April, 29 2011, 09:24am EDT
Iran: Investigate Reported Killings of Demonstrators
Dozens of Protesters Reportedly Killed in Arab-Majority Province
NEW YORK
Iranian security forces should immediately halt the use of excessive force against demonstrators in an ethnic Arab province of southwestern Iran, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should open independent and transparent investigations into all alleged killings there since protests began on April 14, 2011, Human Rights Watch said.
Authorities should also restore regular telephone and internet communications to the region, Khuzestan province, and allow independent international media and human rights organizations free access to conduct investigations in the province.
Iranian rights activists and international media have reported that Iranian security forces fired live ammunition as well as teargas at largely peaceful protesters on a number of occasions, killing several dozen protesters since the demonstrations began. Human Rights Watch also received reports that authorities have arrested several hundred protesters and rights activists in Khuzestan and severely curtailed communications in the area.
"Iran has made it impossible to confirm the scale of the deadly violence against protesters in Khuzestan province, making transparent and independent investigations into alleged killings and arrests there absolutely essential," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Iran's wall of silence around Khuzestan certainly makes it seem that the government is trying to hide what its security forces have been doing there."
Authorities have thus far provided little information about people killed or injured during the protests, but the government announced the arrest of several members of what officials referred to as an Arab separatist group they allege was responsible for killing three people, including a police officer.
Khuzestan province, where much of Iran's oil and gas reserves are located, has a large ethnic Arab population believed to number more than 2 million. Despite Khuzestan's natural resource wealth, its ethnic Arab population, which is believed to constitute a majority in the province, has long complained about the lack of socio-economic development in the region. They also allege that the Iranian government has engaged in systematic discrimination against them, particularly in the areas of employment, housing, and civil and political rights.
The crackdown against protesters and rights activists began after Iranian-Arab activists called for a "day of anger" protest on April 15 to mark the anniversary of demonstrations in Ahvaz in 2005. The April 2011 demonstration, organized via social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, spread from Ahvaz to other cities in Khuzestan such as Hamidieh, Mahshahr, Shadegan, Abadan, and Khorramshahr, according to the International Minorities Human Rights Organization (IMHRO), a London-based group that focuses on the rights of minorities in Iran.
A resident of the city of the Ahvaz told Human Rights Watch that security forces including Basij, armed police, plainclothes agents, and intelligence agents surrounded and infiltrated several Arab-majority areas in Ahvaz a week prior to planned demonstrations on April 15. He said that for about a week prior to the protests Ahvaz appeared to be under martial law. Movement between Arab neighborhoods in Ahvaz became extremely restricted as security forces set up checkpoints throughout the city, and masked security forces began launching home raids and arresting targeted individuals including rights activists. The resident told Human Rights Watch that he witnessed several dozen young Arabs being picked up by plainclothes security officers during some of these raids.
According to the witness, clashes broke out on April 14 between security forces attempting to arrest several individuals in the Homa neighborhood of Ahvaz and the residents' families and neighbors. The clashes led to the deaths of three individuals. The resident told Human Rights Watch that the next day, Friday, hundreds of Ahvazi residents filled the streets of Ahvaz but because of the heavy security presence protests remained isolated and scattered within the various Arab neighborhoods. The resident said:
Security forces shot directly at protesters with Kalishnikovs and used teargas and other choke-inducing gases against us. I saw at least eight people who had been hit by live ammunition fire shot by armed forces on motorcycles.... We tried to help the injured but we could not because the area was completely surrounded by security forces, and we heard news that the local hospital was under the control of security forces and anyone who goes there will be arrested.
The resident told Human Rights Watch that a little while later men in his neighborhood attacked a local police station after they witnessed the killing of one of their fellow protesters. At least one person was killed during the clashes and several others were injured. "We could not help the injured because of the intensity of the gunfire," he said. "They were taken away by security forces."
