IRT, Interview with Dr. Karim abdian
Dr. Karim Abdian, executive director of Ahwaz Human Rights Organization – AHRO
IRT – Among some 6000 UN registered disappearances, nearly 500 are in Iran. Among those there are at least about 28 Ahwazi cases, according to field investigation. Drowning in Karoon River and in the marshlands of Fallahieh and Abadan have been widely rep

Some of Dr. Shaheed’s reports don’t detail all violations targeting ethnic minorities in Iran, but he successfully provided overview situation in Iran: Dr. Abdian comments on Dr. Shaheed

According to former deputy minister of education, only 30% of Iranian pupils entering first grade speak Farsi as their mother tongue

In further comments on human rights situation in Iran, executive director of Ahwaz Human Rights Organization – AHRO, reveals that according to Mr. Hajbabaei, the former deputy minister of education, only 30% of Iranian pupils entering first grade speak Farsi as their mother tongue. Yet Farsi/Persian speakers and the followers of Shia Jafari, have been positioned in a great advantage and dominance visa-a-vis non-Persian nationalities – in multinational, multilingual and multicultural Iran.

Dr. Abdian remarks, there cannot be equal citizenship without equality in the use of, and practice of linguistics, cultural and equal human rights of all citizens, and protection of individual and collective rights. Future course of Iran will hinge upon realization of these rights. Abdian believes policies imposed by state, inevitably alienate constituencies from Iran.


Last Part

IRT: Language is one of the main issues for all freedom fighting democratic groups in Iran, the government and state have not delivered anything in this area, what kind of coordination do you have with Kurds, Baloch and others for this very important issue?

Dr. Abdian: Yes, it is true – Iran the most diverse country in the Middle East – It is home to Arabs, Baloch, Kurds, Persians, Turks, Turkmen, Sunnis, Christians, Jews, Baha’is, Zoroastrians, Mandeni’s and others. These ethnic and religious groups comprise at least 50 to and by some estimates 2/3 of the society. Yet these groups have not been accorded equal citizenship – their language, ethnicity and/or their religion are not being officially acknowledged. Constitutionally, Persian language is the sole official language, and –Jafari Shia is the officially sanctioned religion - all others are ignored, oppressed, negated or at best marginalized.

According to Mr. Hajbabaei, the former deputy minister of education, only 30% of Iranian pupils entering first grade speak Farsi as their mother tongue. Yet Farsi/Persian speakers and the followers of Shia Jafari, have been positioned in a great advantage and dominance visa-a-vis non-Persian nationalities – in multinational, multilingual and multicultural Iran.

There cannot be equal citizenship without equality in the use of, and practice of linguistics, cultural and equal human rights of all citizens, and protection of individual and collective rights. Future course of Iran will hinge upon realization of these rights.

Banning of non-Persian languages corresponds to banning their literatures and cultures- inducing and creating unequal, degreed citizenship. Misrepresentation, devolution and denial of heritage of the Iranian Kurds, Arabs, Baloch, Turkmen and Azeris, at least half of the society, as a policy by the state, inevitably alienate these constituencies from the state.

I and other AHRO members have met several times with UNESCO in Paris and brought these cases to the UN attention. Also, members of Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran (CNFI), which represent all Iranian national groups, have met and submitted these linguistic discrimination cases to UNESCO. But, yes, you’re right, some argue that UN bureaucracy, which Iran is a part of, will not address these issues, unless there are other initiatives by non-Persian ethnic groups.

IRT: Disappearances in Baluchistan, Kurdistan and Ahwaz, you please tell us about this in Ahwaz?

DR. Abdian: Sure- abduction and forced disappearances, has been a tool of the Islamic Republic against its opposition. There have been many Ahwazis who were tortured during interrogation; killed, and their bodies hidden or dumped in the river or buried anonymously in ‘Lanat Abad”

I, on behalf of Ahwazi disappeared families, participated in the last UN session on this subject in March of 2015 in Bones Aires in Argentina.

The security forces in Ahwaz seldom notify families about the whereabouts of their disappeared loved ones, its refusal to allow families to bury their loved ones, and its refusal to provide the remains to family members, violate Iran’s obligation under international law, to protect people from forced disappearances.

Outside Ahwaz city, there is a large, government-owned burial yard called “Lanat Abad” or “the cursed land” that people are buried without names. It is widely believed, and it has been admitted by some members of the security forces – as victim families were told that the bodies of their loved ones were buried there.

Among some 6000 UN registered disappearances, nearly 500 are in Iran. Among those there are at least about 28 Ahwazi cases, according to field investigation. Drowning in Karoon River and in the marshlands of Fallahieh, Mashour and Abadan have been widely reported.

