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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Iran: Nine Ahwazi Arab are at risk of execution in Iran

  Free Ahwazi Political Prisoners Campaign
         20th November 2012, 9.30 AM
                   Edited By Kamil Alboshoka


The aim of this briefing report is to highlight how the Free Ahwazi Political Prisoners Campaign can spread the voice of Ahwazi political, social, and cultural activities to the world. I did this brief report at Kingston university to make number of supporters for Ahwazi case against the policy of the regime.
Despite an abundance of natural resources like oil and gas, Ahwazi Arab people suffer from poverty in Iran. Over 80% of Iranian national income came from Ahwaz, but Ahwazi people receive poorly services from the Iranian authorities. These policies of Iranian regime often make people in Ahwaz to protest against the regime decisions. Therefore, many Ahwazi often arrested by services regarding to political, human rights, social, cultural activities. Number of activities killed under torture and massive number sentenced for death penalty and long life imprisonment. The Iranian authorities recently sentenced nine Ahwaz for death penalty and one for twenty years in imprisonment, and also killed one Ahwazi cultural activities in suspicious circumstances. Mr. Satar Sayahi (Abu Seror) in November 2012, so the Free Ahwazi Political Prisoners Campaign wants to take the responsibility to spread the prisoners’ voices to the world.
There are several articles which Amnesty International believed every human have rights to access equal rights.
Artilcle1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Article2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedom.
Article3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security.

INTRODUCTION
Nine Ahwazi Arabs human rights activities are at risk of execution after unfair trail in Ahwaz. A source from their family inside of AL.Ahwaz informed the information to the Free Ahwazi Political Prisoners Campaign.
Ahwaz is Arab land which is located in South West of Iran and has border with the Arabian Gulf in South Iran. The population of Arabs in Iran is variable between 8 to 10 million populations. Arabs in Iran have been suffering politically, culturally, socially and economically by the Iranian authorities since 1925. Many face long life imprisonment and many Arabs executed. These ten Ahwazi Arabs have also arrested because of their human rights activities.
Therefore, the Free Ahwazi Political Prisoners Campaign directly contacted some other sources from Ahwaz- Khalafia and Falahia. So, the resources confirmed that all Ahwazi Arabs from Khalafia and Falahia City are at risk of execution and also are in terrified situation since the barbaric torture by Iranian intelligence services. The prisoners are Mr. Mohammad Ali Omori 34 year-old, Hashem Shabani 32 year-old and Rahman Asakereh 34 year old who arrested on 16th February 2011, and Mr. Hadi Rashedi 39 year-old who arrested on 28th February 2011, and also Jabber Alboshoka 28 year-old and his younger brother Mokhtar Alboshoka 26 year-old who arrested on 13th March 2011 in Khalafia, and AbdulReza Amir Khanafera 25 year-old, Ghazi Abbasi (Khanafra) 30 year-old, Shahab Abbasi 26 year-old and Abdul Amir Mojadami 32 year-old  who arrested in 2009 in charge of dangerous for the Regime security and enmity of God.
The sources also informed that the six Arab prisoners from Khalafia hold in the Iranian intelligence services detention between 4 to 7 months. And the fourth prisoners from Falahia also over 4 months. They faced badly torture and some of them are suffering from poor health because of torture, all the prisoners are from educated group of people in Ahwaz and all of them post-graduated from high universities in Iran. Mr. Hadi Rashedi who spent 7 months in detention is suffering from heart and liver disorder, mental stress and also his leg broken in detention because of torture.
Mr. Rahman Asakereh who also spent 7 months in detention is suffering mental stress towards his son Mr. Hammed who killed by services in September 2011 by hitting him by car in suspicious circumstances. Mr. Mohammad Ali Amoori who fled to Iraq in December 2007 and arrested by Iraqi authorities and sent to prison for over 3 years also suffered mental stress because of torture in both Iran and Iraq. UNHCR offered Mohammad Ali refugee statement while he was in prison in Iraq, but Iraqi authorities ignored the action of Amnesty international and UNHCR regarding Mohammad Ali situation when UNHCR asked Iraq not deporting him back to Iran.
Both brother Jabber and Mokhtar spent 4 month in detention and suffered from depress and stress due to terrified torture. Jabber lost 10 kilos of his weight, his teeth and jaw broken, Mokhtar also lost his memory. All six prisoners currently held in Karon prison in Ahwaz capital city.
In addition, the fourth other prisoners also tortured badly. All of them suffer mental stress due to hard torture which they faced in detention

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Statement by Mr Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights situation in Iran Press Conference – Oslo – 22 November 2012

Statement by Mr Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights situation in Iran Press Conference – Oslo – 22 November 2012

Good afternoon.

