نظارت منظم شورای حقوق بشر بر ایران پایان می یابد

شورای حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد روز دوشنبه به پایان نظارت منظم و موشکافانه بر عملکرد ایران و ازبکستان در زمینه حقوق بشر رای داد. این تصمیم با انتقادهایی روبرو شده است.

شورای حقوق بشر که متشکل از 47 کشور است به توصیه یک گروه کاری متشکل از زیمبابوه، آذربایجان، بنگلادش، آرژانتین و فرانسه برای خارج کردن نام این دو کشور از فهرست کشورهایی که از نزدیک تحت نظارت هستند رای مثبت داد.
آن توصیه با حمایت زیمبابوه، آذربایجان و بنگلادش و علیرغم مخالفت فرانسه و آرژانتین مطرح شده بود. زیمبابوه و آذربایجان خود به خاطر نقض حقوق بشر به شدت مورد انتقاد بوده اند.

با این حال کم و بیش انتظار چنین حکمی می رفت زیرا اکثریت کشورهای عضو شورای حقوق بشر که سال گذشته جایگزین کمیسیون حقوق بشر شد مخالف انگشت گذاشتن بر کشورها به صورتی منفرد برای توجه خاص هستند.
سازمان غیردولتی "دیده بان حقوق بشر" هفته گذشته این شورا را ترغیب کرده بود به خصوص در مورد ازبکستان همچنان به کاوش های علنی خود ادامه دهد.

این سازمان دولت ازبکستان را به سرکوب "بی سابقه" مخالفان سیاسی متهم می کند. این گروه هشدار داد که تاکنون کسی در آن کشور به خاطر کشتار تظاهرکنندگان در اندیجان در ماه مه 2005 مسئول شناخته نشده است.
دولت آمریکا نیز نسبت به تصمیم شورای حقوق بشر ابراز یاس کرده است. دولت آمریکا از شرکت در انتخابات شورا خودداری کرده است زیرا آن را فاقد اعتبار می داند.

یک سخنگوی دولت آمریکا گفت: "این تصمیم ما را خیلی مایوس کرد. به نظر ما عمیقا قابل تاسف است که شورا فرصتی برای زیر نظر داشتن وضعیت حقوق بشر در آن کشورها نخواهد داشت."
"این تصمیم اصلا با نظر بیان شده از سوی مجمع عمومی سازمان ملل که همین چند ماه پیش به محکومیت نقض حقوق بشر در ایران رای داد تطابق ندارد."

آلودگي پرندگان در اهواز به جيوه

یک گزارش جدید زیست محیطی از آلودگی ۱۸ گونه از پرندگان ایرانی به ترکیبات جیوه خبر می‌دهد.نشریه "تحقیقات محیط زیست" که در آمریکا منتشر می شود در آخرین شماره‌ خود در فوریه ۲۰۰۷ نتایج یکی از تازه‌ترین مطالعات انجام شده بر روی پرندگان ایرانی را منتشر کرده است.

این تحقیق جدید که با هدایت دو پژوهشگر برجسته‌ ایرانی در زمینه‌ محیط زیست، دکتر عباس اسماعیلی ساری و دکتر بهرام کیابی، انجام شده نشان می‌دهد آلودگی منطقه‌ا‌ی وسیع از مناطق داخلی استان خوزستان تا کرانه‌‌های خلیج فارس به انواع آفت‌کش‌ها، علف‌کش‌ها و نشت مواد شیمیایی از مجتمع پتروشیمی بندر امام، منجر به آلودگی ۱۸ گونه از پرندگان ایرانی به ترکیبات جیوه شده است.میانگین آلودگی گزارش شده برای این ۱۸ گونه در حدود ۹/۰ (نه دهم) میلی گرم به ازای هر کیلوگرم وزن بدن پرندگان بوده در حالی که این مقدار برای پرندگان شکاری به ۲/۱ (یک ممیز دو دهم) میلی گرم و به طور خاص برای "چرخ" که پرنده‌ای شکاری از خانواده‌ی شاهین به شمار می‌رود به بیش از ۲ میلی گرم به ازای هر کیلوگرم از وزن بدن پرنده می‌رسد.اثر عمده‌ جیوه بر پرندگان در ایجاد تغییراتی نظیر کوچک شدن اندازه‌ چنگال‌های پرنده، کم شدن زمان مراقبت از تخم و اندازه‌ تخم، کاهش زاد و ولد و بالاخره طول عمر کوتاهتر برای جوجه‌هاست.

ردیابی جیوه‌ در بدن پرندگان از طریق آزمایش پر آن‌ها صورت می‌گیرد. در حقیقت ارتباط میان شریان‌های خونی با پرها منجر به انتقال آلودگی‌های موجود در خون به پرها می‌شود. به این ترتیب پر پرنده همواره شاخص‌های مناسبی برای ارزیابی نوع و میزان درگیری جانور با آلودگی‌های زیست محیطی به شمار می‌رود.

