Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Baluch, Kurds and Turkmen, suffered ongoing systematic discrimination in law and practice<\/p>\n
Amnesty international Annual Report 2011<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s ethnic minority communities, including Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Baluch, Kurds<\/p>\n
and Turkmen, suffered ongoing systematic discrimination in law and practice. The use of minority languages in schools and government offices continued to be prohibited. Those who campaigned for greater political participation or recognition of minorities\u2019 economic, social and cultural rights faced systematic threats, arrest and imprisonment.<\/p>\n
In September, four Ahwazi Arabs held since June 2009 were reported to have been sentenced to death on charges including \u201cenmity against God and corruption on earth\u201d.<\/p>\n
Around 20 Azerbaijani activists arrested in May around the anniversary of mass demonstrations in 2006 against a cartoon in a state-run newspaper which many Azerbaijanis found insulting were released in November. Akbar Azad, a writer, remained held as his family could not meet the high bail set.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Saber Malek Raisi, a Baluch youth aged 15 from Sarbaz, was reported in July to have been held without charge or trial since September 2009, possibly to force his elder brother to surrender to the authorities. In December, 11 Baluch men convicted after unfair trials were executed in Zahedan, apparently in retaliation for the PRMI bomb attack five days earlier.<\/p>\n
Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi, a Kurdish human rights activist and member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, was held between February and May, including 80 days in solitary confinement. His trial on national security charges began in October.<\/p>\n
In October, Arash Saghar, a Turkmen activist in the election campaign of Mir Hossein Mousavi, was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of \u201cspying for Turkmenistan\u201d.<\/p>\n
Website of Amnesty international<\/p>\n