Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: IRN35261

Country: Iran

Date: 30 July 2009

Keywords: Iran – Ahwaz region – Ahwazi Arabs – Security situation – Separatist movements

This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein.

Questions

1. Please provide brief background on the situation for ethnic Arabs in the Ahwaz area of Iran. Has there been a hardening of attitudes towards Arab separatist movements on the part of the authorities in recent years?

RESPONSE

1. Please provide brief background on the situation for ethnic Arabs in the Ahwaz area of Iran. Has there been a hardening of attitudes towards Arab separatist movements on the part of the authorities in recent years?

In recent years the situation of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority has remained a topic of concern for human rights commentators like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the US Department of State and the International Federation for Human Rights. In April 2005 a major outbreak of Ahwazi Arab unrest in the “Shalang Abad (also known as Da’ira) area” was followed by an Iranian government crackdown, the nature of which was widely condemned. According to Amnesty International: “Scores of Iranian Arabs were killed, hundreds were injured and hundreds more were detained during and following these demonstrations, during which the security forces appear to have used excessive force in their policing resulting in unlawful killings, including possible extra-judicial executions”. A number of the Ahwazi Arabs arrested following the April 2005 unrest have subsequently been sentenced to death and executed. On 28 May 2008 Amnesty International’s Amnesty International Report 2008 – Iran reported of the preceding year that: “At least eight Iranian Ahwazi Arabs were executed after being convicted in connection with bomb explosions in Khuzestan in 2005”. Over recent years Ahwazi Arab movements, like the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) and Ahwazi Democratic Popular Front (ADPF), have regularly reported outbreaks of unrest within, and harsh government crackdowns upon, Ahwazi Arab communities.

According to these sources the situation has been particularly bad following the more widespread outbreak of protests in Iran against the 2009 Iranian presidential election result. In June 2009 the British Ahwazi Friendship Society claimed that the situation in Ahwaz was “worse than Tehran”. At this time the British Ahwazi Friendship Society reported that: “Ahwaz City is in turmoil with ‘many, many dead’ at the hands of police and the Bassij, supported by the Lebanese Hezbollah, according to numerous independent eye-witness accounts”. Amnesty International has listed Ahwaz among the cities in which post-election unrest has spread, calling for an investigation into the violence. Iranian government restrictions mean that there is little independent reporting from the Ahwaz region (for concerns in regard to those arrested following 2005 and the situation more generally, see: Amnesty International 2006, Iran: Defending minority rights – the Ahwazi Arabs, (AI Index: MDE 13/056/2006), 17 May – Attachment 6; Amnesty International 2008, Amnesty International Report 2008 – Iran, 28 May http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,AMNESTY,ANNUALREPORT,IRN,483e2793c,0.html – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 4; US Department of State 2009, 2008 Human Rights Report: Iran, ‘Section 1’, 25 February – Attachment 9; International Federation for Human Rights 2009, Iran, death penalty: a State Terror Policy, June, p.36 – Attachment 10; Human Rights Watch 2005, ‘Iran: Reports of Ethnic Violence Suppressed’, 9 May http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2005/05/09/iran-reports-ethnic-violence-suppressed – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 11; for Ahwazi Arab claims of more recent troubles, see: ‘Hundreds Were Arrested by Iranian Security Forces During a Funeral in Ahwaz city’ 2008, British Ahwazi Friendship Society website, 14 January http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2008/01/hundreds-were-arrested-by-iranian.html – Accessed 30 July 2009 – Attachment 14; ‘Iran: Situation in Ahwaz ‘worse than Tehran”’ 2009, British Ahwazi Friendship Society website http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2009/06/iran-situation-in-ahwaz-worse-than.html – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 7; ‘Iran said to have quelled pro-Gaza protests by ethnic Arabs’ 2009, BBC Monitoring Middle East, source: Al-Arabiya TV, Dubai, in Arabic (14 January 2009), 17 January – Attachment 1; and: ‘Iran declares maximum emergency along border with Iraq – Kuwaiti paper’ 2008, BBC Monitoring Middle East, source: Al-Siyasah website, Kuwait, in Arabic (7 July 2008), 9 July – Attachment 2; for Amnesty International’s call for an investigation, see: Amnesty International 2009, ‘Iran: Violence against demonstrators must be investigated’, 16 June http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/21175/ – Accessed 30 July 2009 – Attachment 13; for information on restrictions on press freedom in Iran see: Reporters Without Borders 2009, World Report – Iran http://www.rsf.org/en-rapport153-Iran.html – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 12).

