Condemn the Massacre of Indigenous Ahwazi Arabs in Iran


URGENT APPEAL - April 2005


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IRAN'S "BLOODY WEEKEND" MASSACRE IN CITY OF AHWAZ ACCORDING TO NEWS REPORTS AND EYEWITNESSES, MORE THAN 30 AHWAZI ARAB DEMONSTRATORS WERE KILLED, OVER 500 INJURED AND THOUSANDS WERE ARRESTED DURING PROTESTS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN IRANIAN PROVINCE OF KHUZESTAN (AL-AHWAZ) IN 15-17 APRIL 2005. THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE FIVE MILLION INHABITANTS OF THIS PROVINCE ARE INDIGENOUS ARABS.

Demonstrations broke out after the publication of a top secret letter from
President Khatami's office, which detailed plans for a plan of ethnic
cleansing and ethnic "restructuring" in Khuzestan

http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/images/ahwaz-khuzestan.pdf

State Security Forces were brought in to halt the protests and began
shooting at unarmed demonstrators. The authorities also cut off the power,
telephone connections and water supplies to the provincial capital city of
Ahwaz. The districts are now besieged by the SSF, which is preventing
people from entering or leaving.

The plans outlined in the letter include reducing the Arab population to
around one-third of the province's total population through forced
migration and eliminating all traces of Arab culture and language,
including names of streets and towns. The letter, signed by former vice
president Mohammad Ali Abtahi and written in 1999, suggests a time frame
of 10 years to accomplish the ethnic restructuring program. This is the
second internal top-secret letter in that has been leaked/ smuggled out
and distributed by Ahwazi Iranian Human rights organizations.

President Khatami has reportedly ordered the Intelligence Ministry and the
Supreme National Security Council to identify those behind the unrest,
alleging that "the hands of foreign agents and enemies of the revolution
are at work". On his personal website (www.webneveshteha.com), Abtahi
denied writing the letter. Government officials also claimed the letter
was forged.

However, the originality of the letter has been authenticated by the
British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) through a former member of
Khatami's staff now living in exile. BAFS has also obtained video evidence
that shows the destruction of Ahwazi Arab homes by the Iranian army and
interviews with those who were made homeless.
The Iranian government has confiscated more than 90,000 hectares of
indigenous Ahwazi farmland and the inhabitants have been forced to leave
their homeland and migrate to non-Arab provinces. There are many more
aspects of what appears to be a part of a program of ethnic cleansing in
Khuzestan.

The Iranian security forces are using heavy-handed tactics to put down
what started as a peaceful demonstration against ethnic cleansing.
Machine-gun mounted helicopter gunship and live ammunition, tear gas
canisters and debilitating poison-filled bullets have been used to put
down the rioting.

Among the dead are several children aged 13 and under. Several prominent
Ahwazi indigenous religious, tribal and community leaders including Haj
Ebrahim Ameri and Kazem Mojadam have been arrested, along with most of the
leadership of the Islamic Wafagh Party, a legal Iranian political party.
List of the killed whose family permitted publication of their names.
We urge that the international community interferes and stop the killing
of innocent indigenous Ahwaz Arab people of Khuzestan.

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PLEASE SEE THESE SITES FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.ahwazstudies.org
http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/
Karim Abdian
Executive Director
Ahwaz Human Rights Organization

Innocent civilians who were shot to death by the Iranian security forces
in Khuzestan during April 15-17:
1. Musa Shamoosi (8-years old) resident of Ahwaz City in Khuzestan, Iran
2. Nasser Abiat, resident of Ahwaz City in Khuzestan, Iran
3. Mehdi Afrawi, resident of Ahwaz City in Khuzestan, Iran
4. Ali Sabhani (13-year old), resident of Hamidieh, in Khuzestan, Iran
5. Hadi Sabhani, resident of Hamidieh, in Khuzestan, Iran
6. Nasser Khazraji, resident of Malashoeh, Ahwaz-Khuzestan, Iran
7. Ebrahim Ghazi, , resident of Malashoeh, Ahwaz-Khuzestan, Iran
8. Ali Abiat, , resident of Malashoeh, Ahwaz-Khuzestan, Iran
9. Nasser Daghalegheh, resident of kut Dayed Saleh, Khuzestan, Iran
10. Sayed Khalaf Mousawi, resident of Kut Sayed Saleh, Khuzestan, Iran
11. Mehdi Hanoon-Haydari, resident of Ahwaz City in Khuzestan, Iran
12. Reza Abiadawi, resident of Ahwaz City in Khuzestan, Iran
13. Alam Khazraji, resident of Maleshiah, in Khuzestan, Iran
14. Naji Abiat (20-years old), Ahwaz, Khuzestan
15. Ali Muhammad, resident of Ahwaz City in Khuzestan, Iran
16. Abed, Nawasseri, resident of Ahwaz City in Khuzestan, Iran
17. Sadegh Nawasseri, resident of Ahwaz City in Khuzestan, Iran
18. Mehdi Abdolhussain, resident of Hamidieh, in Khuzestan, Iran
19. Reza Aboud Hussaini, resident of Hamidieh, in Khuzestan, Iran
20. Mehdi Yazdan-Abiawi, resident of Hamidieh, in Khuzestan, Iran


Yours sincerely
Shahin Ostajloo
Spokesman for S.A.H.R
South Azarbaijan Human Rights
tel: 004561661837
E-mail: Aylar2@hotmail.com
18-04-2005


S.A.H.R
Shahin Ostajloo