Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- In the past few days, a number of Ahwazi Arab citizens in the cities of Ahvaz, Susangerd, Shushtar, and Shadegan were arrested by security forces and transferred to undisclosed locations.
They are presumed to have been swept up in an ongoing arrest campaign initiated by authorities after the September 22nd shooting on a military parade in Ahvaz. HRANA previously published a list of 133 detainees in its recent update on this arrest sweep through Khuzestan province.
The most recent arrestees were identified as follows:
1. Anvar Ashouri, age 26, resident of Beyt-e Ashur village in Shadegan County.
2. Hussein Hamoudi (Sobhani), age 25, arrested by the intelligence office of Ahvaz on October 22nd.
3. Yahya Baravieh, arrested in Ahvaz on October 23rd.
4. Naji Salimi (Ka’abi), resident of Beyt-e Mahmood village of Shush County.
5. Yahya Salimi (Ka’abi), resident of Beyt-e Mahmood village in Shush Province.
6. Azim Shaverdi, resident of Shadegan County.
7. Ibrahim Shaverdi, age 31, resident of Shadegan County.
8. Khaled Albou Khanfar, resident of Shadegan County.
9. Ahmad Shaverdi , age 24, resident of Shadegan County.
10. Mahdi Shaverdi, age 17, resident of Shadegan County.
11. Adnan Khanafere, resident of Shadegan County.
12. Moslem Farajollah, resident of Shushtar city, married father of one, arrested on October 24th.
13. Mohammad Reza Jalali, age 26, resident of Kuye Abouzar in Susangerd County.
14. Rahim Aminpour (Heydari), resident of Goldasht in Ahvaz, arrested on October 24th.
15. Muhammad Saydavi, age 26, resident of Susangerd County, arrested on October 25th.
16. Mostafa Jalali, age 29, resident of Susangerd County, mechanic and married father of one, arrested on October 25th.
17. Mahdi Abidavi, age 25, resident of Susangerd County, arrested on October 25th.
As of the date of this report, no further information is available on these arrestees’ locations or the charges against them.
Tag: ahvaz
Khuzestan Arrest Campaign: 133 Victims Identified, Public Demands Transparency
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – HRANA has confirmed the names of 133 Ahwazi Arabs swept up in an arrest campaign, a purported search for accomplices of an armed attack on a September 22nd military parade that left 24 dead and 57 wounded.
Held in the southwestern border city of Ahvaz in observance of the Iran-Iraq war, the parade was tragically interrupted by the gunfire of four assailants who were promptly killed by authorities. Having since attributed the tragedy to ISIS, the Iranian authorities recently launched a retaliatory missile attack on an ISIS base in Iraq. Security forces, seemingly in a continued state of urgency, have continued to sequester citizens across the Khuzestan province on grounds they have yet to disclose.
With no available information on how these would-be suspects could be linked to the armed attack or to ISIS, locals wonder if arrestees are being targeted for other reasons entirely. That detained hail mostly from the cities of Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Susangerd, and Abadan; many have had prior run-ins with authorities, several on account of their civic activism; and almost all are Ahwazi Arabs, one of Iran’s ethnic minorities.
In response to allegations that they may be using the parade attack as a pretext for purging the region of civic activism, Iranian authorities seemed to hedge.
“There are no civil or children’s rights activists among those arrested,” said Khuzestan provincial governor Gholamreza Shariati on October 22nd, without making mention of arrest numbers. “We are making concerted efforts to avoid trouble for civil and political activists, and they have not been a subject of discussion. One woman is among those detained, but we have not detained any children.”
Local activists, meanwhile, feel that their comrades have inexplicably come under a scrutiny bordering on persecution. Human rights activist Karim Dahimi cited his colleague, Susangerd civil rights activist Lamiya Hamadi, as an example: “She is not, in fact, a religious activist,” Dahimi said. “Gholamreza Shariati admitting her arrest only corroborates the fact that civil rights activists are among those detained.”