I would like to first of all offer my thanks to the governments of Germany, Sweden, and Norway for unconditionally accepting my request to conduct my latest fact-finding mission in their countries. The mission has been very successful, as I was able to collect a wealth of valuable information on subjects relevant to my mandate in Berlin, Stockholm, and Oslo.

Over the past twelve days, I have met and spoken with several dozen individuals of Iranian origin, human rights workers, government officials, and academic experts. I would like to thank everyone who took time to share information with me, particularly those who were able and willing to offer first-hand witness testimony related to the situation of human rights in Iran.
I have and will continue to apply rigorous standards in assessing the credibility of every individual account and piece of testimony I encounter. With that said, the credible testimonies I did receive on this trip have largely confirmed patterns I had previously encountered, and paint a very concerning picture of the human rights situation in Iran.

I speak at a time when the execution rate in Iran seems to have accelerated to an alarming pace in recent weeks and months. There are credible reports, in many cases corroborated by the government itself, that the number of executions carried out in just the past two weeks is at least 32, and possibly as high as 81. In October, the government executed 10 individuals, including Mr. Saeed Sedighi, despite impassioned calls from the international community to halt the executions in light of serious concerns regarding due process. I am extremely alarmed by this apparent spike in executions, and I reiterate my call on the government of Iran to adhere to its own international legal obligations in guaranteeing due process and ceasing the use of the capital punishment, except in cases narrowly defined as acceptable by the UN Human Rights Committee for the ICCPR.

Friday, November 23, 2012

NATO to consider Turkey missile request on Syria border as ‘urgent’

Netherlands and Germany are the only countries in Europe with Patriot missiles. (Reuters)NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday said the alliance would consider a request from Turkey to deploy Patriot anti-missile batteries along its border border with Syria “as a matter of urgency.”
Rasmussen, arriving for a meeting of European Union defense ministers, said NATO had received no formal request from NATO-member Turkey to date but added that if one was made, “we will consider that as a matter of urgency.”
German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere said earlier that he expected a request on Monday from Turkey, whose border villages have been hit by artillery fire as forces loyal to Damascus battle rebels seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
“The situation on the Syria-Turkey border is of great concern,” said Rasmussen.
“We have all the plans ready to defend and protect Turkey if needed. The plans will be adjusted if necessary to ensure effective protection of Turkey.”
Rasmussen said there was no question currently of imposing a no-fly zone with the back-up of the Patriot missiles.
“The Patriot missiles would be a purely defensive measure to defend Turkey.”
He also said it was “premature” to comment on German reports that Berlin planned to send 170 soldiers to Turkey to man the missiles.
But he added: “Turkey can count on allied solidarity”.
Earlier it was reported that the Netherlands and Germany may send Patriot missiles to NATO ally Turkey to help defend the country’s border with Syria, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Sunday, citing the Dutch defense minister.
Turkey said earlier this week it had intensified talks with NATO allies on how to shore up security on its 900-km (560-mile) frontier with Syria after mortar rounds fired from Syria landed inside its territory.
“NATO does not exist for nothing,” ANP quoted Dutch Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert as saying.
A Dutch Defense Ministry spokesman said: “There is no request but the Netherlands and Germany are the only countries in Europe with Patriots.”
The Dutch minister spoke to her German counterpart last week about a possible deployment, ANP said.

Turkey to request NATO missile defense on Syria border

NATO-member Turkey has already bolstered its own military presence along the 910-km (560-mile) border and has been responding in kind to gunfire and mortar shells hitting its territory from fighting between Syrian rebels and Syrian government forces. (Reuters)Turkey is to make an imminent official request to NATO to station Patriot missiles along its border with Syria, a senior Turkish foreign ministry official said on Wednesday.
NATO-member Turkey has already bolstered its own military presence along the 910-km (560-mile) border and has been responding in kind to gunfire and mortar shells hitting its territory
from fighting between Syrian rebels and Syrian government forces.
“This issue (Patriots) is also coming up on the agenda within the framework of deliberations, preparations and contingency planning on the security of Turkey and NATO territories,” foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal told AFP.
The official said there was a potential missile threat to Turkey from Syria and that Turkey had a right to take steps to counter such a threat. He gave no further details.
“The deployment of these type of missiles as a step to counter threats is routine under NATO regulations,” an official said, adding that they had been deployed in Turkey during the second Gulf War.
A NATO spokeswoman in Brussels said: “We haven’t received a request. As the Secretary-General said on Monday, the allies will consider any request that is brought to the North Atlantic Council.”

