed the government arrested his father because of his faith or his work, the younger Vashahi said, “I think it’s both, because part of my human rights activity is in regard to Christians in Iran, and we’ve been in touch with Christians and persecuted churches.”
The 30-year-old activist said that when the Revolutionary Guard arrested his father, they confiscated all of his books and compact discs, as well as a computer and his sister’s university dentistry textbooks.
“It’s a bad situation, and I hope we find some solution,” Vashahi said, “No one has the right to talk about anything in Iran. Suppression of the church is increasing in Iran; they don’t want us to talk about that. They don’t want us to talk about it inside, and also they want to silence us outside.”
Vashahi said that despite the government pressure, he is not planning to stop his human rights activism.
“I’m not going to be silent, because if I do, then I’m accepting their logic, which means I caused the arrest of my dad,” Vashahi said. “My dad is innocent, and that system is wrong to arrest someone instead of somebody else.”
In 2008, when deciding to establish the IMHRO, he said he felt torn between confronting Iran’s injustices and wanting to ignore them from his comfortable, safe distance.
In 2008, when deciding to establish the IMHRO, he said he felt torn between confronting Iran’s injustices and wanting to ignore them from his comfortable, safe distance.
“Another part of me was saying, ‘you are safe now, but you should do your fair share, you should make noise, and if people inside can’t talk and you are outside and you don’t want to talk, how will people learn what is happening?’” he said. “I felt responsibility, and in the end that part won.”
In a phone conversation with his mother yesterday while his father was sleeping to recover from his time in prison, he said he felt that she was choosing her words very carefully. She told him not to contact them or other family and friends.
“She emphasized that we are all Muslims, and that this is an Islamic country,” Vashahi said. “So she was giving me hints that it [the arrest] had to do with the change of religion.”
Although there were no official charges against his father, Vashahi said it is possible that authorities still could take him to court or detain him again for more interrogation.
“I hope this doesn’t happen again,” he said. “In fact, they’ve taken my family as hostage. They did this type of policy to other people and they’ve always failed, and I don’t know why they keep doing it, because people like me they are not going to stop. Others didn’t stop, and they’re just bringing more condemnation on themselves and exposing themselves to more condemnation in the eyes of the world.”
New Wave of Arrests
Compass has learned of four confirmed arrests of Christians in the last two weeks in the capital city of Tehran, while sources said a new wave of arrests has rolled across the country.
Authorities have been warning arrested Christians not to speak to foreign news agencies.
“The government is treating people like they don’t want them to talk,” said a source. “The government is really afraid of international news agencies, they really don’t like them. That is why they put pressure on the believers, and they are really scared.”
Although in most cases of arrests and interrogations Christians have been released with no physical harm, a source said in some instances they were told to sign papers that they would stop Christian activities and were threatened if they continued.
“It’s happening everywhere,” said the source. “This is the strategy of the government. They are doing it everywhere.”
Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, are in their second month of detention at the notorious Evin prison house in Tehran, accused of “acting against state security” and “taking part in illegal gatherings.”
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
amnesty: Yunes Aghayan, a member of Iran’s Azerbaijani minority is at imminent risk of execution after being convicted of “enmity against God
AI Index: MDE13/038/2009
UA 113/09 Risk of Imminent Execution
IRAN Yunes Aghayan, (m)
Yunes Aghayan, a member of Iran’s Azerbaijani minority and an Ahl-e Haq follower, is at imminent risk of execution after being convicted of “enmity against God”. He is held in Oromieh Prison in West Azerbaijan Province, in north-west Iran. Another man, Mehdi Qasemzadeh, was executed after being convicted in the same case around 28 February 2009, giving rise to fears that Yunes Aghayan could be executed at any time.
Yunes Aghayan was arrested around November 2004, following at least two clashes in September 2004 between members of a group of Ahl-e Haq members and police. The group had refused to take down religious slogans at the entrance to their cattle farm in Uch Tepe, West Azerbaijan Province. During the clashes, five Ahl-e Haq members and at least three members of the security forces were killed.
Yunes Aghayan and four others were tried before Branch 2 of the Mahabad Revolutionary Court. In January 2005, Yunes Aghayan and Mehdi Qasemzadeh were sentenced to death for “enmity against God”, usually applied to those who take up arms against the state. Their sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court in April 2005 and Mehdi Qasemzadeh was executed around 28 February 2009. Three others - Sehend Ali Mohammadi, Bakhshali Mohammadi, and Ebadollah Qasemzadeh - were also sentenced to death, but their death sentences were overturned by the Supreme Court in September 2007. They are serving 13-year prison sentences in internal exile in Yazd Province, central Iran.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Ahl-e Haq are members of a religion founded in the 14th century, who live mainly in Iraq and western Iran. Most members are Kurdish, with smaller numbers from other ethnic minorities including Azerbaijanis.
The Iranian constitution guarantees equality to minorities in Iran, who are believed to number about half of the population of about 70 millions of inhabitants. Article 3(14) provides for equality of all before the law. Furthermore, Article 18 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party, states: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.”
Under Article 13 of Iran’s Constitution, three religious minorities - Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians - are entitled to practise their faith. However, adherents of unrecognized religions, such as Baha’is, the Ahl-e Haq, and Mandaeans (Sabeans), or those who convert from Islam to another religion, are not permitted the freedom to practise their beliefs and are particularly at risk of discrimination or other violations of their internationally recognized human rights.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
- urging the authorities to commute Yunes Aghayan’s death sentence;
- stating that Amnesty International recognizes the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but opposes the death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment;
- reminding the authorities that as a state party to the ICCPR, Iran has undertaken to uphold freedom of religion, including the right to manifest one’s religion in public.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
c/o Director, Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office
Ardeshir Sadiq
Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office
No. 57, Pasteur St., corner of Khosh Zaban Avenue
Tehran, Iran
Email: info@dadiran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter (Persian)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 6 649 5880
Email: via website: http://www.president.ir/email/
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737, Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Javad Larijani)
Salutation: Dear Mr Larijani
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 8 June.
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