An overview of the range of sources available follows below.

Amnesty International

On 17 May 2006 Amnesty International published an extensive study on the situation of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority. Of primary concern to Amnesty International at this time was the manner in which Iran was believed to have dealt with April 2005 unrest in the “Shalang Abad (also known as Da’ira) area of central Ahvaz”. According to Amnesty International: “Scores of Iranian Arabs were killed, hundreds were injured and hundreds more were detained during and following these demonstrations, during which the security forces appear to have used excessive force in their policing resulting in unlawful killings, including possible extra-judicial executions”. Extracts follow:

Much of the Arab community in Iran, which is believed to constitute between 3 and 8 per cent of the total population, lives in the oil-producing Khuzestan province in southern Iran (known as Ahwaz by the Arab community) which adjoins Iraq. Prior to 1925, although nominally part of Iranian territory, the area functioned for many years effectively as an autonomous emirate known as Arabistan, until Reza Khan reimposed central control by military force. Its name was changed to Khuzestan in 1936. Serious unrest in the province followed the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and in 1980, a group of secessionist Ahwazi Arabs entered the Iranian Embassy in London and took over 20 people hostage, one of whom they later killed. Among their demands was the release of 91 Ahwazi Arabs detained in Iran. Despite the Arab population remaining largely loyal to Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, the central government in Tehran has continued to view Arab Iranians with suspicion. Iranian Arabs claim this has led to discriminatory policies and unequal access to resources aimed at social development. Such discrimination has led to economic deprivation and frustration among Iranian Arabs, which has tended to spill over into unrest and subsequent repression, the most recent cycle of which began in April 2005 and has become known among the Ahwazi Arabs as the Ahwazi intifada. Without measures to address the social economic and other grievances which are among the root causes of such unrest, the cycle looks set to continue.

The unrest began on 15 April 2005 in the Shalang Abad (also known as Da’ira) area of central Ahvaz, where around 1000 demonstrators had reportedly assembled to protest at the contents of a letter, reports of which began to circulate on 9 April, allegedly written in 1999 by an advisor in the office of President Khatami. The letter, whose authenticity has been strongly denied by the author and other governmental sources, sets out policies for the reduction of the Arab population of the province of Khuzestan, including their transfer to other regions of Iran; the transfer of non-Arabs, including Persians and Turkic-speaking Azeris to the province; and the elimination of Arab place names along with their replacement by Persian names. Scores of Iranian Arabs were killed, hundreds were injured and hundreds more were detained during and following these demonstrations, during which the security forces appear to have used excessive force in their policing resulting in unlawful killings, including possible extra-judicial executions. It is feared that many of those detained may have been tortured or ill-treated.

Since then, the cycle of violence has intensified in the province. Scores of Iranian Arabs were arrested following four pre-election bomb blasts in Ahvaz and two others in Tehran in June 2005 which killed up to 10 and injured at least 90 people. Other bombs in October 2005 and January 2006 killed at least 12 people and were followed by waves of arrests. Arrests have also followed demonstrations on occasions such as the Muslim festivals of ‘Id al-Fitr and ‘Id al-Adha. Amnesty International has received the names of around 500 Iranian Arabs detained since April 2005, some repeatedly, although the true number of detainees is likely to be much higher. Women and children have been among those detained, apparently held as hostages to force their husbands and fathers to give themselves up to the authorities. Seven men said to have been convicted of involvement in the October bombings were among nine men shown “confessing” on Khuzestan Provincial TV on 1 March 2006. Among them were Mehdi Nawaseri and Ali Awdeh Afrawi, who were hanged in public the following morning. At least 11 other men have reportedly been sentenced to death in connection with the bombings, and others have been sentenced to long prison terms and internal exile after unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts (Amnesty International 2006, Iran: Defending minority rights – the Ahwazi Arabs, (AI Index: MDE 13/056/2006), 17 May – Attachment 6).

