A group of 14 human rights organisations has issued a joint statement condemning the recent widespread wave of arrests in the Ahwaz Region (Khuzestan).

The statement calls on the United Nations and the global human rights community to demand the immediate release of the detainees and to hold the Iranian authorities accountable for ongoing rights violations, including the suppression of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and fair trial.

Full Text of the Statement

Joint Statement of Human Rights Organizations Condemning Recent Arrests in Ahwaz Region (Khuzestan)

We, the signatory organizations, express our deep concern over the recent wave of arrests in Ahwaz Region (officially known as Khuzestan). In recent days, dozens of civil activists, poets, and social media users have been arbitrarily arrested.

These measures have been carried out along with violent attacks on homes, threats to families and confiscation of the personal property of the individuals. Transferring detainees to disclosed locations and lack of access to information about their condition increases the risk of torture, ill-treatment and secret executions.

These measures are both human rights violations, and evidence of the Islamic Republic of Iran failing to meet its international obligations to guarantee freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to a fair trial.

The recent arrests are part of a repressive policy aimed at weakening the cultural, social, and political identity of the Arab people of the Ahwaz region (Khuzestan) and systematically violating their fundamental rights.

We ask the United Nations, human rights organizations, and the international community to act immediately and demand the immediate and unconditional release of the detainees. Accurate and continuous reporting can help expose these violations and end repressive policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Signatories:

1-Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

2-Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO)

3-Association for the human rights of the Azerbaijani people in Iran (AHRAZ)

4-All Human Rights for All in Iran

5-Balochistan Human Rights Group (BHRG)

6-Defenders of Human Rights Center

7-The Human Rights Organization Campaign of Baloch Activists

8-ECPM (Together against the death penalty)

9-Kurdistan Human Rights Network

10-Kurdistan Human Rights Association-Geneva (KMMK-G)

11-Kurdpa Human Rights Organization

12-PEN America

13-Siamak Pourzand Foundation (SPF)

14-United for Iran (U4I)