(New York) – Iranian authorities should
immediately provide information regarding the
whereabouts and well-being of seven men from the
country’s ethnic Arab minority who are known to
be in Iranian custody. Human Rights Watch is
concerned that prison authorities in the
southwestern city of Ahvaz may have executed at
least four of the seven men in recent days, and
have so far refused to hand over the bodies to
their families. Iranian authorities should
immediately suspend use of the death penalty.
Sources
close to the families of three brothers – Taha
Heidarian, 28; Abbas Heidarian, 25; and
Abdul-Rahman Heidarian, 23 – told Human Rights
Watch that on June 17 authorities notified the
family that the three had been executed. Two
weeks ago, prison authorities had transferred
the brothers, along with three other prisoners,
from Karun prison’s general ward to an unknown
location. Another brother was arrested and also
taken to an unknown location when he inquired
about their whereabouts. The brothers’ families
had not received any information since their
transfer, raising fears that four of the men,
who had been sentenced to death, would be
executed within days. The fourth man believed to
have been executed is Ali Naami Sharifi.
“Prison officials need to let the families of
these men know what has happened to their loved
ones,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East
director at Human Rights Watch. “Even when
someone has been convicted of a serious crime,
it doesn’t mean the person’s family should be
left in the dark – and the authorities need to
deliver the bodies of those executed to allow
proper burial.”
Security forces arrested the Heidarian brothers
and Sharifi following anti-government protests
in several towns across Iran’s Arab-majority
Khuzestan province on or after April 15, 2011.
They alleged that the detainees were responsible
for the murder of a policeman. The April 2011
protests were held to mark the sixth anniversary
of the 2005 protests in Khuzestan, in which
security forces opened fire to disperse
demonstrators in Ahvaz and other cities and
towns, killing at least 50 protesters and
detaining hundreds. The demonstrators maintain
that the Iranian government systematically
discriminates against the Arab minority,
particularly in employment, housing, and civil
and political rights.
Several sources inside as well as outside Iran
close to the families of the detainees told
Human Rights Watch that on June 9 officials in
Ahvaz’s Karun prison transferred Taha, Abbas,
and Abdul-Rahman Heidarian and three others,
Mansour Heidarian, Amir Moavi, and Sharifi to an
unknown location. The sources said that on the
same day authorities also arrested Abdul-Jalil
Heidarian, another Heidarian brother, when he
attempted to find out more information about his
brothers’ case, and similarly transferred him to
an unknown location. A source told Human Rights
Watch that a revolutionary court has sentenced
Moavi to 15 years of internal exile on national
security charges, and that he is not on death
row.
A revolutionary court in Ahvaz convicted the
Heidarian brothers, along with Sharifi, of
killing the police officer and injuring another
during the April 15, 2011 protests, Iranian Arab
activists told Human Rights Watch. Prosecutors
are believed to have charged the men with
moharebeh (“enmity against God”) and efsad-e fel
arz (“sowing corruption on earth”), charges that
carry the death penalty. On March 5,
Intelligence Ministry officials informed the
detainees’ families that the Supreme Court had
affirmed the lower court’s ruling and sentence,
and said the detainees were likely to be
executed imminently.
Human Rights Watch has not been able to find any
public information about when and where the
initial trial was held. Authorities denied the
detainees regular access to their families and
lawyers during the pretrial period, prompting
fears that the men were subjected to torture to
make them confess, the sources said.
On December 13, 2011, Press TV, a government
English-language station, aired a documentary
featuring three Arab men who confessed on camera
that they had carried out “terrorist
activities.” The program alleged that the men –
Hadi Rashedi, Hashem Shaabani, and Taha
Heidarian – were part of a group called “Khalq-e
Arab,” and further alleged that this group was
supported by the United States and United
Kingdom, as well as foreign-based Iranian Arabs
who fronted as human rights activists.
A source who knows both Rashedi and Shaabani
previously told Human Rights Watch that they
were among more than 10 residents of Khalafabad,
a town about 120 kilometers southeast of Ahvaz,
who had been arrested and detained by
authorities since January 2011. Little
information is available regarding the charges
against Rashedi and Shaabani, but sources fear
they may suffer the same fate as Taha Heidarian
and the others.
Since May 2011, authorities have executed at
least 11 Iranian Arab men and a 16-year-old boy
in Karun prison for their alleged links to
groups involved in attacking security forces,
Human Rights Watch said. Rights activists told
Human Rights Watch that at least another six
people have been tortured to death in the
custody of security and intelligence forces in
connection with anti-government demonstrations
by that swept across Khuzestan province in April
2011 and 2012.
Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in
all circumstances because of its irreversible,
cruel, and inhumane nature.
In April 2011, Human Rights Watch documented the
use of live ammunition by security forces
against protesters in cities throughout
Khuzestan province, killing dozens and wounding
many more. No Iranian officials have been
investigated in connection with these killings.
Human Rights Watch also renewed its call on
Iranian authorities to allow independent
international media and human rights
organizations access to investigate allegations
of serious rights violations in Khuzestan
province.
“The high number of reported arrests and
killings in Khuzestan province in recent years,
combined with the information blackout, suggests
that the government has terrible things it wants
to hide,” Stork said. “Simple justice requires
the authorities to open independent and
transparent investigations into the fate of
those arrested and the allegations of torture.”
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