By Reza Washahi
Recently the Iranians hanged three Ahwazi men and did not announce it till two days later. The execution came just after three days of visiting by Mr Louis Arbour, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Iranian Government again ignored the international community, including UN and EU, and their calls for stopping the execution of Ahwazi Arab prisoners. The trial lasted only one day without any legal representation. This is very typical and proves the arbitrary nature of trials in Iran.
Mohammad Ali Nawaseri was in prison since 2000, but the Iranian government accused him of being in charge of a bombing in 2005. He was hanged along two brothers, Mohammad Reza Sawari and Jafar Sawari. Their lawyer Mohammad Saleh Nikbakht said they were not involved in armed struggle at all.
With this recent execution, the number of known executed Arab men, alleged by Iranian government of involvement in bombing, reaches 15. More warning signs came in the statement of Prosecutor Musa Piriai: "Some others involved in the bombings are on the waiting list to be hanged”, which means the Iranian government is going to execute anybody who is opposing the government by charging them with being involved in bombings in Ahwaz.
Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch said “One of the wonders of the Iranian Judiciary is that it can accuse a person of carrying out bombings while he’s in prison,” said Whitson. She added “That lays bare the arbitrariness of his conviction.”[1]
Being on of those nations who have got resources but are not benefiting from it, Ahwazi Arabs are some of the poorest people in the world. According to a recent British Petroleum (BP) report, Ahwaz has the second largest oil reserves in the world. Ahwaz gas reserves are also huge. Ahwaz is able to meet the increased demand of Europe’s gas, for at least 600 years.
But people are so poor that they have to find the food in the bins. If you go late after the market is closed in cities of Ahwaz, Mashour, Abadan and others, you will see Arab people who are looking for remains of food in bins. They do not have healthy water, as result of oil industry, pollution are everywhere. Unemployment is rocketing up. More than 20% are unemployed. The major oil companies are not allowing Arabs to work there because of a secret order from Tehran banning Arabs from most government jobs. In Soviet Union style and the State run economic of Iran more than 85% of jobs are connected to the government, so being Arab means no job and no money.
Cultural pressure in recent months increased. The Iranian government shut down an Arabic bookshop, and they arrested many of them. Ahwazi Arab in general cannot practice their culture, ancient Arabic Music of Ahwaz, “Howeyzeh system” which remains of golden age of Mesopotamia area, extended to Ahwaz, is banned. Arabic dress which is one the oldest tradition cloth in the world is banned. Arabic language, which is the fifth language spoken by the peoples of the world is also banned. It is Loughery that Iranian government always accusing Canadian and US of not treating well, their own indigenous people.
A recent UN resolution[2] is great hope for indigenous people like Arabs of Ahwaz, it states that: “The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples calls on countries to give more control to tribal peoples over the land and resources they traditionally possessed, and to return confiscated territory, or pay compensation.”
Every year, huge area of land is confiscated from indigenous tribes of Ahwazi Arabs, Oil and agricultural land of the Arabs is taken from them. The other joke about Iranian foreign policy is that Iranian government always appears in international community as defenders of Arab lands in Israel- Palestinian conflict, while always confiscate Ahwazi Arab land.
Ahwazi Arabs lost their political authority after Reza Shah, who was thinking Aryan blood is pure and above all nations, annexed the Ahwaz to Persia in 1925. Reza Shah changed all the Arabic names to Persian names. He even changed the name of Persia to Iran, After Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, the Nazi Economics minister, commented on the Aryan origin of Persians, Reza Shah's ambassador in Germany encouraged him to issue the above mentioned decree asking all foreign delegates to use the word "Iran" (meaning "Land of the Aryans") instead of "Persia" in formal correspondence[3]. He displaced Arab tribes and killed many Arabs. His assimilation policy forced the integration of Ahwazi Arabs and is still practiced till this day. In 1941 the British moved Reza Shah from power as he finally became an ally of Hitler.
[1] http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/11/11/iran14560.htm
[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/6993776.stm
[3] The History of Iran, Elton Daniel, p.3
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