مطالعه‌ مشابهی که در سال ۲۰۰۰ توسط پژوهشگران دانشگاه میلان در ایتالیا صورت گرفت نشان از آلودگی انواعی از پرندگان

شکاری به فلزات سنگین نظیر جیوه، سرب و کادمیوم در دو کشور پاکستان و هند داشت. بنابراین آلودگی وسیع منطقه‌ای به چنین فلزاتی دور از انتظار نبوده است.

بر اساس گزارش جدید میزان آلودگی در پرندگان گیاهخوار در پايين ترين حد قرار دارد اما در پرندگان شکاری بی‌مهره‌خوار و بعد در میان پرندگان شکاری که از مهره‌داران کوچک تغذیه می‌کنند افزایش می‌یابد.
چنین افزایش تدریجی حاکی از شدت آلودگی گیاهان و جانوران کوچک مهره‌‌دار به ترکیبات جیوه است.گرچه پژوهشگران می‌گویند یافته‌های آن‌ها در مقایسه با سایر مطالعات انجام شده نشان دهنده‌ آلودگی‌ کمتر پرندگان ایرانی است با این همه اعلام کرده‌اند که وجود ترکیبات جیوه در پر پرندگان حکایت از وجود آلودگی در سطح گسترده‌تری در منطقه دارد.

Iran: Four Iranian Arabs executed after unfair trials

AMNESTY INTERNATIONALPublic StatementAI Index: MDE 13/005/2007 (Public)News Service No: 015 24 January 2007

Amnesty International deplores the executions earlier today of four Iranian Arab men and fears for the lives of other prisoners who are reported to have been sentenced to death recently following unfair trials.Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian authorities to halt executions and to ensure that all persons in detention are protected from torture or other ill-treatment.Executions in Iran continue at an alarming rate. Amnesty International recorded at least 177 executions in 2006 but fears that the true figure may have been much higher. At least four of those executed were under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged offences, including one who was still under 18 at the time of his execution. In 2006, Iran and Pakistan were the only countries in the world to continue to execute child offenders (although Pakistan enacted in 2000 the Juvenile Justice System Law which abolished the death penalty for people under 18 at the time of the crime in most parts of the country). To date in 2007, Amnesty International has recorded 19 further executions in Iran, including the four today. Those executed today are believed to be Khalaf Derhab Khudayrawi, Alireza Asakreh, Mohammad Jaab Pour and Abdulamir Farjallah Jaab. They were among 10 men, all members of Iran's Arab minority, who were reportedly convicted of being mohareb (at enmity with God) on account of their alleged involvement in bomb attacks in October 2005 which caused the deaths of at least six people and wounded more than a hundred others, in Ahvaz city, Khuzestan province. According to reports, the four men were denied access to their lawyers in the two weeks prior to their execution.On 9 November 2006, the head of the Khuzestan Prosecutor’s Office, Abbas Ja’afari Dowlat Abadi, reportedly announced that the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentences against 10 of some 19 people allegedly responsible for bomb explosions in Khuzestan and that they would be publicly hanged. On 13 November 2006, an Iranian local television station, Khuzestan TV, broadcast a documentary film which included the “confessions” of nine of these men, In the programme, the 10 people, said to be members of a group named Al-e Naser, (a little-known Iranian Arab militant group that is not known to have been active since the time of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s) "confessed" to their involvement in the bomb explosions. On 19 December 2006 three of them, Abdullah Suleymani (initially named as Alireza Asakreh), Malek Banitamim and Ali Matouri Zadeh were reportedly executed in prison in Khuzestan province. The bodies of the executed men were reportedly not handed to their families for burial, and there were fears that they would be buried in an unmarked, mass grave site called La’natabad (Place of the damned). The security forces reportedly prevented people from visiting the families to offer condolences.According to information received by Amnesty International, on or around 2 March 2006 and prior to his arrest, Khalaf Derhab Khudayrawi was reportedly shot by the security forces before being taken away. His family believed he had died in the shooting, but a few days later received a phone call from the authorities informing them that he had been transferred to the Sepidar detention centre. His wife, Soghra Khudayrawi, and four-year-old son Zeidan were detained in Ahvaz on 7 March 2006 and both remain in detention. (See UA 65/06, MDE 13/028/2006, 23 March 2006) and Iran: Appeal Case: Four Ahwazi Arab women and two children: Prisoners of conscience, AI Index: MDE 13/059/2006, 17 May 2006, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE130592006?open&of=ENG-IRN). Mohammad Jaab Pour and Abdulamir Farjallah Jaab were also reportedly arrested on 7 March 2006. At the beginning of June 2006, seven lawyers who appeared before Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court representing the defendants, including some of the 10 who were sentenced to death, reportedly wrote formally to the court’s president complaining about irregularities in the trial. They said they were notified of their clients’ trial date only one to two days in advance, instead of the minimum of five days stipulated in Article 64 of the Civil Procedure Code, and could not study their clients’ files fully; that they were not allowed to meet in private with their clients although they had requested this and despite the head of the judiciary’s stated assurance on 20 May 2006 that “nobody has the right to issue an order in contravention of the law and to deprive the accused of the right of visits by their family and lawyer. They must know quite clearly that they may request private meetings with their lawyers.” The lawyers also complained that trial sessions have been held without other defendants or their lawyers being present. Following this letter, in October 2006 at least five of the lawyers were summoned to appear before Branch 7 of the Revolutionary Court in Ahwaz for allegedly endangering national security by complaining about the legal proceedings and publishing their protest on Ahwazi websites abroad. They were reportedly released upon payment of bail.On 10 January 2007, three leading UN human rights experts - Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Leandro Despouy, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on torture – jointly called on the government of Iran to “stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing.” The seven individuals concerned were reported to be Abdulreza Sanawati Zergani, Qasem Salamat, Mohammad Jaab Pour, Abdulamir Farjallah Jaab, Alireza Asakreh, Majed Alboghubaish Khalaf and Derhab Khudayrawi. These UN experts stated: “We are fully aware that these men are accused of serious crimes… However, this cannot justify their conviction and execution after trials that made a mockery of due process requirements.” BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Much of Iran’s Arab community lives in the province of Khuzestan, which borders Iraq. The province is strategically important because it is the site of much of Iran’s oil reserves, but the Arab population does not feel it has benefited as much from the oil revenue as the Persian population. Historically, the Arab community has been marginalised and discriminated against. In April 2005, Iranian Arabs took part in mass demonstrations in Ahvaz city, after it was alleged that the government planned to disperse the country's Arab population or to force them to relinquish their Arab identity. Hundreds were arrested and some were reportedly tortured. Following bomb explosions in Ahvaz city in June and October 2005, which killed at least 14 people, and explosions at oil installations in September and October, the cycle of violence intensified, with hundreds people reportedly arrested. Further bombings on 24 January 2006, in which at least six people were killed, were followed by further mass arrests. Two men, Mehdi Nawaseri and Ali Awdeh Afrawi, were executed in public on 2 March 2006 after they were convicted of involvement in the October bombings. Their executions followed unfair trials before a Revolutionary Court during which they are believed to have been denied access to lawyers, and their "confessions", along with those of seven other men, were broadcast on television. Amnesty International condemns bomb explosions and other attacks against civilians and fully recognizes the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but in doing so governments must comply with their obligations under international human rights law, including the right of fair trial. Amnesty International is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate form of cruel and inhuman punishment. Please see Iran: Death Sentences appeal case – 11 Iranian Arab men facing death sentences, AI Index MDE 13/051/2006, May 2006, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE130512006?open&of=ENG-IRN).Iran has a history of airing video-taped "confessions" on television. In previous cases, people who have made such "confessions" have later stated that such confessions were made after they had been tortured or ill-treated. Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which includes the right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt (Article 14.3.g). Principle 21 of the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment states that it should be prohibited to take undue advantage of the situation of a detainee for the purpose of compelling him to confess or incriminate himself.