Ankara tells Moscow that patriots are ‘strictly for defense’

Ankara has been strengthening its defenses along the border with anti-aircraft batteries and tanks since June 22, when one of its F4 fighter jets was downed by Syria along with two pilots for a brief violation of Syrian airspace. (AFP)Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday that Moscow has no reason to worry about the Patriot missiles Ankara has asked NATO to deploy on its troubled border with Syria.
“Patriots are strictly a measure of defense, as Russia and other countries already know,” Davutoglu told reporters after a meeting with Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, the head of the newly-formed Syrian National Coalition.

“There is absolutely no reason for any country, particularly Russia, to worry about,” the foreign minister said.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen rejected Russian criticism on Thursday of the alliance’s possible deployment of Patriot missiles near Turkey’s border with Syria.

Russia said earlier it opposed the deployment of the surface-to-air missiles, which Ankara has asked NATO for because it fears spillover from the civil war in its neighbor.

“This would not foster stability in the region,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
Rasmussen, who was greeted by 100 anti-NATO protesters when he arrived to give a speech at the University of Zurich, said Russia’s criticism was “not justified.”
“We have made clear from the outset we will do what it takes to defend our ally Turkey,” he said in answer to a question.

Rasmussen said the deployment of the Patriot missiles, which can be used to intercept missiles or planes, would “serve as a deterrent to possible enemies even thinking of attacks” and help “preserve stability along our southern borders.” The move would be “purely defensive”, he said.

Rasmussen, making the first visit to neutral Switzerland by a NATO secretary-general since 2004, voiced great concern about the situation on the Turkish-Syrian border and said “the Turks are increasingly worried about the situation.”

NATO ambassadors met on Nov.21 to consider Turkey’s request, which followed weeks of talks between Ankara and NATO allies about how to shore up security on its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria.

The ambassadors reached no decision but the three countries that could supply the Patriots, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, all said they viewed Turkey’s request positively, according to one NATO diplomat, who said a final decision to deploy missiles was unlikely before next week.

France backs request

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Paris on Nov.22 that France backed Turkey’s request. “There is no reason to object, it is purely defensive,” he told BFM TV.
Turkey has repeatedly scrambled fighter jets along the frontier and responded in kind to stray shells flying into its territory during the conflict in Syria, where an estimated 38,000 people have been killed since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s government began in March 2011.

“The militarization of the Syrian-Turkish border is an alarming signal,” Russia’s Lukashevich told a weekly briefing.

“Our advice to our Turkish colleagues consists of something else entirely: to use its potential influence on the Syrian opposition to seek the start of an inter-Syrian dialogue as swiftly as possible, and not to flex muscles and move the situation in such a dangerous direction,” he said.

Russia has vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Assad and accuses the West of encouraging militants fighting his government.

Russia denies trying to prop up Assad, whose nation has been an avid buyer of its weapons and hosts a naval supply facility that is Moscow’s only military base outside the ex-Soviet Union.

It says the crisis in Syria must be resolved without foreign interference, particularly military intervention, and that Assad’s exit from power should not be imposed as a precondition for a political solution.

NATO was Moscow’s Cold War opponent and Russia has repeatedly expressed concern about deployments relatively close to its borders by the Western alliance, which has expanded to include several former Soviet satellites and republics.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Turkey PM to visit Egypt for talks on boosting ties

The visit would mark the largest in the history of diplomatic relations between both countries, a foreign ministry spokesman said. (AFP)Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due in Egypt on November 17 for talks on boosting ties between the two Muslim countries, foreign ministry spokesman Amr Roshdi said on Saturday.He said details of the trip were agreed during talks in Ankara on Friday between Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu. Erdogan is to be accompanied by a delegation of 12 ministers, “the largest in the history of diplomatic relations between the two countries,” the spokesman said in a statement received by AFP. Egypt’s Finance Minister Mumtaz al-Said said last month the two countries had reached agreement on a Turkish loan of $1 billion (787 million) as part of an aid package of $2 billion to support the troubled Egyptian economy. Political instability since last year’s overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak has damaged Egypt’s major revenue earner, tourism, and led to a drop in foreign investments and deepened the budget deficit.

Khamenei delegate of the Revolutionary Guards: We are about to open Moawiya’s tent

Khamenei delegate of the Revolutionary Guards: We are about to open Moawiya’s tent
According to the Iranian news agency “khabargozarie Daneshjoo”, Ali Saeedi
  ( Khamenei’s delegate of the Iranian Forces) during the third exhibition of the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran said; after more than three decades of resistance and defiance against the hostile policies adopted by the enemies against the Iranian government, I can say that we are about to open” Moawiya’s tent” but we need to double resistance, patience and steadfastness.
It is worth mentioning here that Ali Saeedi, and for the second time in this year, repeats these words and precisely this vocabulary that stems from hatred towards the Arab society. It is indeed the proof of what they are really planning to do with the Arab society by getting through it and by destroying Arab’s unity.