German left MEP condemns Iran’s executions

A leading German member of the United European Left group in the European Parliament has voiced his group’s
opposition to the Iranian government’s execution of Ahwazi Arab activist Zamel Bawi and the threat of further executions.

This week, the United European Left voted against a resolution that included condemnation of the execution campaign against Ahwazi activists, including a Dutch citizen and two UNHCR-registered refugees who were kidnapped in Syria in 2006, as well as other human rights issues, the nuclear programme and EU-Iran relations.

In an email to Karim Abdian, the Chairman of the Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO), Tobias Pflüger MEP explained that the group voted against the European Parliament resolution on Iran due to its concerns over an unrelated paragraph on the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme which he feared would make it possible to introduce “conterproductive sanctions as steps to a possible war against Iran.” He said: “In the negotations we supported the human rights aspects of the resolution,” adding that the left-wing group of MEPs supported the paragraph condemning the executions of Ahwazi Arabs.