Iran plans execution of kidnapped Ahwazi refugee

28 February, 2007
The Iranian regime is preparing to put Abdul Rasoul Mazrae, a UNHCR-registered refugee illegally deported to Iran by the Syrian government in May last year, on trial in the next 20 days, his son has told the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS).Mazrae - who is also known as Abdullah Abdulhamid Al-Tamimi (UNHCR file registration number 15010) - was accepted for asylum in Norway, after he was recognised as a refugee by the UNHCR office in Damascus. However, on 11 May 2006, shortly before he was due to be resettled, he was detained by Syrian authorities. For weeks after his arrest, the UNHCR repeatedly requested access to Mazrae and four other Ahwazi refugees detained by the Syrian authorities - Dutch national and Ahwaz Liberation Organisation (ALO) leader Faleh Abdullah Al-Mansouri, Saeed Saki, Taher Mazrae and Jamal Obidawi. The Syrian government repeatedly told the UNHCR that the men were safe in custody, when in fact they had been transferred to Tehran just days after their arrest. Taher Mazrae, Abdul Rasoul Mazrae's brother, and his family were granted asylum in Sweden. According to IRIN, following Taher's deportation to Iran, his family were prevented from leaving Damascus.According to Mazrae's son, Taregh Abdullah Al-Tamimi, who lives in Norway, he has spent the past 10 months in solitary confinement in a prison in Ahwaz. He has also undergone physical and psychological torture. As a result of his torture, he is urinating blood and has lost all his teeth. His kidneys and liver are also damaged and injuries to his spine have left him unable to walk. His torturers have ordered him to give a televised confession for crimes he did not commit. Mazrae is a member of the ALO, a separatist Ahwazi group based in the Netherlands.Amnesty International has accused Syria of breaking international law by deporting refugees to Iran (click here for report). In August 2006, it said: "Returning refugees or any other individual to a country where they are at risk of torture or ill-treatment or other serious human rights abuses is a violation of Syria's obligations under international law, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which it is a state party."In December 2006, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond appealed to Iranian authorities "to ensure the well-being of the four and allow for a fair trial and the right to due process.""Extradition does not mean that a refugee or asylum seeker loses his or her international protection status," he added. "UNHCR also appeals for access to the four refugees and we are prepared to find alternative solutions for them."The Iranian regime does not appear to have taken notice of the UNHCR's appeals and BAFS believes that the refugees are likely to face show trials and receive the death penalty. All five men left Iran long before the bomb attacks in Ahwaz of 2005 and 2006, so it is unclear what crimes they will be charged with.BAFS member Reza Vashahi, who spoke to Al-Tamimi, said: "Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which includes the right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt (Article 14.3.g). Principle 21 of the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment states that it should be prohibited to take undue advantage of the situation of a detainee for the purpose of compelling him to confess or incriminate himself."Iranian must stop the torture and imprisonment of Ahwazi Arabs. Ahwazis must also receive a fair and public trial with access to their legal representatives."The secret nature of the trials of Ahwazi political prisoners and the way Iranian sentenced Ahwazi Arabs to death and executed them not only violate international standards of justice but also contravene Iranian law and sharia. For example, Ahwazis were executed during the month of Moharam, in which it is not permitted to kill."BAFS Chairman Daniel Brett said: "Syria was part of a conspiracy to send Ahwazi Arab refugees to Iran. Consequently, it should face the same censure as the Iranian government for the illegal detention, deportation, torture and any future execution of these refugees. There is little doubt that both governments have blatantly violated international law and should face consequences."We urge European governments to do what they can to give asylum to Ahwazi political dissidents escaping Iran. The traditional safe havens for Ahwazis - Syria, Iraq and Kuwait - can no longer be regarded as safe. Syria is willing to break to international law on Iran's behalf and send Arabs to their death. Ahwazi exiles have been ejected from their homes in Iraq and some have been murdered. Kuwait also has an understanding with Iran under which Ahwazi activists may be deported to Iran, although no deportations have yet been carried out. Ahwazis also feel unsafe in the UAE and Bahrain, where Iranian intelligence agents are active."Iran's sphere of influence covers a large part of the Middle East and Ahwazi opposition activists cannot rely on international law to protect them. European states must hasten the transfer of Ahwazi refugees registered with the UNHCR to Europe."

