DOCUMENT - IRAN: FOUR MEMBERS OF AHWAZI ARAB
MINORITY EXECUTED AFTER UNFAIR TRIAL
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
AI Index: MDE 13/043/2012
22 June 2012
Iran: Four members of Ahwazi Arab minority
executed after unfair trial
Amnesty International considers that apparent
execution of at least four men, including three
brothers – all members of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab
minority - following an unfair trial lacking any
transparency encapsulates all the worst aspects
of Iran’s state killing machine.
Ahwazi activists close to the family told
Amnesty International that brothers Abd
al-Rahman Heidarian, 23, (also known as
Heidari), Abbas Heidarian, 25 and Taha
Heidarian, 28, along with a fourth man named Ali
Sharifi, were executed in Ahvaz’s Karoun Prison
on or around 19 June 2012. They said that
following their execution, the men’s bodies were
not returned to their families.
The fate of a fifth man, Mansour Heidarian, who
was detained in the same case and believed to be
a cousin of the brothers, is unknown.
The
brothers and Mansour Heidarian were apparently
convicted by a Revolutionary Court of moharebeh
va ifsad fil-arz or “enmity against God and
corruption on earth” in connection with the
killing of a law enforcement official in April
2011 amidst widespread protests in Khuzestan.
Yet another man, Amir Muawi, (or Mo’avi) who may
have been tried in connection with the same case
has reportedly been sentenced to 15 years’
imprisonment, to be served in internal exile.
However, Amnesty International is unaware of the
exact details of the charges against him and his
trial proceedings. Earlier reports suggested
that he had been sentenced to death.
The three brothers and Amir Muawi were
reportedly arrested around 18-19 April 2011, in
connection with a demonstration in Ta’awen
Street, in Malashiya during unrest in Khuzestan
marking the sixth anniversary of unrest in the
province. Malashiva is an impoverished district
in the east of the city of Ahvaz, Khuzestan, in
south western Iran. Amnesty International is
unaware of the date of Mansour Heidarian’s
arrest.
The activists told Amnesty International that
the men were held in solitary confinement at a
facility under the control of the Ministry of
Intelligence in the Chahar Shir district of the
city Ahvaz. It is not known when they were
initially tried, but it appears that the
decision by Iran’s Supreme Court to uphold their
death sentences was communicated to family
members on or around 5 March 2012
Under Iranian law, lawyers must receive 48
hours’ notice of their client’s execution, but
it is not clear whether these six men have ever
been permitted legal representation.
Amnesty International believes their trial was
unfair, as it appears that the men were not
represented by lawyers of their choice, and at
least one was shown on a national television
channel “confessing” to the crime. It is not
known when the men’s initial trials before a
Revolutionary Court took place. Their families
have said the men “confessed” to murder, but did
so under torture or other ill-treatment. Iranian
courts frequently accept “confessions” extracted
under duress as evidence.
Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees is
commonplace in Iran, often to try to force
detainees to make “confessions”. Coerced
“confessions”, sometimes broadcast on television
even before the trial has concluded, are often
accepted as evidence in Iranian courts.
The
three brothers, as well as Ali Sharifi, Amir
Muawi and Mansour Heidarian, were reportedly
transferred to solitary confinement on or around
9 June 2012. Transfer to solitary confinement of
death row prisoners frequently happens before
executions are carried out.
Amnesty International recognizes the rights and
responsibilities of all states to protect those
under their jurisdiction and to uphold the rule
of law. However, the organization is
unconditionally opposed to the death penalty,
which it considers to be the ultimate violation
of the right to life, regardless of the nature
of the crime, the characteristics of the
individual, or the method used by the state to
carry out the execution.
In this regard, the organization is deeply
dismayed at the execution of these four men
after apparently unfair trials, which violate
Iran’s obligations under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
to which it is a state party.
Amnesty International has also learned that a
fourth brother, Jalil Heidarian, was summoned to
an office of the Ministry of Intelligence in
Ahwaz on or around 9 June 2012. Apart from a
quick telephone call to his family on the day of
his arrest, the Heidarian family has not had any
further contact with him and are unaware of his
current legal status.
Amnesty International is calling for the
authorities to immediately inform Jalil
Heidarian’s family of his whereabouts and his
current legal status, and for the fate of the
other six men to be clarified. While held, he
should be protected from torture or other
ill-treatment, granted access to his family and
a lawyer of his choice, and to all necessary
medical care. If he is not to be charged and
promptly tried on an internationally
recognizable criminal offence, he should be
released.
�Background
Ahwazi Arabs, one of Iran’s many minorities
often complain that they are marginalized and
discriminated against in access to education,
employment, adequate housing, political
participation and cultural rights. Some Ahwazi
Arabs – who are mostly Shi’a Muslims like the
majority of people in Iran – have formed groups
calling for a separate Arab state in the
area.��In April 2005, Khuzestan province was the
scene of mass demonstrations, after reports that
Iran’s government planned to disperse Ahwazi
Arabs from the area and to attempt to weaken
their ethnic identity.
In April 2011, members of the Ahwazi Arab
minority organized “Day of Rage” protests across
Khuzestan province to mark the sixth anniversary
of the earlier unrest. Afterwards, Amnesty
International was given the names of 27 people
allegedly killed in clashes with the security
forces, including in the Malashiya
neighbourhood. Ahwazi Arab sources claim there
were more casualties, while the Iranian
authorities claim only three people died.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/043/2012/en/c157fa85-09cc-4ab2-a460-c27da9c4de12/mde130432012en.html
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