Entitled humans rights and minorities in Iran

The closing statemnet of the third furom of Ummayah center for research and strategic studies

Istanbul 17-18 October 2015

By invitation of Umayya center of research and strategic studies, with cooperation of institution of strategic thinking (SDE) – Turkey, the third forum entitled: Human and minority rights in iran, was held in 17-18 october 2015 in Istanbul- republic of turkey, in presence of 60 researchers from different nationalities and ethnicities, and after 2 days of holding sessions and debates and presenting papers, the participants issued the following statement:

After series of discussions and debates about the religious, social, politic and economic reality of the religious and ethnic minorities in iran, from different sides a clear image was uncovered about the worrying reality of non-persian ethnicities, especially arabs, baluch, kurds and azeris. it was found according to the intersecting data from the Iranian interior, that the policy of oppression and against non Persian ethnicities was mostly apparent in certain areas especially the Arabian ahvaz,to the degree of manipulation of demography in this areas, and replacing ethnicities by others, for political goals and arming the groups emerging in to those areas and protecting them to confront the arabs. The sectarian discrimination, arrests, torture, and mass punishment, Are policies that are wideley practiced in Iran.

Accordingly, reasearchers realized the importance of preparing more studies, meetings and symposiums, to highlight the reality of suffering of the oppressed components, and uncover the practices of the Iranian regim against them, and they have realized, in order to deepen this knowledge, the necessity of communication between researchers thinkers and defenders of the oppressed components, to unmask the reality of the suffering.

The forum agreed on the need to prepare documented materials about human rights violations in Iran, and the importance of presenting these documents to the international forums and human rights institutions. The media should expose these violations to inform the world about the human rights reality inside Iran. For this track to succeed, it should be addressed by institutions formed and managed by people from the oppressed components in Iran.

The researchers believe that the communities, organizations, and governments of Arab and Islamic countries, in addition to western countries should take a stand towards the violations against these minorities, and support their struggle to obtain rights. Researchers also called for forming an advisory council (a parliament representing these minorities) to be a credible voice approved by the international organizations. The council should include an information documentation center.

Additionally, the researchers discussed samples of Iranian curriculum, portraying a negative image of non Persian ethnicities, especially Arabs. The researchers emphasized the dangers of this way of education, that cause problem in dealing with other ethnicities inside and outside Iran; they also emphasized the importance of spreading awareness regarding the impact of this curriculum on the future of international peace.

Finally, the researchers stressed the importance of issuing an annual report about violations against the human rights and minorities in iran, the report should be issued by several research bodies according to legal and objective standards, so that nothing that happens in iran remains forgotten due to lack of information, international interest, especially after the nuclear deal with Islamic republic of Iran.