Iran executed Ahwazi Arab while on hunger strike

Iran's leading prisoners rights activist, Emad Baghi (pictured), has revealed that 26 year old Abdolamir Farjolah Kaab was on hunger strike when he was executed in Karoun Prison on Tuesday (24 January) along with three other Ahwazi Arab political prisoners.Baghi told Radio Farda that he had staged a hunger strike to protest at being held in solitary confinement for nearly a year. He claimed that all four were held in solitary confinement from the time of their arrest in March 2006 until they were executed.Baghi also accused the Iranian government of breaking Islamic rules which forbid executions during the month of Moharam.The names of executed are:

1. Mohammad Lazem Kaab Pour, 28, married with one child, student at Shushtar University2. Abdolamir Farjolah Kaab, 26, married, student at Shushtar University3.

Alireza Asakereh, 24, single from Maashur (Mahshahr)4. Khalaf Dohrab Khanafereh (Khazirawi), 34, married with one child from Falahieh

They were among 10 men, all members of Iran's Arab minority, who were reportedly convicted of being mohareb (at enmity with God). On 10 January 2007, three leading UN human rights experts - Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Leandro Despouy, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on torture - jointly called on the government of Iran to "stop the imminent execution of seven men belonging to the Ahwazi Arab minority and grant them a fair and public hearing." These UN experts stated: "We are fully aware that these men are accused of serious crimes. However, this cannot justify their conviction and execution after trials that made a mockery of due process requirements."

Emad Al Din Albaghi : execution for any crime is a dangerous way

Source Deutsche Welle –Persian

02/01/2007

Translated by Reza Vashahi



In long interview with DW-Persian web site, with Emad Al Din Albaghi, head of Iranian defender of prison and guarding right of life, asked with execution of 6 Arabs in Ahwaz till now, do you hope that this executions are going to stop by your campaign?

Emad Al Din Albaghi: we always criticized the procedure of the case in courts; detainees right did not restored during their detention.

In interrogation the lawyer were not present, this is basically for human right activist making lots of question in mind, any way we hope that with writing letters and lobbying we can stop rest of execution. Without hope we can not do any thing and we hope they will keep it to this five execution and families of others have peace.

People of Abadan will have healthy water from next year!!!!!!!!!

Translation by Reza Vashahi

Analyse and back ground by Reza Vashahi

Source: Fars News agency

05/01/2007


Minister of energy in press conference in Abadan city said to people that from next year they will have healthy water.

Parviz Fatah in interview with Fars News agency said that progress of water refinery 34 percent has progress till now.

He said also they do not have problem with founding for this project.



Analyse and back ground

In 5 July 2000, people of Abadan came out in peace full demonstration because the water was so salty that no one can eat it.

Abadan which was the biggest oil refinery in the world now does not have even health water. When energy minister saying from next year people will have healthy water, question came to mind that what they been drinking till now then?

I myself tested salty water of Abadan and it was unacceptable, this is crime toward the people in Ahwaz, one of the basic rights of human is healthy water. Abadan with having huge river passing by, this is unacceptable that people do not have healthy water.

Ahwaz contain %33 of Iran’s water.

