72
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 12:30:03 PM
Liberate Southern Azerbaijan – Save the Life of the Azeri Activist
Yunis Aghayan
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
March 17, 2009
In a previous article entitled "Southern Azerbaijan to Secede from
Iran – Middle East´s Most Influential and Most Unknown Factor"
( icles/view/94772), I offered an
introduction to the critical issue of Southern Azerbaijan, denouncing
the theocratic Shia Islamist tyranny carried out against more than 20
millions of Azeris in today´s Iran.
The issue "Southern Azerbaijan" has been kept secret and hidden, far
from the focus of the world´s mass media – because of iniquitous plots
and inhuman conspiracies carried out by the colonialist elites of
England and France against all the Turkic Nations.
In the present article, I republish an Appeal to save the life of an
Azeri Human Rights activist, Mr. Yunis Aghayan, and a report on the
unbearable Iranian tyranny that should be eliminated, as the Southern
Azeris deserve – like every other nation – a national home, which in
their case will entail a full merge with the already independent part
of Azerbaijan.
I will come up with further articles of various contents (historical –
political – cultural – Human Rights) pertaining to Southern Azerbaijan
– which is today´s most critical issue of the Middle East.
Appeal for Saving the Life of Mr. Yunis Aghayan
tm
The Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva
Please circulate this to the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial,
Summary, or Arbitrary Executions; it is also of relevance to:
Working Group on arbitrary detention
Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance
The Independent Expert on Minority Issues
CC Mr Dyke and Mrs. Harrison, Amnesty International, London
Also: Human Rights Watch; Human Rights Server; and Helsinki Human Rights
Dear Sir/Madam,
Update 1 – Mr.Yunis Aghayan in Imminent Danger of Execution
Further to our earlier Communication (Ref: 349/2006 on 16 July 2006;
Ref:365/2006 on 19 August 2006 and also Ref: 485/2008 on 28 January
2008), now Mr. Yunis Aghayan, a national of Southern Azerbaijan and
therefore a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is on death row
and in imminent danger of execution by the Iranian authorities. It is
within your mandates to intervene when capital punishment is imposed
after an unfair trial and this is the case for the reasons presented
in this Update. Your action is needed urgently as another Southern
Azerbaijani national, Mr. Mehdi Qasimzade (please refer to349/2006 on
16 July 2006 for our collective information on both victims), was
executed on 3 March 2009 by the Iranian authorities, who was exactly
in a similar situation.
The details for the arbitrary treatment of Mr Aghayan by the Iranian
authorities are presented in Table 1 and summarized below:
In winter 2003, a number of youth in the village of Uch-Tepe , the
birthplace of Mr. Aghayan, published a pamphlet explaining the
desolate conditions of the village in terms of their religion (the
Elevi sect of Islam) and their Azerbaijani nationality. This led to
the detention of five youth from the village.
In spring 2004, the detainees were released on bail but later armed
officers raided the village to re-arrest them, as the authorities held
that their animal farming centre was also a centre of blasphemy. This
led to a confrontation, during which the armed officers shot dead 6
Azerbaijani-Elevi villagers including three of those released on bail
but also the armed officers killed two of their own in their friendly
cross-fire.
In 2005, Mr Qasimzade was then rounded up in this process and this may
include Mr. Aghayan, who were innocent but they were condemned to
death penalty by the Soyuqbulaq (Mahabad) court.
In 2006, the appeal court in Tehran confirmed this arbitrary sentence
but Mr. Aghayan was promised with a commutation of his death sentence
if he repented from his Elevi faith. Mr. Qasimzade suffered the death
penalty 3 March 2009 but Mr. Aghayan is now confirmed to be in death
row.
The deplorable death sentence by the Iranian authorities is a
violation of the right to life of Mr. Yunis Aghayan. This right is
enshrined in article 3 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of
Human Rights () and in article 6
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stating
that "Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right
shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
life".
( w/ccpr.htm) We believe this right is
a legally enforceable right in every United Nations member state and
therefore we appeal to you to campaign on behalf of Mr. Aghayan to
save his life and safeguard his human rights. Thank you in advance for
your care.
