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Statement by the Ahwazi Human Rights Organization regarding the Ahwazi political prisoner Hamzeh Sawari
The Ahwazi Human Rights Organization (AHRO) expresses its deep concern over the difficult humanitarian and legal conditions faced by the Ahwazi political prisoner Hamzeh Sawari, who has spent more than two decades of his life behind Iranian prison bars, since the age of sixteen.
Throughout his years of detention, Hamzeh Sawari has been deprived of his most basic human rights and has been subjected to physical and psychological torture. Among the harshest of these sufferings were the execution of two of his brothers and the death of his mother, without being granted the right to mourn or to be present with his family. Today, after receiving the news of his father’s passing, his suffering has further intensified — a flagrant violation of human dignity and of international human rights norms and standards.
The Ahwazi Human Rights Organization affirms that the right of a prisoner to mourn and bid farewell to a parent is a fundamental human right guaranteed by international principles, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules), which emphasize consideration for the humanitarian and social needs of prisoners, particularly in cases of family bereavement.
Accordingly, the Ahwazi Human Rights Organization calls on all international human rights organizations—especially those operating under the umbrella of the United Nations—to take urgent action regarding this case.
The organization also specifically urges the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran to intervene immediately, open an investigation into the situation of Ahwazi prisoner Hamzeh Sawari—who has spent two decades in detention—and exert the necessary pressure on the Iranian authorities to respect his legal and humanitarian rights.
Denying Hamzeh Sawari the right to mourn his father is not merely a punishment against him alone; it constitutes a form of collective punishment inflicted upon his family and represents a serious violation of international human rights conventions.
In conclusion, the Ahwazi Human Rights Organization stresses that international silence in the face of such violations only encourages their continuation. Swift action today may alleviate the suffering of a man exhausted by long years of imprisonment, whose only remaining basic human right is to bid farewell to his deceased father.
Ahwazi Human Rights Organization
(AHRO)
Date 09 / 12/ 2025