Water became salty because of the land took away from Arab farmers and turned it into sugar farms and in process of refining the salt of land all the salt came to the river which it was above the Abadan city. Sugar farm owner reported to be property of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Iranian president.

After decade still this problem going on. We call on international community to see the effect of this salty year for people of this area.

Ahmadinejad to visit Ahwaz as more Ahwazis face execution

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is planning to visit Ahwaz on Tuesday, the day after three Ahwazi Arabs were sentenced to death for opposing his regime.According to the President's press department Ahmadinejad is scheduled to tour a number of Arab towns, including Ahwaz, Mohammara (Khorramshahr) and Abadan. He will be accompanied by members of his cabinet, supposedly to meet with the people and discuss their problems.However, Arabs who have attempted to demonstrate peacefully against Iran's land confiscation and Persianisation programmes have faced arrest, summary execution and torture.On Monday, three Ahwazi Arabs were sentenced to death by Mashahr Revolutionary Court on charges of "waging war against God" and acting against national security, according to the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA). The Iranian media has referred to the three men only by their initials: H A, A M and H H. They were tortured into giving confessions, but are contesting the verdicts and the cases will be referred to Iran's Supreme Court.Three Ahwazis were executed in Karoun Prison on 19 December, despite a worldwide campaign backed by the European Parliament which called for a halt to the execution of Arab rights activists (click here for more information). Iranian prisoners' rights activist Emadeddin Baghi has also called for a stop to the hangings, claiming that the charges against the men are dubious, the trial process is flawed and the executions are fuelling instability in the Ahwaz region (click here for his appeal to the Chief of the Judiciary).According to the Tehran-based Ahwazi journalist Youssef Azizi Bani Torouf, 20 Ahwazi Arabs have been sentenced to death in the past year with many more waiting trial for political crimes that carry the death penalty (click here to read his article in Arabic).Nasser Bani Assad, spokesman for the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), said: "Ahmadinejad claim that he is listening to the poor and dispossessed is belied by the brutal methods meted out to any Ahwazi Arab campaigning for minority rights. Arab groups seeking constitutional means of advancing the rights agenda have been banned and their leaders imprisoned or executed."Ahmadinejad has no interest in the poor of Ahwaz and the Ahwazi Arabs despise his government, as shown in the recent muncipal elections. Pro-Ahmadinejad candidates failed to achieve any significant support despite a successful boycott campaign by his opponents which saw turn-out fall to around 40 per cent. His visit to Ahwaz is not welcomed by the local population."

PM calls for alliance over Iran

PM calls for alliance over Iran






Mr Blair says moderate countries must take on Iran Mr Blair in Dubai Moderate Muslim states must form an "alliance of moderation" to counter Iran and challenge its influence, UK prime minister Tony Blair has urged.

He called on the world to "wake up" to the monumental struggle between the forces of moderation and extremism.

At the end of his Middle East tour, Mr Blair said the ideological battle was the challenge of the 21st Century. His call comes as he was criticised by Iraq's vice-president on the issue of troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Speaking in New York, Tareq al-Hashemi suggested Mr Blair had supported his idea of announcing a timetable for withdrawal, but was then "brainwashed" into changing his mind by US President George Bush.
President Bush has so far refused to set a timetable for troop withdrawals.
'Partnership possible'
Mr Blair has been on a tour of the Middle East, visiting Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, the West Bank and Israel.

We must recognise the strategic threat the government of Iran poses Tony Blair
In a speech to British and United Arab Emirates businessmen in Dubai, Mr Blair said a new partnership was possible with Iran and Syria, if they were prepared to play a constructive role in the Middle East.
But he warned: "We must recognise the strategic threat the government of Iran poses - not the people, possibly not all of its ruling elements, but those presently in charge of its policy.
"They seek to pin us back in Lebanon, in Iraq and in Palestine. Our response should be to expose what they are doing, build the alliances to prevent it and pin them back across the whole of the region."

He said achieving this would need the support of moderate Middle Eastern countries, but his spokesman later said it was not a call for a confrontation between the two Muslim traditions - Sunni and Shia.

'Unconventional war'

Mr Blair, who is due to step down as prime minister next year, said: "We have to wake up. These forces of extremism based on a warped and wrong-headed interpretation of Islam aren't fighting a conventional war, but they are fighting one against us.
"And 'us' is not just the West, still less simply America and its allies. 'Us' is all those who believe in tolerance, respect for others and liberty.

"We must mobilise our alliance of moderation in this region and outside it to defeat the extremists."

During his tour, Mr Blair has met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip to reassure him of the UK's support for Turkey's bid to join the EU.
And he has met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to discuss the peace process.

In his speech, he set out three priorities to restore momentum to that process, including an early meeting between the two leader and, a relaunch of the political process leading to a two-state solution.

He also called for an office of president of Palestine, which should be given the capacity to improve the lives of the Palestinian people.
It is hoped a stronger role would allow international aid to be channelled through Mr Abbas - bypassing Hamas, which holds a majority in the Palestinian parliament.
The Palestinians have also been suffering under an international aid boycott since Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel or give up its armed struggle, was elected to a majority of seats in January's parliamentary poll.

Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6194789.stmPublished: 2006/12/20 15:11:19 GMT© BBC MMVI

Iranian Policy of torture Ahwazi Arabs and accusation western countries is not working any more

Reza Vashahi

Iranian for long time just accused Ahwazi Arabs movement to be under control of Iraq, Israel, Egypt, lybia, UK, Canada, Natherlands, USA and list goes on and on...

Iranian accused all those countries to be behind of Ahwazi movement, but for once did not accept that it is movement from inside Ahwazi community… Ahwazi who must be reach and live on land of black Gold[1], but they have nothing…

In fact Ahwazi Arabs movement is nothing to do with any other country, it is independent from inside. People have a TV and satellite these days, they saw the life in other Arabic Gulf courtiers, then they start thinking that: we have even more Gas and oil from some of them, why we live like this and they live like this?

Add to this not benefiting from Oil and Gas in Ahwaz All these years, racist treatment of Iranian toward Arabs of Ahwaz; it is not difficult to understand why Ahwazi Arabs are active for having their rights back!!!

Iranian instead of understanding the root, which they know it better than any one else, just putting the blame on other countries, ignoring the main cause of Ahwzi Arabs movement and time to time by executing Arabs trying to keep every thing calm again.

But is it work? Is policy of suppression and torture and accusing other countries woks? History showed this did not work, execution and mass murder of Ahwazi Arabs in Mohammareh in 1980/81 by general Madani, a war criminal who died last year, and similar one during 8 year war between Iran and Iraq and secret torture and execution during all these years[2], if they worked by now; there was not any Ahwazi Arabs movement by now.


[1] Ahwaz Area has about 10 and 15 percent of world oil reserves and has third Gas reserves in the world.
[2] Ahwaz occupied by Iranian forces physically in 1925, but in fact it was handed over under Arze Rom agreement.

Iran: Halt Execution of Ethnic Arabs After Secret Trial

Human Rights Watch

(New York, November 11, 2006) – Iran’s Judiciary should immediately halt the imminent execution of 10 Iranians of Arab origin and revoke the death sentence imposed on them, Human Rights Watch said today. The death sentences were imposed following secret trials that Human Rights Watch said could not be considered to meet international standards.On November 9, Abbas Jaafari Dowlatabadi, head of the Judiciary in the southern province of Khuzistan, told the Islamic Republic News Agency that Iran’s Supreme Court has confirmed the execution sentence of 10 Iranian Arabs. He said the condemned men were convicted of carrying out bombings in Ahwaz, capital of Khuzistan, last year. He did not name them. During the past year, the Judiciary has sentenced at least 13 Iranians of Arab origin to death for armed activity against the state. They are: Zamel Bawi; Awdeh Afrawi; Nazem Bureihi; Alireza Salman Delfi; Ali Helfi; Jaafar Sawari; Risan Sawari; Mohammad Ali Sawari; Moslem al-Ha’I; Abdulreza Nawaseri; Yahia Nasseri; Abdulzahra Helichi; and, Abdul-Imam Za’eri. “Iran’s opaque judicial system denies people due process and then hands down a death sentence after a one-day trial,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. “The Judiciary should stop these executions.” Iranian rights advocates told Human Rights Watch that these trials were held behind closed doors and without any independent or impartial observers present. On June 8, the Third Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Ahwaz sentenced Zamel Bawi, Jaafar Sawari, Risan Sawari and Abdulreza Nawaseri to death following a one-day trial on June 7. Human Rights Watch has been informed that no witnesses were called in the trial of these four men. The Judiciary has not provided dates and details of trials for the other nine men sentenced to death. According to Iranian activists, one of the convicted men, Nazem Bureihi, has been imprisoned since 2000 and was serving a 35-year sentence for “insurgency against the state” at the time of his alleged crime. “One of the wonders of the Iranian Judiciary is that it can accuse a person of carrying out bombings while he’s in prison,” said Whitson. “That lays bare the arbitrariness of his conviction.” Iran carries out more executions annually than any other nation but China. Human Rights Watch, which opposes capital punishment in all instances, called on the Iranian government to stop using the death penalty, due to its inherent cruelty and irrevocability.

Background

During the past two years, Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzistan has witnessed ethnic unrest among its Iranian-Arab population. The province is home to nearly two million Iranians of Arab descent. Protests erupted in Khuzistan’s capital, Ahwaz, on April 15, 2005, following publication of a letter allegedly written by Mohammad Ali Abtahi, an advisor to President Mohammad Khatami. The letter referred to government plans to implement policies that would reduce the proportion of ethnic Arabs in Khuzistan’s population. After security forces tried to disperse the demonstrators and opened fire on them, clashes between protesters and security forces turned violent. The violence spread to other cities and towns in Khuzistan. The next day, Abtahi and other government officials denied the authenticity of the letter, calling it fake. Ahwaz and other cities experienced several bombings after the April 2005 protests. In June 2005, four bombs in Ahwaz and two others in Tehran killed 10 people and injured at least 90. Two other bombings in Ahwaz, one in October 2005 and another in January 2006, killed 12 people. The government has reportedly arrested hundreds of Iranian Arabs since April 15, 2005.


Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/11/11/iran14560.htm

UNPO Appeal on Imminent Execution of Ahwazi Activists in Iran


2006-11-13


The Hague, 13 November 2006 – UNPO remains deeply concerned about the fate of 19 Ahwazi men convicted on charges of terrorism and mohareb (enmity with God) by Iranian courts.
10 of the men; Ali Motairi, Abdullah Solaimani, Abdulreza Sanawati (Zergani), Ghasem Salamat, Mohamad Chaab Pour, Abdulamir Farajullah Chaab, Alireza Asakreh, Majed Alboghubaish, Khalaf Khaziri, Malek Banitamim face execution by hanging, whilst the remaining nice face long prison sentences or exile. Another man, Saeed Hamedan, has also been included on the list of those to be hanged, though without trial, and so as a result of an illegal summary judgment by Iranian authorities.
UNPO has appealed to UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Mrs. Louise Arbour, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, Mr. Philip Alston, condemning the use of public hangings and calling for international action to address the deteriorating human rights situation for the Ahwazi Arabs in Iran.
The trials of the men were marred by gross irregularities, including; forced confessions, the prevention of the accused meeting with their lawyers, and the arrest of the Ahwazi Arab lawyers defending the men. Human Rights Watch immediately called for a stop to the executions and a revoke of the death penalty, citing the failure of the trials to meet international standards.
The Iranian government has systematically used death sentences to silence protests made by its many minorities. The ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs from their homeland has been documented by human rights groups, and strongly criticized by the United Nations. UNPO remains deeply concerned about the fact that dissidents are routinely killed under the guise of crimes against God.
UNPO has appealed to Mrs. Louise Arbour and Mr. Philip Alston to:
- urge Iran to stop the execution of the 11 convicted men and grant fair trials to the 19 men convicted of the bombing;
-call upon the Iranian government to cease its execution of Ahwaz Arabs for peaceful protest; and-address the issue of unfair trials and extrajudicial and summary executions of the indigenous Ahwaz Arab people

Thursday, November 16, 2006

European Parliament condemns Iran over Ahwazi executions

The European Parliament has condemned the imminent execution of 11 Ahwazi Arabs by the Iranian regime in a motion supported by all political groups.The motion highlighted the Iranian regime's discrimination against ethnic minorities, particularly the Ahwazi Arabs who are "being displaced from their villages according to statements by Miloon Kothari, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, while some of them remain in detention or have been sentenced to death."It "condemns the current disrespect of minority rights and demands that minorities be allowed to exercise all rights granted by the Iranian Constitution and international law" and "calls upon the authorities to eliminate all forms of discrimination based on religious or ethnic grounds or against persons belonging to minorities, such as Kurds, Azeris, Arabs and Baluchis."The motion also "calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt the imminent execution of the Arabs Abdullah Suleymani, Abdulreza Sanawati Zergani, Qasem Salamat, Mohammad Jaab Pour, Abdulamir Farjallah Jaab, Alireza Asakreh, Majed Alboghubaish, Khalaf Derhab Khudayrawi, Malek Banitamim, Sa'id Saki and Abdullah Al-Mansouri."The vote of condemnation was supported by the Conservative, Socialist, Green, Liberal Democrat, Radical and Communist groups, representing the entire spectrum of political opinion in Europe. British Green MEPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert have pushed the issue of Ahwazi Arab rights at the European Parliament and have strongly condemned the Iranian regime's violent persecution of minorities (click here for further details).The European Parliament's unanimous censure of the Iranian regime's treatment of minorities will have a major impact on EU relations with Iran. The mass executions of Ahwazi Arabs have focused attention on the regime's violent racism, with the campaign for a halt in executions gathering pace. The Finnish government - which currently holds the EU presidency - is reportedly preparing to take up the matter of executions of Ahwazis with the Iranian government on behalf of the EU.The lobbying effort in the UK has been intense. William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary and former leader of the Conservative Party, met with Foreign Office officials yesterday to highlight concerns about the execution of Ahwazi Arabs. His office told the British Ahwazi Friendship Society that the officials "assured him that they are taking the case extremely seriously, and that the FCO regularly raises the issue of individual death sentences with the Iranian government. Mr Hague believes it is important that international condemnation of this case is heard in Tehran, and he will continue to follow the matter closely."Labour MP Chris Bryant, a long-standing critic of Iran's atrocious human rights record, is preparing to table an Early Day Motion in the British parliament which will condemn Iran's mass execution of Ahwazis.

http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2006/11/european-parliament-condemns-iran-over.html

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Syria sends more Ahwazi Arab refugees to their death