On 23 May 2007 Amnesty International’s Amnesty International Report 2007 – Iran reported of the preceding year that: “Scores of Arabs were detained during the year. At least 36 were sentenced to death or received lengthy prison terms after conviction in unfair trials of involvement in causing bomb explosions in Ahvaz and Tehran in 2005”. More generally Amnesty International noted that: “Arabs continued to complain of discrimination, including in access to resources, as well as forced evictions”. The relevant extract follows:

Arabs

Arabs continued to complain of discrimination, including in access to resources, as well as forced evictions. In October, the Council of Guardians approved a bill allocating 2 per cent of Iran’s oil revenues to Khuzestan province, home to many of Iran’s Arabs.

Scores of Arabs were detained during the year. At least 36 were sentenced to death or received lengthy prison terms after conviction in unfair trials of involvement in causing bomb explosions in Ahvaz and Tehran in 2005. Five were executed including Mehdi Nawaseri and Mohammad Ali Sawari who were executed in public in February following the broadcast of their televised “confessions”.

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At least five women were detained, some along with their children, between February and April, in circumstances which suggested that they may have been held in order to force their husbands to give themselves up or make confessions. Four women and two children were believed to be still held at the end of the year.

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Seven lawyers defending some of those accused in connection with the bombings were summoned to appear before the Ahvaz Revolutionary Prosecutor in October on charges of “acting against state security”. The summons was issued in connection with a letter they had sent to the Head of the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz complaining about deficiencies in the trial of their clients (Amnesty International 2007, Amnesty International Report 2007 – Iran, 23 May http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,AMNESTY,ANNUALREPORT,IRN,46558ece28,0.html – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 5).

On 28 May 2008 Amnesty International’s Amnesty International Report 2008 – Iran reported of the preceding year that: “At least eight Iranian Ahwazi Arabs were executed after being convicted in connection with bomb explosions in Khuzestan in 2005”. The report also comments on the plight of other imprisoned Ahwazi Arabs. The pertinent extract follows:

Arabs

At least eight Iranian Ahwazi Arabs were executed after being convicted in connection with bomb explosions in Khuzestan in 2005. At least 17 other Iranian Arabs were believed to be facing execution after unfair trials related to the bombings. Scores, possibly hundreds, of Ahwazi Arabs were reportedly arrested in April, in advance of the anniversary of riots in 2005 protesting against a letter allegedly written by a presidential adviser, who denied its authenticity, which set out policies for the reduction of the Arab population of Khuzestan.

In April, journalist Mohammad Hassan Fallahiya was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour for writing articles critical of the government and for allegedly contacting opposition groups based outside Iran. He was detained in November 2006 and denied access to a lawyer throughout the judicial process. His family said the Evin Prison authorities refused to allow them to take him medicines required to treat heart and blood disorders, endangering his life (Amnesty International 2008, Amnesty International Report 2008 – Iran, 28 May http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,AMNESTY,ANNUALREPORT,IRN,483e2793c,0.html – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 4).

On 28 May 2009 Amnesty International’s Amnesty International Report 2009 – Iran reported of the preceding year that: “Members of the Ahwazi Arab community continued to protest against perceived discrimination, notably in relation to access to resources”; and that: “Ma’soumeh Ka’bi and her five children were immediately detained after they were forcibly

returned to Iran from Syria in October, apparently to put pressure on her husband, an Ahwazi Arab activist, to return to Iran from Europe and surrender himself to the authorities” (Amnesty International 2009, Amnesty International Report 2009 – Iran, 28 May http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,AMNESTY,ANNUALREPORT,IRN,4a1fade4c,0.html – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 3).

Ahwazi Arab movement sourced information

On 18 June 2009 the British Ahwazi Friendship Society claimed that the situation in Ahwaz was “worse than Tehran” following the reaction of security forces to protests against the 2009 Iranian presidential election results. Extracts follow:

Ahwaz City is in turmoil with ‘many, many dead’ at the hands of police and the Bassij, supported by the Lebanese Hezbollah, according to numerous independent eye-witness accounts received by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS).

Security forces have imposed martial law on the city and have targetted the district of Hay Al-Thawra, which has been a hotbed of ethnic Arab unrest against the regime in recent years. Residents claim that they are living under curfew unable to leave their homes while security forces are opening fire with live rounds on any gathering. Ethnic Arab residents claim that foreign Arabs with Lebanese accents, probably from the Lebanese Hezbollah, are being organised into death squads co-ordinated by the paramilitary Bassij and official vigilante groups. Lebanon’s Hezbollah uses Qods Force bases in the province as training grounds.