The latest case belongs to Mr. Youssef Silawi, 58 years old, disappeared on 8 November 2009, in a very mysterious circumstance. He was abducted near his home in -Ahwaz. He is the father of Mona and Sheyma Silawi, two AHRO human rights activists in Europe.

The family of Mr. Silawi has searched in vain all hospitals, police stations, prisons, intelligence services headquarters, and Iranian authorities in Al-Ahwaz province and in Tehran have declined to reveal his whereabouts or open an investigation to his “disappearance”.

Also, field reports indicate that six Ahwazi Arab political and human rights activists, who have been murdered this year, while being held in prisons run by the intelligence services in Shoush, Khalaffiya (Khalfabad), Ahwaz and Dezful.

IRT: How is cooperation among denied nationalities in Iran, to achieve their rights?

Dr. Abdian: In Iran, as in any multinational country, it should be the responsibility of all Iran’s constituent nationalities to decide with equal voice, the future of Iran and solve the chronic internal crisis, brought about by successive monarchist and clerical dictatorships. The future of Iran, could be guaranteed only through a voluntary association of all national groups constituting Iran; where they will have the opportunity to develop their respective cultures, languages, histories, economies and homelands, under an appropriate de-centralized and a federated system of governance that guarantees and respects the rights of peoples to self-determination.

It is along these lines that the Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran (CNFI) was formed in 2005. It is actually a watershed in the solidarity and cooperation between non-dominant and oppressed nationalities in Iran. CNFI is a coalition, composed of 17 regional political organizations, representing Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Baloch and Turkmen in Iran.

Use of the Internet and social media, resulted in further solidarity among non-Persian non-dominant ethnic and religious groups, for their common struggle against oppression around gender, ethnic, and religious and linguistic pluralism and diversity. This solidarity among oppressed Arabs, Baloch, Kurds, Turks and Turkmen, and building the social and political resistance movement, is actually the “Achilles-Hill” of the regime.

IRT: How do you see the role of UN rights bodies regarding the promotion and protection of human rights in Iran?

Dr. Abdian: Well, I think we should take the UN for what it is without hanging all the hopes on it. The UN is a gathering place for countries not nations or nationalities. Some of these countries are democratic and some are oppressive. They all have their own parochial interests accordingly, nations and peoples who live under the oppressive regimes are not allowed the rights of self-determination unless it serves the interests of this so called International community, which UN is a major part of it.

Having said that, I believe UN human Rights bodies, whether charter-based or treaty-based bodies - should be utilized to the maximum, to expose the oppressive nature of states such as Iran.

We in AHRO, with the help of other international NGOs and progressive member states, and other member-based NGOs such as Unrepresented Peoples and Nations Organization (UNPO), have successfully utilized Human Rights Council, Universal Periodic Reviews, and Special Procedure of the HRC under charter-based bodies. We also used the help of Committees Against Torture, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances under the treaty-based bodies, in both New York and in Geneva for the past 10-15 years, and will continue to do so, to expose Iranian regime atrocities against minorities in Iran.

We achieved good results, working with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and with other different human rights monitoring mechanisms in the United Nations system: UN Charter-based bodies, including the Human Rights Council, and bodies created under the international human rights treaties, made up of independent experts, mandated to monitor Iran’s compliance with its treaty obligations.

IRT: I like to repeat this question with your esteem, how do you see the role of SR Ahmed Shaheed?

Dr. Abdian: AHRO has supported the appointment of Dr. Shaheed since his appointment in 2011 as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. And every year since then we have participated in Geneva for the extension of his mandate.

He is faced with a very difficult situation with Iran and its allies like Russia and China, and a range of smaller dictator supporters in the UN. They have tried to sabotage his work. But under the circumstances, I believe he has done a great job.

We met with him several times, and he seemed receptive to all the testimonies from Ahwazi witnesses that were the subject of human rights violations. Obviously it would have been much better, if he was allowed to visit Iran to see the situations first hand, but Iran does not allow that.

Some of his reports do not detail all violations of human rights among the ethnic minorities in the country. However, he has successfully provided an overview of the prevailing systematic human rights violations and the situation in Iran.
Khaled Hardani

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Land confiscation of Ahwazi Arabs

The barrier will close all the connections of Borwall to the city of Ahwaz leaving the village barren and the policy will encourage more Arabs to leave their and their ancestors lands.

Land confiscation of Ahwazi Arabs by the Iranian regime

 

According to eye witness the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) without previous notice built a barrier between Borwall,

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