No: 239
The Supreme Court has been confirmed the death sentence of Five Ahwazi Arab political detainees who were
arrested by the Intelligent Services (Ettelaat) in 201. The verdict has been decided by Judge Sayed Mohammad Bagher Mosavi, the Head of Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Ahwaz on 7th July 2012. The Ahwazi Arabs charged with “enemy with God”(Moharebeh), corruption on earth and activities against national security.
, (33), arrested in February 2011, is a Fisheries Engineer originally from Ahwaz City who relocated to Khalafabad. He graduated from Isfahan University with a degree in Aquaculture and Natural Resources. He was one of the founding editors of the student newspaper “Torath” (Heritage) and was also an active blogger. He taught in some of the high schools in Khalafabad. He was originally inspired into political activism by the presidency of Mohammad Khatami. He had proposed a plan to form a civic institution called Al-Hewar (Dialogue), but permission was denied by the Ministry of the Interior. He was later involved in the Lejnat al-Wefaq (Reconciliation Committee), an Arab political association that was allowed to contest elections and won a number of seats in municipal councils, including a majority on Ahwaz City Council, as well as the Ahwaz seat in the Iranian Majlis. However, the organisation was banned by the government and he was forced to flee to Iraq in 2007 with Shahid Shaabani Amouri and Fares Silawi where he was arrested and detained for five years. Although he had refugee status, he was repatriated to Iran and arrested by the authorities. Fares was killed under torture in Iraq.
(31), arrested in February 2011, is originally from Ahwaz City and a resident of Khalafabad. He is married with one child. He has a Bachelor degree in Arabic language literature and education and holds a Masters degree in Political Sciences from Ahwaz University. He has written poetry in Arabic and Farsi and teaches Arabic language and Arabic literature in high schools. He is a cultural, civil and student activist and also a blogger. He takes care of his elderly parents. His father Khalaf Shaabani was disabled while fighting Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War. Due to their son being arrested, his parents are suffering both physically and mentally. In December 2011, he was featured on Iran’s international television station Press TV in which he was forced to confess to being involved in separatist terrorism and supporting Ba’athism in Iraq. He was also made to claim that he had assistance from Hosni Mubarak and Muammer al-Qadafi, the former rulers of Egypt and Libya. Those who know him state that he has never supported armed insurgency against the Iranian state, let alone had contact with foreign governments.
(37), single was arrested on 28 February 2011 with his brother Habibullah Rashidi, former chair of Khalafabad municipal council. A highly qualified post-graduate with an MSc in Chemistry, he worked in local high schools as a teacher. He has a keen interest in cultural issues and is an advocate for the poor. He suffers from heart disease and as such is exempt from military service. During his imprisonment, he has suffered considerable mental stress, developing a serious digestive disorder as a result. As a result of beatings, he has a fractured hip. He appeared in a documentary aired by Iran’s Press TV in which he was forced to confess to firing a gun at buildings housing security personnel and government officials in Khalafabad. He was described as a member of the ‘Khalq-e Arab’, although no single organisation operates with this name.
, 27 years old and from Khalafia, was arrested on 13 March 2011. He is married with one daughter and was working for his father, Mohammad al-Boushoka, in a rock grinding company. He was also an engaged in social welfare activities. He was arrested with his brother, Mokhtar al-Boushokeh (25), who was one year into his two-year military service. The brothers are understood to have been tortured over a period of four months. As a result, Jabar has lost around 10kg in weight and Mokhtar is suffering mental health problems and is said to be permanently shaking and unaware of where he is.
Despite of denying the charges the detainees admitted to the Judge that they were physically and emotionally tortured during Nine months of interrogations by the Intelligent Service Officers and forced to confess.
Despite the condemnation by the organisations such the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the European Parliament, British Parliament, the German Foreign Ministry, British Foreign Ministry, the US State Department and other international and Iranian human rights bodies on illegal and inhumane and systematic violations on human rights by the judiciary and the Islamic Republic, the regime consists on carrying out the death sentence of Ahwazi Arabs.
Ahwazi Human Rights Organisation (Ahro) condemned the death sentences of Ahwazi Arabs and claims for fair trial and justice and call International Community and human rights organisations to stop further suppression and to stop execution of Ahwazi Arab political activists.
Ahwazi Human Rights Organisation (AHRO)
10th January 2013.
Jabar al-Boushokeh
Hadi Rashedi
Hashem Shaabani
Mohammad Ali Amouri Nejad
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