President Ahmadinejad was given a clear lead in Khuzestan province, according to the controversial official election results. The results were a surprise as most expected a strong vote for Mehdi Karroubi among the local Arab population. He had topped the poll in the province in 2005 with his message of ethnic rights winning support among the Ahwazi Arabs, who are subjected to discrimination and high levels of deprivation.

“The lack of foreign media in Ahwaz means that the Iranian regime believes it is acting with impunity,” said BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad. “Ahwaz and Isfahan are the two cities outside Tehran that are seeing the largest popular uprisings and the most brutal response by the state terror machine, but lines of communication with these cities are very limited. The number of deaths is unknown, but reports suggest they are in double figures. Hundreds have been arrested. Even when the unrest has died down, we expect the arrests to continue.

“In the past, any unrest in Ahwaz is always followed by a wave of summary and judicial executions. Sometimes bodies of those who have ‘disappeared’ have been found in the river Karoun with marks of severe torture.

“This is likely to happen again unless the United Nations takes action immediately and, at the very least, sends human rights observers to Ahwaz. We call on the world’s democracies to take action to ensure that human rights are protected throughout Iran and not to focus just on Tehran. We call for full sanctions on all foreign groups and their political affiliates who are suspected of involvement in state terror in Iran.” (‘Iran: Situation in Ahwaz ‘worse than Tehran”’ 2009, British Ahwazi Friendship Society website http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2009/06/iran-situation-in-ahwaz-worse-than.html – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 7).

On 5 July 2009 the British Ahwazi Friendship Society reported on the claimed experiences of “[a]n Ahwazi Arab asylum seeker living in the UK”, whose alleged torture and mistreatment is presented as “typical of the cases of torture documented by BAFS over the past four years”. Extracts follow:

Mr Jazayeri, 33, participated in peaceful demonstrations against the Iranian regime’s persecution of Ahwazi Arabs in April 2005 when he was first arrested. He had been knocked unconscious after being attacked with tear gas and beaten by the Bassij paramilitaries. When he awoke he discovered he was being held in solitary confinement. Pictures he has submitted to the British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) show that he continues to bear the scars of his ordeal, caused by multiple lacerations of the skin on his back (see photos). He suffered other injuries to his body which are not shown in this photograph.

After his release he lost his job and suffered mental trauma, including depression, as well as physical problems. Like many torture victims, the worst scars are emotional. In a candid and courageous interview with BAFS in which he repeatedly broke down, Jazayeri said: “After my release I felt so depressed, useless, ashamed and ill-tempered. After some months I recovered a little and instead of feeling demoralised I decided to stand up against the tyranny.”

Jazayeri began supporting the Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz, an Ahwazi Arab group calling for minority rights and self-determination for his people, despite being ordered not to participate in any political activities following his release. He said that political activism gave meaning to his life, which had been shattered by his time in prison. However, the authorities learned of his activism and he fled his home.

Some time in March, the security services raided his frail, elderly mother’s house in an attempt to find him and violently assaulted her. Her neighbours found her unconscious and sent her to hospital where she died of her injuries. Jazayeri has requested BAFS publish photos of her dying and the injuries to her hands, which were heavily bruised by regime agents during their attack on her.

…The details of Jazayeri’s case are typical of the cases of torture documented by BAFS over the past four years and his case is not unique. However, most torture victims have been reluctant to talk openly about their experiences due to feelings of embarrassment and shame. Jazayeri wants to turn his suffering into something that can help create positive change for Ahwazi Arabs and the whole of Iran. BAFS appeals to the international community to stand in solidarity with the regime’s victims and prevent the perpetration of human rights abuses in Iran (‘Iran: Ahwazi Arab torture victim tells his story’ 2009, British Ahwazi Friendship Society, 5 July http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2009/07/iran-ahwazi-arab-torture-victim-tells.html – Accessed 29 July 2009 – Attachment 8).

On 14 January 2009 the British Ahwazi Friendship Society reported that effected hundreds of arrests following the execution of four Ahwazi Arab political activists. Extracts follow:

Despite our appeal of 30/12/2007 and the appeals of the international community and a large number of international human rights organizations, the Iranian regime this week secretly executed the following four political activists in Karoon prison in Ahwaz City: Ahmad Marmazi, Abdolhussein Harabii, Hussein Asakereh, and Mehdi Haidari. They were all Arab (Ahwazi) residents of Ma’sur (Mahshar), and were all married with children.

