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.
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