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