The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) has denounced the deportation of another group of Ahwazi citizens living in Syria to Iran in a press released issued this week (click here to download).Human rights organisations and the UNHCR have received credible reports that Syria deported three more UNHCR-registered refugees in addition to Saeed Saki and Faleh Abdullah Al-Mansouri (a Dutch national): Taher Mazrae, Rasool Ali Mazrae and Jamal Obaidawi (pictured).An SHRC media spokesman claimed that Syria have breached its obligations under human rights conventions that commit it to protect recognised refugees. Syria had agreed to host the refugees and permit them to carry out their political activities. The SHRC spokesman called on the Syrian authorities to cease breaking its human rights obligations and to use their influence on Iran to release the Ahwazi detainees. Amnesty International has previously condemned the deportation of Ahwazi Arab refugees as a violation of international law.Currently, 11 Ahwazi Arabs are awaiting execution in Iran. Last week, four more Ahwazis - Risan Sawari, Aqil Sawari, Mohammad Ali Sawari and Jafar Sawari - were sentenced to death.

http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2006/11/syria-sends-more-ahwazi-arab-refugees.html

Thursday, November 23, 2006

UN General Assembly Criticises Iran's Discrimination of Minorities

The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favour of a resolution proposed by the Canadian government which criticised Iran's appalling human rights record and its treatment of ethnic minorities (click here for details).The motion (A/C.3/61/L.41), which received the support of 70 governments on Tuesday, expressed "serious concern at the continuing harassment, intimidation and persecution of human rights defenders, non-governmental organizations, political opponents, religious dissenters, webloggers and union members, among others." It comes just days after the European Parliament gave a damning indictment of the regime's human rights record, highlighting the planned execution of 11 Ahwazi Arab political activists.The General Assembly also voiced "serious concern at a persistent failure in Iran to comply fully with international standards in the administration of justice – including the absence of due process of law, the refusal to provide fair and public hearings, and the denial of the right to counsel by detainees."The motion also highlights "increasing discrimination and other human rights violations against ethnic and religious minorities" and calls on Iran to eliminate discrimination based on religious, ethnic or linguistic grounds. Women's rights and political freedoms were also under attack, according to the UN. The General Assembly encouraged the UN Human Rights Council and various Special Rapporteurs to pursue their work regarding Iran, and for the Assembly to continue its examination of the situation at its sixty-second session.The Iranian regime reacted angrily to the international community's condemnation of its human rights record, with its representative calling the motion "another politically motivated exercise pursued by the Government of Canada to serve its narrow political purposes and interests," although he did not identify what those interests were. Rather than address the General Assembly's concerns, the Iranian representative alleged that Canada had "a questionable human rights record, particularly concerning indigenous peoples." He added that "the draft consisted of baseless accusations and unfounded claims, and the situation it described in Iran was predicated on the sponsor's illusions and fantasies." Signalling the regime's defiance, Iran's UN representative claimed that criticism of the country's human rights violations "could diminish prospects for cooperation and understanding on human rights."Countries supporting the resolution included all the members of the European Union. North Korea, Zimbabwe and Uzbekistan voted with Iran against the motion.Meanwhile, British Members of the European Parliament have also called on UN Secretary General to intervene against the ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs (click here for details).

http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2006/11/un-general-assembly-criticises-irans.html

النظام الايراني يحكم بالأعدام على 4 أهوازيين آخرين

أفادت مصادر مطلعة لحزب التضامن الديمقراطي الأهوازي من داخل الأهواز مساء أمس 2006/11/19 بأن المحاكم الثورية في
الأهواز، أصدرت حكما على كل من ريسان السواري وعقيل السواري ومحمد علي السواري وجعفر السواري بالأعدام شنقا بتهمة الضلوع في تفجيرات الأهواز و العمل ضد الأمن القومي الأيراني، وتم احالة الاحكام الى مجلس القضاء الأعلى في طهران .
ويقوم النظام بأصدار هذه الوجبة من الأحكام الجماعية في الوقت الذي تطالب منظمة العفو الدولية ومرصد حقوق الانسان ومنظمة الدفاع عن حقوق السجناء في ايران ومنظمة حقوق الانسان الأهوازية (AHRO)من السلطات بأعادة النظر في هذه الأحكام نظرا لعدم مطابقة سير المحاكمات وطريقة أصدار الأحكام مع المعايير الدولية . فلم يسمح للمحامين الاتصال بالمتهمين الا ساعة واحدة قبل بدء جلسة المحكمة ويتم اصدار الأحكام في يوم واحد .
ومن ناحيته تبنى البرلمان الأوربي قرارا يوم الخميس 2006-11-17 قرارا يدين انتهاك ايران لحقوق الانسان و دعاها الى الغاء أحكام الاعدام الصادرة بحق 10من العرب في الاهواز.
وفي نفس الأطار أصدرت إحدى (المحاكم الثورية) في مدينة الفلاحية أحكاما بإعدام ثلاثة من الاهوازيين وهم كل من عبدالحسين حريبي
وحسين مرمضي وحسين عساكرة.وذلك وفقا لمصادر أهوازية موثوق بها في الداخل.وبهذا يبلغ عدد المحكوم عليهم بالأعدام في الفترة القصيرة الأخيرة 17 حالة وذلك بالرغم من مناشدات الأوساط الدولية بايقاف هذه الأحكام.

اللجنة الأعلامية- حزب التضامن الديمقراطي الاهوازي