Four more men are slated for execution, possibly next week. They are all members of Iran’s ethnic Arab minority in Khuzestan (al-Ahwaz) province, a homeland to five million Ahwazi Arabs in Iran.

During the funeral of Mehdi Haidari in the Seyed-ol-Shohada Mosque in Shilingaba, a poor section of Ahwaz, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) attacked about 800 funeral attendees and arrested 150 to 200 of them. There are a number of juveniles among the detainees. Since the arrests a week ago, the families of detainees have been gathering outside the Khuzestan governor’s office, demanding the immediate release of their children and relatives. None but a very few have been released so far.

…In the 12 months prior to the most recent executions, at least 19 Ahwazi-Arab activists have been publicly hanged (three were executed just days after Un Human Rights Commissioner , Ms. Arbour, visited Tehran in September 2007). Four others, including Zamal Bawi, Faleh al-Mansouri, Said Saki, Rasoul Mazrea, are in danger of imminent execution. The news of their impending executions has come from family members as well as the Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International, and the Human Rights & Democracy Activists group, and from Mr. Musa Pirbani, Khuzestan’s prosecutor. Mr. Mazrea, Mr. al-Mansouri and Mr. Saki, along with 3 other Ahwazis, were deported by the Syrian government in May 2006. The men were all recognized refugees under UNHCR protection, and were pending third-country resettlement at the time of their deportation to Iran.

The charges against them include hoisting the Ahwazi flag, giving their children Sunni names, converting from Shi’ism to Sunnism, preaching “Wahabbism”, and being “Mohareb” or enemies of god, which carries death sentence. Other charges are “destabilizing the country”, “attempting to overthrow the government”, “possession of improvised explosives”, “sabotage of oil installations” and being a “threat to national security.”

Last year, Mr. Emadeldin Baghi, a leading Iranian human rights activist, in a letter to the chief of the judiciary Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, argued that the trials of Ahwazi Arabs were flawed, the charges baseless, and that the sentencing was based on a spurious interpretation of law and that no evidence has been presented. Mr. Nkbakht, a prominent defense lawyer in Iran, made a similar statement. Others, including the President of the European Council, the UN General Assembly, 48 British MPs, the EU Parliament, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned their trials as unjust and unfair, and appealed for a halt to further execution.

This new wave of executions is designed to intimidate and terrorize the indigenous Ahwazi-Arab population into submission. Although the Ahwazi Arab homeland in Iran’s Khuzestan province is one of the most oil-rich regions in the world and represents up to 90 percent of Iran’s oil production, the community endures extreme levels of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy. Ahwazis are subjected to repression and racial discrimination, and are faced with land confiscation, forced displacement and forced assimilation (‘Hundreds Were Arrested by Iranian Security Forces During a Funeral in Ahwaz city’ 2008, British Ahwazi Friendship Society website, 14 January http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2008/01/hundreds-were-arrested-by-iranian.html – Accessed 30 July 2009 – Attachment 14).

On 14 January 2009 Dubai’s Al-Arabiya TV reported that: “Iranian human rights organizations say that riot police in the Islamic Republic of Iran have curbed protests organized by Arab Ahvazis in Ahvaz City, the capital of the Khuzestan province, in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”. Further details follow:

Iranian human rights organizations say that riot police in the Islamic Republic of Iran have curbed protests organized by Arab Ahvazis in Ahvaz City, the capital of the Khuzestan province, in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Police have arrested 40 people and injured others as they forcefully broke up the protest. A statement by the Ahvaz Human Rights Organization [AHRO], a copy of which was delivered to Al-Arabiya.net on Monday 12 January 2009, criticizes banning the protest, breaking it up by force, and arresting people who expressed sympathy with Gaza.

…The AHRO said in its statement that “on Wednesday 7 January, hundreds of our Arab Ahvazi people took to the streets in the centre of Ahvaz, Alavi neighbourhood, holding Palestinian flags and banners condemning the brutal war conducted by Israel against the unarmed Palestinian people, and expressing anger at the continuing cleansing operations against the people.”