On the evening of April 15, security forces, often masked, continued nighttime raids against individuals suspected of participating in the protests, the witness told Human Rights Watch. He said that he witnessed several of these raids, including the arrest of seven Arab women by security forces.
On April 26, IMHRO provided Human Rights Watch with the names of 27 people it said had been killed by Iranian security forces since the outbreak of violence. The group also said that authorities have arrested several hundred protesters and rights activists. On the same day, a representative from the Ahwazi Organization for the Defense of Human Rights (AODHR), also based in London, told Human Rights Watch that since April 15 Iranian security forces "killed 48 innocent protesters, injured tens and arrested hundreds of Ahwazis."
Human Rights Watch has not been able to verify independently the numbers and identities of persons killed, injured, or arrested due to the security situation in Khuzestan province and severe government restrictions placed on independent reporting in the region.
Several sources informed Human Rights Watch that after April 15, despite the security presence in Ahvaz and other Arab-majority towns in Khuzestan province, there were a few additional protests. Authorities have severely disrupted internet and mobile phone access in Ahvaz and many other towns throughout Khuzestan province during the past week or two.
On April 18, the Iranian rights activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi wrote a letter to Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stating that Iranian security forces had killed "more than 12 people" and injured dozens more in Khuzestan. Arabic-language outlets such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have provided varying accounts of the violence and the numbers of dead, injured, and detained.
On April 21, Iranian state television reported the arrest of eight members of the "Arab Peoples Group" during the early morning hours. An official said that on April 15, the eight men had carried out an "armed attack" against a police station in Ahvaz that resulted in the deaths of three people, including one police officer, and several injuries. On April 16, the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted a police official as saying that at least one person had been killed and two injured "at the hands of an armed insurgent."
The April 2011 protests mark the sixth anniversary of the 2005 protests in Khuzestan in which security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators in Ahvaz and other cities and towns in the province. The 2005 protests erupted following the publication of a letter allegedly written by Mohammad Ali Abtahi, an advisor to President Mohammad Khatami. The letter referred to government plans to implement policies that would reduce the proportion of ethnic Arabs in Khuzestan's population. After security forces tried to disperse the demonstrators and opened fire on them, clashes between protesters and security forces turned violent. The next day, Abtahi and other government officials denied the authenticity of the letter, calling it fake. Security forces killed at least 50 protestors and detained hundreds more during the 2005 protests.
The 2005 crackdown led to a cycle of violence throughout Khuzestan province, including several fatal bomb attacks in June and October 2005 and in January 2006 that killed 12 people. In response, the Iranian government imprisoned numerous activists it claimed were Arab separatists responsible for terrorist attacks against civilians, and sentenced more than a dozen people to death on terrorism-related charges. Since 2006, authorities have executed more than a dozen Iranians of Arab origin following flawed trials.
"In light of numerous reports of killings and mass arrests in Khuzestan and the government's track record of abuse against its ethnic Arab minority, the onus is squarely on authorities," Stork said. "The government needs to allow independent reporting in the region, provide a full and transparent accounting of persons killed or arrested by security forces during the past several weeks, and prosecute anyone responsible for human rights violations."
Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
LATEST NEWS
Hurricane Lee: An Ominous Storm Even If It Doesn't Come to Land
"This is your hurricane on fossil fueled climate change."
Sep 10, 2023
Hurricane Lee, which became a monster Category 5 before weakening over the weekend and which may or may not ever make landfall, is being treated as a warning by meteorologists and climate experts who say the storm's behavior over recent days could have dire future implications.
The National Hurricane Center said Saturday that Lee would move well north of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands but that dangerous beach conditions may be seen along the Atlantic coastline of the United States. On Thursday, the hurricane jumped from a Category 3 storm to a Category 5 in less than 24 hours at a pace faster than what is called "rapid intensification"—when sustained winds increase by 35 mph over the course of a day.
Marshall Shepherd, director of the University of Georgia's atmospheric sciences program and a past president of the American Meteorological Society, explained to the Associated Press how Hurricane Lee intensified at more than double that rate, moving it into a category he called hyperintensification.