Dahimi also scoffed at the governor’s claim that only one woman had thus far been detained, countering with examples of women who were carted off shortly after their family members: Faez Afrawi, who was detained shortly after her son, is now being held in an undisclosed location, and the wife, sister, and mother of detainee Adnan Mazraia, who are also being held incommunicado.
Regarding Shariati’s claims that no children had been arrested, Dahimi said, “it ought to be noted that the entire families of the four attackers were detained on the day of the attack, including their children.”
Save for a few insinuations that some detainees have been transferred to Tehran, arrestees’ inquiring family members have been suffering in radio silence from authorities. “No one has been released since the attacks began in Khuzestan,” said Dahimi. “What’s more, we don’t know where they’re being kept, or what kind of condition they’re being kept in.”
Not long after the attack, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence announced it had taken 22 suspects into custody, broadcasting footage of blindfolded, unidentified detainees facing a wall. Now local sources estimate the number of those arrested has climbed well into the hundreds.
While arrest numbers rise and authorities play tactics close to the vest, public fears return to the possibility that security forces will coerce past offenders to “confess” to a role in the attack. In response to mounting public concern over scapegoating and discrimination, the Defenders of Human Rights Center, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, issued the following statement on October 21st:
“[…]Although state organizations have yet to give a report on the number of detainees or the process of detention, according to the families of detainees, over 500 were arrested between September 23 and October 22 and are held in undisclosed locations. The detainees are deprived of the most basic legal rights, including the right to legal representation or the right to family visitation.
The Defenders of Human Rights Center condemns the recent arrests and any illegal action taken by the security officials and the IRGC. The Center announces that such blind arrests and security measures only result in further unrest and certainly cannot shut down the voice of the protestors. The only path to achieving peace inside Iran is through being responsive to citizens and delivering on delayed promises, as well as through combating administrative corruption, existing “red lines,” and releasing all prisoners of conscience and political prisoners.”
Listed below are the identities of the 133 arrestees thus far confirmed by HRANA:
- Khaled Abidawi, of the Shekareh Kut-e Abdollah neighborhood
- Abu Shalan Saki, of Hoveyzeh
- Ahmad Bawi, of the Zahiriyeh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ahmad Timas, of the Shekareh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ahmad Hazbawi, of the Kut-e Abdollah neighborhood
- Ahmad Hamari, 29, holder of a bachelor’s degree, married, of the Mandali neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ahmad Haidari, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ahmad Sawidi, of the Hujjiyeh village of Susangerd
- Ahmad Krushat, son of Kazim, of Ahvaz
- Osama TImas, 26, of the Shekareh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Omid Bachari, of the Muwilhah neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Amir Afrawi, son of Fazel, of Albuafri village of Susangerd
- Jader Afrawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Jasim Krushat, 45, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Jafar Hazbawi, of the Kut Abdullah neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Jafar Abidawi, of the Goldasht neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Jamil Ahmadpour (al-Ha’i), of the Aziziyah neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Jamil Haydari, 33, of the Northern Kamplou neighborhood of the Lashkar district of Ahvaz
- Jamil Sylawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Jawad Badawi, 26, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Jawad Hashemi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Hatam Sawari, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Hassan Harbawi, of Susangerd
- Hussein Haidari, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Hamdan Afrawi, son of Abbas, of the Albuafri village of Susangerd
- Khazal Abbas al-Tamimi (Fazeli), 30, of the Shayban village of Ahvaz
- Khalil Saylawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Daniyal Adel Amjad, 43, married, of the Mash’ali neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ramin Bechari, of the Muwilhah neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Riyaz Zahiri, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Riyaz Shamusi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Zamil Haydari, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Sattar Kuti, of Hamidieh
