Sunday, December 6, 2015 7:24:14 PM

Although the allegedly moderate President Hassan Rouhani has pledged more freedom in Iran, the country has seen no significant improvements in human rights and Iran remains one of the biggest executor regime in the world and the rate of hundreds of executions will be the highest number of death penalty applications in the world by the end of this year.

 

Accordingly, Karim Dahimi an Ahwazi human rights activist said in a recent report that as the Iranian regime continues exploiting the security situation in the Middle East and is busy creating disinformation and turmoil, its Intelligence Ministry, operating in Al-Ahwaz region, has arrested dozens of Ahwazi Arab activists in the cities of Susa, Quneitra, Shavoor, and Khafajeh under the pretext of attacking the Muharram mourning in Quneitra (Dezful) last month.

According to the official Iranian news agencies, even before completion of the investigation and issuing any verdict from the courts, the Ministry of Intelligence, accused the detainees of forming a group called Jund Al-Farouq,  and, as is always the case, has charged them with enmity against God the punishment for which is the death sentence.

Iran Intelligence Ministry is actively censoring any and all news of Ahwaz in the local media, and by human rights organizations. Dozens of activists have been arrested, and many are being accused of terrorism.  In addition, Security Officials have arrested the Arab activists on so-called charges of attacking a Shia convoy of mourning in the Safiabad district in the city of Quneitra (Dezful) at the start of Muharram. Two people were killed, and two others have been injured.

The nationalities of those killed are yet to be disclosed.  The unlawful detention of dozens of Ahwazi young activists comes while, according to the Ministry of Intelligence Officials, only three of the identities of this attack are known.

In an interview with Fars News Agency, Ahmed Ghahremani, the Public Prosecutor of Quneitra city (Dezful), insisted on the immediate execution of the accused detainees even before the court decision has been handed down.  Ghahremani claims that the detainees confessed to Fighting with God, and as we have observed in thousands of instances of Iran so-called justice, the detainees will be executed.

 

Such statements by the Judicial Officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reveal the confusion and weaknesses of the judicial system. Additionally, these statements provide clear examples of the continuous, inherent violations of the most basic International rights of detainees, as well as the explicit contradiction with Article 37 of the Iranian Constitution, which states: The principle of presumption of innocence, and no one is to be held guilty unless proved guilty by a competent court.

The arrests in September and October this year, took place after the detainees were denied the most basic right to make phones call to their family and access to a lawyer.  The families of the accused are unaware of the status of their sons or the reasons for their detention. The names of some of the detainees are protected by human rights activists and will be released after the conclusion of the court.   To date, no Ahwazi Arab group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Quneitra (Dezful), and several Ahwazi rights organizations issued statements condemning the attack.

 

The situation of Arab Ahwazi Citizens

 

President Hassan Rouhani had expressed during his presidential campaign that We don't have second-class citizens. All Iranians are equal.

Whereas, The people have several reasons to feel like second-class citizens such as deep economic crisis, unemployment, poverty, lack of labor and social welfare, the majority of the areas rural population ranks with no welfare services and inadequate annual household expenditure levels for each family, lack of drinking water in some villages, lack of transportation facilities and suitable roads, unfavorable weather condition as dust and high temperature and humidity and drought (In 2011, the World Health Organization ranked Ahwaz as the world's most air-polluted city). 

The region is the mainstay of the Iranian state economy; it is the center of its oil wealth, however, more than 80% of the Ahwazi Arabs are grappling with extreme poverty and deprivation at large scale. Arab Ahwazi identity in the eyes of Iranian is a grievous sin and a grave threat as an Ahwazi activist has acknowledged.