"This one increased by 80 mph (129 kph)," Shepherd said. "I can't emphasize this enough. We used to have this metric of 35 mph, and here's a storm that did twice that amount, and we're seeing that happen more frequently." If future storms, fueled by increasingly hotter ocean temperatures, continue with this trend it will have disastrous consequences for regions that rarely, if ever, experience such powerful storms.
As Lee became reached Category 5 status on Thursday, meteorologist Jeff Berardelli pointed out the increasing frequency of storms reaching that threshold:
Responding to the same trend and data, climate movement organizer Jamie Henn said: "This is your hurricane on fossil fueled climate change."
And it's a global phenomenon, not just for hurricanes forming in the Atlantic. For the first time since records began, Category 5 storms (or the equivalent) have been recorded in each of the world's designated cyclone basins.
"Hurricanes are getting stronger at higher latitudes," warned Shepherd in his assessment. "If that trend continues, that brings into play places like Washington, D.C., New York and Boston."
As science and environment journalist Matt Simon wrote for Wired on Saturday:
Rapid intensification makes hurricanes extra dangerous because they change so quickly and dramatically as they approach the coastline. It's a bit like watching a driver who’s cruising along at 25 miles per hour and then guns it right before hitting an obstruction. Residents might be expecting a storm they can ride out, but are instead faced with a full-scale hurricane that's quickly grown monstrous.
Exploring the science and talking with experts of rapid intensification, Simon explained why Lee is being treated as "a warning" and that people and communities should "get ready for more of this phenomenon as the planet warms."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Water Cannons Target 10,000 Climate Protesters Blocking Highway in Netherlands
"While the world is going up in flames, the government continues to add fuel to the fire by propping up the biggest source of the climate crisis, fossil fuels, with billions in subsidies."
Sep 09, 2023
Climate campaigners calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies were fired upon with water cannons and physically abused Saturday near The Hague in the Netherlands as the global movement demanding an end to the dominance of the coal, oil, and gas industry continues to call on world leaders to act.
Members of Extinction Rebellion spearheaded the direct action on the A12 Utrechtsebaan highway near the center of the Dutch government. With an estimated 10,000 participants overall, the jovial protesters sat down in the road, bringing traffic to a standstill as they chanted, "The seas are rising and so are we!" even as police vehicles sprayed them with water at high velocity.
The Associated Press reported that the protesters vowed to stay until the Netherlands ends public subsidies for the fossil fuel industry or, if removed by police, to return each day until the financial support is suspended.
"This is much larger than any one of us," one participant, Yolanda de Jager, told the AP. "This concerns the whole world."
Dutch police carted some protesters off in carts while others were beaten with batons or dragged off the roadway:
Earlier this week, a new report detailed how the Dutch government spends nearly $38 billion in taxpayer funds each year to support fossil fuels. The authors of the peer-reviewed report—a joint research effort by SOMO, Oil Change International, and Milieudefensie—argued that such subsidies should be eliminated by 2025 in order to help the nation meet its emission reductions goals and also help fund the necessary transition to renewable energy.
"Phasing out fossil subsidies kills two birds with one stone: it reduces fossil fuel emissions and raises additional revenue needed to accelerate a social and equitable transition," said Audrey Gaughran, director of SOMO, also known as the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.
OCI director Elizabeth Bast said, "The Netherlands has taken the international stage to promise an end to fossil fuel subsidies multiple times already, but it is failing to live up to its promise."
"While the world is going up in flames, the government continues to add fuel to the fire by propping up the biggest source of the climate crisis, fossil fuels, with billions in subsidies," she added. "With an urgent and fair phase-out plan the Netherlands can deliver on longstanding promises and take the lead within the EU and internationally to ensure other countries follow through."