- Samir Silawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Sohrab Moqadam, of the Darvishiyya Kut Abdullah neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Seyed Jasim Rahmani (Musawi), 33, married with three children, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Seyed Jalil Musawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Seyed Hamud Rahmani (Musawi), of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Seyed Sadeq Musawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Seyed Qasim Musawi, of Ahvaz
- Shaker Sawari, of Ahvaz
- Shani Shamusi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Sadeq Silawai, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Adil Zahiri, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Adil Afrawi, of Hamidiyeh
- Aref Ghazlawi, son of Hanun, of Ahvaz
- Aref Mughaynemi, 27, of the Hujjiyah village of Susangerd
- Aref Naseri, 30, son of Aydan, of Kut Abdullah, Majd Kuy, neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Abbas Badawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Abbas Haydari, of the Shekareh district of Kut Abdullah
- Abbas Saki, son of Abdali Sharhan, of Howeyzeh
- Abbas Mughaynemi, 26, married, of the Hujjiyah village of Susangerd
- Abdulrahman Khasarji, 32, married, of the Kut Seyed Na’im neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Abdullah Siylawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Adnan Sawari, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Abdulrahman Haidari, 19, son of Qasim, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Aziz Hamidawi, of the Muwailha neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Aqil Shamusi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Alireza Daris, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ali Saki, son of Amruh, of Howeyzeh
- Ali Sawiydi, of the Hujjiyah village of Susangerd
- Ali Shajirat (Abu Faruq), of the Muwailha neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ali Afrawi, son of Hamd, of the Albuafri village of Susangerd
- Ali Mansouri, of the Hamidiyah
- Ali Abaji, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ali Alhay (Hiyawi), of Ahvaz
- Ali Haydari, son of Shayi’, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ali Sawari, 23, son of Chasib, of the Aziziyah neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ali Sawari, son of Ghazi, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ali Kuti, of Hamidiyeh
- Ali Mazbani, Nasr (Sawari), of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ali Mazraie, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Issa Badawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Fars Shamusi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Fazel, Shamusi, of Ahvaz
- Sadiq Haydari, son of Jasim, 28, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Farhan Shamusi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Fahd Niysi, resident of Ahvaz
- Qasim Ka’bawi (Ka’abi), 24, of Hamidiyeh
- Karim Majdam Abu Mu’taz, of the Kut Abdullah neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Kazim Ghazlawi, son of Hanun, of Ahvaz
- Lami Shamusi, of Hamidiyeh
- Lamiya Hamadi, of Susangerd
- Majed Childawi, son of Sa’dun, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Majed Haydari, 25, of the Northern Kamplou neighborhood of the Lashkar district of Ahvaz
- Majed Sawari, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Maher Mas’udi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Mohsen Badawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Mahdi Sa’edi, of the Hamidiyeh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Mohammad Sawari, son of Sabah, of the Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Mohammad Amuri, 26, of Ahvaz
- Mohammad Mohammadi (Ahyat), 22, of Hamidiyeh
- Mohammad Mas’udi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Mohammad Mo’men Timas, 55, of the Shekareh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Mahmud Duraqi, of the Muwailha neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Mukhtar Mas’udi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Murteza Bayt Shaykh Mohammad, son of Naser, 24, of the Hujjiyah village of Susangerd
- Murteza Mughaynemi, 22, of the Hujjiyah village of Susangerd
- Murteza Yassin, of Darvishiyya Kut Abdullah
- Mostafa Sawari, son of Sahi, of Shekareh Kut Abdullah
- Mahdi Kuti, of Hamidiyeh
- Mahdi Mazraie, of the Abu Hamiza neighborhood of Susangerd
- Musa Mazraie, of the Abu Hamiza neighborhood of Susangerd
- Milad Afrawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Naiem Haydari, 24, of Ahvaz
