By Hossein Bouazar
Eid al-Fitr known as Festival of Breaking the Fast, a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan
Every year in Ahwaz people celebrate this Eid, and it is the biggest celebration of each year.
Iranian regime before, during and after this Eid starts mass arrest in the Al-Ahwaz region.
Several police and security vehicles entered the Alavi (Hay al-Thawra) suburb in Ahwaz with personal clothing and made new arrests. These arrests follow the Yazidi days of Eid al-Fitr and the funeral of the families of those killed in the November 2019 protests and those executed in recent years.
Sunday morning, May 16, 2021; Amin Amir Hatami, 23, a resident of Zoyeh district in Ahwaz, was arrested by the Iranian intelligence services. The reason for the arrest of this young Arab is to participate in the celebration of Eid al-Fitr and to support the families of the victims of the November 2019 protests and the Arab activists executed in recent years.
Mojtaba Salihawi, a resident of Koreh (in persian known as Taleghani town) of Bandar Mashour (in persian known as Mahshahr), was arrested during Eid al-Fitr for participating in a celebration of Yazla (dancing) and chanting national poems in Arabic . The family of this Arab citizen does not know where he is being held.
Also, Hamzeh Chaldawi, 34, married and with 4 children, a resident of Alavi Alley (Hay al-Thawra) in Ahwaz, was arrested by the Iranian intelligence services.
Hamzeh Chaldawi was arrested by the intelligence services early 2017 and was released on bail after several months in the detention center of the intelligence services and Sheiban Prison. The case of Hamzeh Chaldawi is in the second branch of the Revolutionary Court of Ahwaz. During the days of Eid al-Fitr, on 13th of May 2021, many rallies with epic poems and Yazla (dance) were held in front of the homes of the families of those killed in the November 2017 protests and those executed in recent years, which led to the arrest of a number of Arab citizens.
Ali Tamimi’s mother, one of the victims of the November 2017 protests, was arrested along with four other Arab citizens in Ahwaz.
On Sunday, May 16, 2021; Ms. Badrieh Hamidawi, a resident of Zoyeh Alley, was detained by the intelligence services along with a number of Arab citizens of Zoyeh Alley in Ahwaz. Badrieh Hamidawi, mother of Ali Tamimi, who was martyred in the November 2017 protests. His other son, Mohammad Tamimi, was also shot dead by security forces in 2012.
The names of the detainees: Hossein Mazraeh, Hassan Hezbawi, son of Ramadan, and Hadi Hezbawi, son of Ramadan, and Mohsen Hezbawi, son of Ramadan, and Jamil Hezbawi, son of Lafteh, and Ms. Badrieh Hamidawi
Ahwazi Centre for human rights sources say; On the morning of Sunday, 16th of May, several security vehicles raided Koi Zoya and arrested a number of Arab citizens. The reason for this attack was after the people gathered and marched on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr in front of the door of Ali Tamimi’s house and chanted national poems and recited Yazla (dance) in Arabic.
More arrests happened on the 15th of May 2021, Rasool Zuhairi, son of Karim, Shaker Silawi, Mohammad Silawi, Qais Sawari, Walid Sawari were arrested by Iranain intelligence agents from Alav Alley (Hay al-Thawra) in Ahwaz, and taken to an unknown location by plainclothes.
Our sources added, the arrests began on May 13 and are continuing. In addition to these detentions, many individuals with a history of arrest or detention were contacted and summoned. On Sunday, May 16. A number of Arab citizens were arrested by the intelligence services in the northern suburbs of Ahwaz.
On the eve of Eid al-Fitr, security forces arrested two Arab citizens in the city of Kore (Taleghani) on Wednesday, May 12. According to local news agencies, Mehdi Mohammadi, the general and revolutionary prosecutor of Bandar Mashour (Mahshahr), confirmed the arrest of the two citizens but did not mention their identities. The Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Bandar Mashour (Mahshahr) stated that the reason for the arrest of these two citizens was to raise the Al-Ahwaz flag and refused to give more information to the news agencies
We, the Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), concerns, while Ahwazi Arabs faced continued oppression and discrimination, the most significant human rights issues included a high number of executions for false confession and false crimes without fair trials of individuals. Torture; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary detention and imprisonment; of hundreds of political prisoners, are just few examples of how the Iranian regime violates the human rights, but we also should add that the regime’s handling of the Covid situation proves that the regime doesn’t care about Ahwazi lives and that raises a great concerns, and get international attention.
We are calling upon Mr. Javaid Rehman the United Nations special rapporteur for the situation of human rights in Iran and Mrs Agnes Callamard the UN special rapporteur on extraJudicial execution to intervene and stop the Iranian criminal regime from executing innocent prisoners that were arrested without any legal warrant.
Hossein Bouazar is a human rights activist from the Ahwaz region in Iran. He writes about human rights abuses committed on the Arab Ahwazi.
Ahwazi Centre for Human Rights
Date: 2021/05/18