Keep ReadingShow Less
G20 Leaders Rebuked for Latest 'Incomprehensible Failure' on Climate Crisis
"Fossil fuels are killing us, and the G20's reckless failure to act will be measured in further lives and livelihoods lost," said one campaigner who noted the refusal by rich nations to pledge a phaseout of oil, coal, and gas.
Sep 09, 2023
Climate groups cried foul Saturday after an agreement generated at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India failed to see the world's wealthiest bloc of nations make anywhere near the kind of climate commitments—namely an agreement to phase out fossil fuels—required to address the planetary emergency fueled by greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenpeace described the lackluster pledge, which came in the form of a joint G20 communique, as an "incomprehensible failure" in the face of a runaway climate crisis that continues to wreak havoc, death, grave injustice, and economic disaster for working people across the globe.
"Despite record-shattering temperatures, raging wildfires, drought, floods and other climate disasters over recent months impacting tens of millions of people, G20 leaders have collectively failed to deliver anything meaningful on climate change this year," said Tracy Carty, a global climate politics expert for Greenpeace International.
"Fossil fuels are killing us, and the G20's reckless failure to act will be measured in further lives and livelihoods lost," Carty added. "Leaders failed to reach agreement on the phaseout of coal, oil and gas. They also made a timid commitment to triple renewables, but only through 'existing targets and policies.'"
Alex Rafalowicz, director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative, also expressed dismay with the lack of ambition shown by the G20 leaders.
"World leaders, particularly rich countries, need to rise to the occasion and fulfill their fair share of responsibilities in the fight against the climate crisis. Anything less would be an affront to both humanity and our planet."
"Continued dependence on fossil fuels remains a primary driver of climate change, carrying dire and irrevocable consequences for ecosystems, communities, and the global economy," Rafalowicz said in a statement on Saturday.
The failure by the richest nations in the world "to come up with anything substantial on fossil fuel phaseout is unacceptable," he said. "World leaders, particularly rich countries, need to rise to the occasion and fulfill their fair share of responsibilities in the fight against the climate crisis. Anything less would be an affront to both humanity and our planet."
The G20 summit in India comes ahead of one-day United Nations climate summit that kicks off in New York City next week and a meeting of the UN General Assembly. While a major protest march by hundreds of climate-focused groups is planned for Sept. 17, the global movement calling for a just energy transition has seen few signs of hope as increasingly severe extreme weather events and dire warnings from the scientific community continue in the face of rising emissions.
UN Secretary General António Guterres, who is hosting what he's dubbed the "Climate Ambition Summit" in New York, suggested his disappointment with the G20's limited statement.
"Half-measures will not prevent full climate breakdown," Guterres said Saturday afternoon. "Today I urged the G20 to demonstrate far more ambition on reducing emissions and supporting climate justice. We have one planet. Let's save it."
While some applauded the G20 for the vow to ramp up renewables by the end of the decade, critical experts said an increase in green energy is simply not enough if fossil fuel companies are allowed to continue to extract and burn oil, gas, and coal.
"The G20's commitment to triple renewable energy is a historic step—a glimmer of hope in our battle against climate chaos," said Andreas Sieber, associate director of global policy at 350.org, but added that it was still not time to celebrate.
"We must hold them accountable, demand they phase out fossil fuels, and lead with urgency," Sieber added. "In particular, rich nations who bear the most responsibility for climate change must provide the finance required to achieve a tripling of renewable energy capacity globally by 2030.”
Avinash Chanchal, campaign manager at Greenpeace India, said the lack of concrete financing commitments from the rich nations makes such lofty goals around renewables hard to stomach, especially as these top polluting countries remain responsible for 80% of global emissions.
According to Chanchal, "G20 developed countries have utterly failed to take concrete steps to increase international financial support for climate action. Existing promises such as providing USD100BN per year until 2025 in climate finance remain unfulfilled, and merely reiterating these promises in the G20 declaration is useless and will not lead to tangible change."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular
Independent, nonprofit journalism needs your help.
Please Pitch In
Today!
Today!