- Nur Naysi, resident of Alawi neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Hadi Abidawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Wali Amiri, of Kut Abdullah
- Yusef Khosraji, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Ahmad Amin (Qays) Ghazi, writer, researcher and cultural activist, of the Mellat neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Khalid Siylawi, of the Mollashieh neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Sajjad Siylawi, of Ahvaz
- Seyed Sadiq Nazari (Abu Nabil), of the Al-i Safi neighborhood of Ahvaz]
- Ali Sawari, son of Sahi, of Kut Abdullah
- Fa’iz Afrawi, 30, married with one child, of the Albuafri village of Susangerd
- Zudiya Afrawi, 55, mother of Fa’iz Afrawi, of the Albuafri village of Susangerd
- Mohammad Ami Afrawi, married, of the Albuafri village of Susangerd
- Qaysiyya Afrawi, mother of Mohammad Amin Afrawi, 60, of the Albuafri village of Susangerd
- Adnan Mazraie, of Susangerd
- Wife of Adnan Mazra’i, of Susangerd
- Sister of Adnan Mazra’i, of Susangerd
- Mother of Adnan Mazra’i, of Susangerd
- Jalal Nabhani, of the Ameri neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Khalid Hazbawi, 40, of the Kut Abdullah, Majd Kuy, neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Mohammad Hazbawi, son of Abdulkarim, 30, of the Kut Abdullah, Majd Kuy, neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Reza Bitrani, 34, of the Kut Abdullah, Majd Kuy, neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Tariq Amiri, 24, of Kut Abdullah
- Jamal Mujdam, 35, of Kut Abdullah
- Hussein Subhani, 28 of the Khashayar neighborhood of Ahvaz
- Rashid Krushat, son of Haj Musa, of Ahvaz
- Hakim Krushat, son of Mannan, of Ahvaz
- Ali Mughaynimi, son of Saddam, of Susangerd
- Jawad Mahnapour (Afrawi), of the Albuafri village of Susangerd
Another Ahwazi Arab Citizen Arrested
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) –On Friday, October 19th, local Intelligence agents arrested Ahwazi Arab citizen Qais Ghazi, 33, transferring him to an undisclosed location.
Describing Ghazi as an advocate for peaceful methods of protest, an informed source speculated to HRANA that he was being arrested under a flimsy guise of counterterrorism that authorities have used liberally since the September 22nd attack on an Ahvaz military parade.
“It seems that after arresting hundreds of Ahwazi Arab activists, the security apparatus is now targeting independent civil rights activists,” the source said. “This is despite the government’s announcement that Daesh [ISIS] claimed responsibility for the [parade attack]. They are using it as an excuse to crack down on Ahwazi Arab civil and cultural activists and intellectuals.”
At the time of this report, no further information was available on Ghazi’s whereabouts or the reasons behind his arrest.
On October 17, 2018, for reasons unknown, Ahwazi Arab citizens Sajjad Silavi and Seyed Sadegh Nazari were also arrested by intelligence agents before being transferred to an undisclosed location.
Since the Ahvaz parade tragedy, dozens of Ahwazi Arab citizens across Khuzestan province have been arrested and transferred to unknown locations. In recent reports, HRANA has covered the steady stream of arrests being reported by locals in the region.
Despite the urgency to hold the assailants accountable for wounding and killing civilians, including women and children, Iran’s security establishment is marred by a history of questionable investigative methods, raising public concern that innocent scapegoats may be subject to torturous interrogations and impugned for the attacks.
Ahvaz is the capital of Khuzestan province, located in Iran’s southwest.
Ahwazi Arab Arrests Continue in Environs of Ahvaz Parade Attack
Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Eight more Ahwazi Arab citizens, including two women, join the ranks of 55 locals already scooped up by authorities in a haphazard arrest campaign, purportedly an element of investigation into an armed attack on an Ahvaz military parade that claimed the lives of several civilians on September 22nd.
On October 15th, in the villages surrounding Susangerd, forces from the IRGC Intelligence Department arrested eight Ahwazi Arab Sunni citizens identified by HRANA as follows: Fayez Afravi, 30, married with one child; Afravi’s 45-year-old mother; Mohammad Amin Afravi, married, together with his 37-year-old mother; Abbas Moghinami, 26, married; Morteza Beyt Sheikh Ahmad, 24; Aref Moghinami, 27; and Morteza Moghinami, 22.
Fayez and Mohammad Amin Afravi are residents of Albu Afri village in Susangerd, a source told HRANA. Abbas Moghinami owns a tailor shop in the nearby village of Hojjie that specializes in Arabic garments known as thawbs or dishdashas, and where Morteza Beyt Sheikh Ahmad and Morteza Moghinami are currently employed. All three were arrested while leaving the shop with Aref Moghinami.
