Further information on UA: 137/12 Index: MDE 13/008/2014 Iran Date: 14 February 2014
URGENT ACTIONLogo
TWo Ahwazi AraB MEN EXECUTED, THREE AT RISK
Teachers Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sha’bani Amouri, both members of
Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority, were executed in secret at the end of
January. Three other Ahwazi Arab men remain at risk of execution.
On 29 January an official from the Ministry of Intelligence called the families of Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sha’bani Amouri to
inform them that the two men had been executed and buried a few days
earlier, but would not reveal their place of burial. The official told
the families they were not permitted to hold a public memorial for the
two men and had only 24 hours in which to hold a private service. Their
bodies may have been buried in unmarked graves in one of three
cemeteries in Khuzestan province known colloquially as La’nat Abad (the place of the damned)
and reserved for executed political prisoners. Ministry of Intelligence
officials have told Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sha’bani Amouri’s families
not to speak with human rights organizations or they would face legal
consequences.
Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sha’bani Amouri were
transferred on 7 December 2013 to an unknown location from Karoun Prison
in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, sparking fears that they would be
executed imminently. They had been arrested in September 2011, along
with Mohammad Ali Amouri, Sayed Jaber Alboshoka and Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka,
apparently in connection with their cultural activities on behalf of
Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority. They were sentenced to death on 7 July 2012
after being convicted of charges including “enmity against God” and
“spreading propaganda against the system”. All five men were denied
access to a lawyer and their families for the first nine months of their
detention and are believed to have been tortured or otherwise
ill-treated.
Mohammad Ali Amouri, Sayed Jaber Alboshoka and Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka remain in Karoun Prison where they are permitted weekly visits with their families. They remain at risk of execution
Please write immediately in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
Urging the authorities to give the bodies of Hadi Rashedi and Hashem
Sha’bani Amouri to their families, not to execute the other three men
and order retrials for them, in proceedings in line with international
fair trial standards and without recourse to the death penalty;
Urging them to investigate the allegations that the men were tortured
or otherwise ill-treated and disallow as evidence in court any
“confessions” that may have been obtained under torture;
Calling on them to ensure the men are protected from torture and
other ill-treatment, are granted all necessary medical treatment and are
allowed regular contact with their lawyers and families.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 28 MARCH 2014 TO:
�
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
Keshvar Doust Street,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Twitter: @khamenei_ir
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadiran.ir
(Subject line: FAO
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Hassan Rouhani
The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: media@rouhani.ir
Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English) and
@Rouhani_ir (Persian)�
�
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section
office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the fifth update
of UA 137/12. Further information:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/053/2013/en
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URGENT ACTION
TWo Ahwazi AraB MEN EXECUTED, THREE AT RISK
ADditional Information
Hashem Sha’bani Amouri and
Hadi Rashidi, along with Mohammad Ali Amouri, Sayed Jaber Alboshoka,
Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka, were members or co-founders of the cultural
institute Al-Hiwar, registered during the administration of former
President Khatami, which used to organize events in the Arabic language,
including conferences, educational courses, art classes, and poetry
recital gatherings, in the south-western city of Ramshir. The
organization was banned in May 2005 and many of its members have since
been arrested.
All five men were arrested at
their homes in early 2011, ahead of the sixth anniversary of widespread
protests by Ahwazi Arabs in April 2005. Mohammad Ali Amouri was arrested
20 days after he had been forcibly returned from Iraq, where he had
fled in December 2007. He was not allowed family visits for the first
nine months after he was detained, and is understood to have been
tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Hadi Rashidi had been hospitalized
after his arrest, apparently as a result of torture or other
ill-treatment. Family members have said that Sayed Jaber Alboshoka’s jaw
and teeth were broken during his detention and that Sayed Mokhtar
Alboshoka has experienced depression and memory loss as a result of
torture or other ill-treatment. Hashem Sha’bani Amouri is said to have
had boiling water poured on him.
Hadi Rashedi and Hashem
Sha’bani Amouri had been shown “confessing” on a state television
channel before the trial, in violation of international fair trial
standards. Hashem Sha’bani was shown admitting that he was a member of
the “Popular Resistance”, a group which he said had ties to Saddam
Hussein and Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi, the former leaders of Iraq and Libya.
Hadi Rashedi was described as “the leader of the military wing of the
Popular Resistance” and was seen saying that he had participated in an
attack on a house containing four government officials.
In January 2013, the Supreme Court upheld their
death sentences. In March 2013, the men began a 28-day hunger strike in
protest at this decision, their alleged torture and other ill-treatment
and the prison authorities’ refusal to grant them medical treatment. All
five men were transferred in August 2013 to an unknown location where
they were held for between one and five weeks.
Four other Ahwazi Arab men,
Ghazi Abbasi, Abdul-Reza Amir-Khanafereh, Abdul-Amir Mojaddami and Jasim
Moghaddam Payam, were executed in November or December 2013 following
their transfer from Karoun Prison to an unknown location on 3 November.
Amnesty International understands that the families of the men were not
told the exact date of the executions, either in advance or after they
had taken place, and have not received the bodies of their relatives. A
lawyer for one of the men has also said he had not been told beforehand
of the executions despite legal requirements under Iranian law that
lawyers must receive 48 hours’ notification of any client’s execution.
Names: Mohammad Ali Amouri, Sayed Jaber Alboshoka, Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka, Hashem Sha’bani Amouri, Hadi Rashidi
Gender m/f: m
Further information on UA: 137/12 Index: MDE 13/008/2014 Issue Date: 14 February 2014
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