The statement explained that the protestors have condemned through their slogans “the Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Palestine. They believe the wrong policies of the Islamic republic’s regime to be the cause of the calamities in the Gaza Strip.” [quotation marks as published] They dubbed Iran “Israel’s partner in annihilating the unarmed Palestinians.” They called on the supporters of Fatah and Hamas to foil any Iranian attempt to interfere in their internal affairs before it is too late, and to prevent Iran from using the Palestinian blood in achieving their own goals.

The AHRO said that the protests were “quelled by the riot police who violently beat and cursed all the participants, and arrested 40 of them and wounded a number of others after breaking up the protest by force” (‘Iran said to have quelled pro-Gaza protests by ethnic Arabs’ 2009, BBC Monitoring Middle East, source: Al-Arabiya TV, Dubai, in Arabic (14 January 2009), 17 January – Attachment 1).

On 7 July 2008 Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasah reported claims, made by the Ahwazi Democratic Popular Front (ADPF), “that the Iranian Army’s Command [had] declared the highest level of emergency on the Iraqi-Ahvazi borders in Shalamcha District”, deploying troops to the area following the assassination of two Iranian army officers (‘Iran declares maximum emergency along border with Iraq – Kuwaiti paper’ 2008, BBC Monitoring Middle East, source: Al-Siyasah website, Kuwait, in Arabic (7 July 2008), 9 July – Attachment 2).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources:

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:

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Integrated Regional Information Networks http://www.irinnews.org

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Relief Web http://www.reliefweb.int

US Department of State http://www.state.gov

Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org

Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org

British Ahwazi Friendship Society website http://www.ahwaz.org.uk

Databases:

FACTIVA (news database)

BACIS (DIAC Country Information database)

REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database)

ISYS (RRT Research & Information database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports)

RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1.

‘Iran said to have quelled pro-Gaza protests by ethnic Arabs’ 2009, BBC Monitoring Middle East, source: Al-Arabiya TV, Dubai, in Arabic (14 January 2009), 17 January. (FACTIVA)

2.

‘Iran declares maximum emergency along border with Iraq – Kuwaiti paper’ 2008, BBC Monitoring Middle East, source: Al-Siyasah website, Kuwait, in Arabic (7 July 2008), 9 July. (FACTIVA)

3.

Amnesty International 2009, Amnesty International Report 2009 – Iran, 28 May http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,AMNESTY,ANNUALREPORT,IRN,4a1fade4c,0.html – Accessed 29 July 2009.

4.

Amnesty International 2008, Amnesty International Report 2008 – Iran, 28 May http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,AMNESTY,ANNUALREPORT,IRN,483e2793c,0.html – Accessed 29 July 2009.

5.

Amnesty International 2007, Amnesty International Report 2007 – Iran, 23 May http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,AMNESTY,ANNUALREPORT,IRN,46558ece28,0.html – Accessed 29 July 2009.

6.

Amnesty International 2006, Iran: Defending minority rights – the Ahwazi Arabs, (AI Index: MDE 13/056/2006), 17 May.

7.

‘Iran: Situation in Ahwaz ‘worse than Tehran”’ 2009, British Ahwazi Friendship Society website http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2009/06/iran-situation-in-ahwaz-worse-than.html – Accessed 29 July 2009.

8.

‘Iran: Ahwazi Arab torture victim tells his story’ 2009, British Ahwazi Friendship Society, 5 July http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2009/07/iran-ahwazi-arab-torture-victim-tells.html – Accessed 29 July 2009.

9.

US Department of State 2009, 2008 Human Rights Report: Iran, ‘Section 1’, 25 February.

10.

International Federation for Human Rights 2009, Iran, death penalty: a State Terror Policy, June.

11.

Human Rights Watch 2005, ‘Iran: Reports of Ethnic Violence Suppressed’, 9 May http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2005/05/09/iran-reports-ethnic-violence-suppressed – Accessed 29 July 2009.

12.

Reporters Without Borders 2009, World Report – Iran http://www.rsf.org/en-rapport153-Iran.html – Accessed 29 July 2009.

13.

Amnesty International 2009, ‘Iran: Violence against demonstrators must be investigated’, 16 June http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/21175/ – Accessed 30 July 2009.

14.

‘Hundreds Were Arrested by Iranian Security Forces During a Funeral in Ahwaz city’ 2008, British Ahwazi Friendship Society website, 14 January http://www.ahwaz.org.uk/2008/01/hundreds-were-arrested-by-iranian.html – Accessed 30 July 2009.