Tel. 703-806-9234 e-mail:
URGENT
APPEAL
Condemn
the Massacre of Indigenous Ahwazi Arabs in
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
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
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.
Please
see these sites for more information:
Karim Abdian
Executive
Director
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
2. Nasser
Abiat, resident of
3. Mehdi
Afrawi, resident of
4. Ali
Sabhani (13-year old), resident of Hamidieh, in
5. Hadi Sabhani,
resident of Hamidieh, in
6. Nasser
Khazraji, resident of Malashoeh,
7. Ebrahim
Ghazi, , resident of Malashoeh,
8. Ali
Abiat, , resident of Malashoeh,
9. Nasser
Daghalegheh, resident of kut Dayed Saleh,
10. Sayed
Khalaf Mousawi, resident of Kut Sayed Saleh,
11. Mehdi
Hanoon-Haydari, resident of
12. Reza
Abiadawi, resident of
13. Alam
Khazraji, resident of Maleshiah, in
14. Naji
Abiat (20-years old),
15. Ali
Muhammad, resident of
16. Abed,
Nawasseri, resident of
17. Sadegh
Nawasseri, resident of
18. Mehdi
Abdolhussain, resident of Hamidieh, in
19. Reza
Aboud Hussaini, resident of Hamidieh, in
20. Mehdi
Yazdan-Abiawi, resident of Hamidieh, in