Susangerd is located in Dasht-e Azadegan County, Khuzestan Province.
HRANA identified 55 prior arrestees in its recent reports.
Twenty-four civilians, including a four-year-old child, were killed in the September 22nd gun attack on Ahvaz; fifty-seven more sustained injuries. The four assailants were apprehended and killed.
Following the attack, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence announced that it had 22 suspects in custody, backing their announcement with a video recording of blindfolded, unidentified detainees facing a wall. Local sources estimate that detainees number closer to 300, and hail mostly from the cities of Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Susangerd, and Abadan. Most of the arrestees have a previous track record with police.
As authorities work to confirm which body or group may have masterminded the attack, public urgency to find closure is tinged with the concern that innocent arrestees will be subject to inhumane interrogation methods.
Amid Parade Attack Investigations, Ahvaz Authorities Arrest More Citizens
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Dozens of citizens were rounded up October 13th and 15th in the Malashieh and Kouy-e Alavi neighborhoods of Ahvaz, the capital of southwestern border province of Khuzestan now known as the site of a violent shooting on a military parade on September 22nd of this year.
HRANA has identified nine more Ahwazi Arab arrestees, who join the 44 already arrested as of September 27th: Mohammad Omuri, 26, Naim Heydari, 24, Aref Ghazalavi, Kazem Ghazalavi, Ali al-Hay (Hayyai), Shakir Savari, Shakir Savari, and Fadhil Shemousi, arrested Saturday, and Jassim Croshat, 45, a mechanic from Kouye Alavi in Ahvaz, who was arrested Monday, October 15th.
In Wake of Ahvaz Parade Attack, a Sweep of Arrests Sows Community Unease
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)- Four days after the September 22nd armed attack on an Ahvaz military parade that left several civilians wounded, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has announced that it has 22 suspects in custody, backing its announcement with a video recording of blindfolded, unidentified detainees facing a wall.
Local sources have countered this official report, estimating the tally of those detained so far to be closer to 300. The majority of these arrests have taken place in the cities of Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Susangerd, and Abadan, all located in Khuzestan province. HRANA is working to independently confirm the total number of arrests and the identities of those detained.
Security measures now loom large over the Arab-majority neighborhoods south of Khuzestan, local sources say, while the families of those detained have been unable to obtain any indication from authorities on the status or location of their loved ones.
Many of the recent arrestees have a previous track record with police, pointing to the possibility that security forces are attempting to pluck clues from past offenders about a recent incident.
Despite the urgency to hold the assailants accountable for wounding and killing civilians, including women and children, Iran’s security establishment is marred by a history of questionable investigative methods, raising public concern that innocent scapegoats may be subject to coercive interrogations in order to be impugned for the attacks. Iranian Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi has already made the public claim that “the terrorists who opened fire on the crowd have been killed,” adding, “Every single person behind the attack […] will be identified, and the majority of them have already been apprehended.”
On the day of the attack, a military parade in Ahvaz commemorating the Iran-Iraq war was interrupted when gunmen suddenly opened fire on soldiers and spectators. That day, Mojtaba Zolnour, a member of the Iranian parliamentary committee for national security and foreign affairs, announced that 29 had died and 57 were wounded. Iran-based media agencies published a list of victims that included several civilians, including a 4-year-old child.
Both Al-Ahwaz National Resistance group and ISIS (Daesh) have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ahvaz Resident Hassan Heydari Released on Bail
Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – On Monday, September 17, 2018, Hassan Heydari, a resident of Ahvaz (southwestern Iran) was released on 3 billion rials (approximately $23,000 USD) bail and awaits trial.
Heydari was arrested by Ahvaz Intelligence agents in August of this year. Local eyewitnesses attested that the agents beat him severely at the time of his arrest.
Hassan Heydari, a married, 25-year old poet originally from Koot Abdullah in Ahvaz, is an active participant in private poetry readings.