Yours faithfully,
Mr. Eli Tashkent
Chairperson of the Committee for the Defence of the Rights of World
Azerbaijanis
Background Story
Name: Mr. Yunis Aghayan
Village: Uch-Tepe
City: Qoshachay (translated to Farsi as Miyandoab)
Province: West Azerbaijan, as one of one seven Southern Azerbaijani
provinces ruled by Iran
Religion: This is unfortunately an issue as the victim is affiliated
to the Elevi sect of Islam but the Iranian authorities do not tolerate
any religion in Iran other than Shia and Armenians and they also do
not tolerate any nationalities other than Farsi-speakers and
Armenians. This means that, Mr. Aghayan has been a victim of his
religion and nationality. But more details are given below.
Population: There is no exact information but the numbers of Elevi-s
in Azerbaijan may be about 200,000.
Spread: They are spread all over Azerbaijan and have no distinguished
feature other than their moustache.
The Roots of the Case:
As Elevi-s are disadvantaged in Iran for both being non-Shia and for
being Azerbaijanis, the Iranian authorities have repressed them for a
variety of reasons. A number of youth in the village of Uch-Tepe
published a pamphlet in 2003 expressing their concern on the ongoing
critical situation and distributed the pamphlet among the villagers
and also in Qoshachay.
It is understood that in the winter 2003, the authorities arrested and
detained five individuals from the village of Uch-Tepe as responsible
for the pamphlet. Their names are Seyfeli Shiri (50 years old),
Sultaneli Mehemmedi (50 years old) and Huseyin Mehemmedi (18-19 years
old), Sehendeli Mehemmedi and another individual and were detained in
Urmu at the detention unit of the Ministry of Information. These were
released on bail after a few months.
After the release of the above individuals, armed officers raid the
village, seemingly according to a prepared plan, and aim to arrest
more individuals, as the authorities held that their animal farming
centre was also a centre of blasphemy. This led to a confrontation
when the villagers aimed to diffuse the situation and prevent innocent
people being arbitrarily arrested. The provocation of the armed
officers got out of hand and they shot dead 6 innocent villagers but
two officers also lost their lives. Experts have confirmed that the
loss of the armed officers was solely by the friendly fire of their
fellow officers and the villagers did not play any role in it. The
villagers have confirmed that the above named three individuals
(Seyfeli Shiri, Sultaneli Mehemmedi and Huseyin Mehemmedi) were among
the victims shot dead and another name is known to be Firidun
Mehemmedi.
The armed officers incited with their act of terror, rounded up more
individuals and these included Mehdi Qasimzade (the victim who was
executed on 3 March 2009) and Yunis Aghayan. The Iranian authorities
are reportedly tricked the families to hand over their sons for
interrogations and these included Sehendeli Mehemmedi, Bakhshali
Mehemmedi and Ibadulla Qasimzade. An Iranian court condemnsed these
five individuals and passed a death penalty against all five of them
in 2005 in the Soyuqbulaq (Mahabad) court.
After the appeal of these victims, the cases of appeal were dealt with
in Tehran in a higher court in 2006, which confirmed the death penalty
against Mehdi Qasimzade and Yunis Aghayan and commuted the sentence on
Sehendeli Mehemmedi, Bakhshali Mehemmedi and Ibadulla Qasimzade to 13
years of imprisonment and banishment into exile. These three
individuals are now in a prison in Yazd , some 2000Km from Azerbaijan
and they are on a hunger strike protesting against their inhumane
treatments.
Unfortunately Mr. Mehdi Qasimzade was executed on 3 March 2009 in Urmu
prison and this happened rather unexpectedly and therefore there was
little opportunity to campaign for him. His body has not yet been
handed to his family. After his execution, Iranian and Kurdish media
tried to misinform the public and falsely claimed a Kurdish identity
to Mr. Mehdi Qasimzade. This is utterly deplorable and tantamount to
rubbing the grave. We hope that you regard such dishonesty as an
incitement of tension in the region.
Mr. Yunis Aghayan is now on death row in Urmu prison. Voice of America
broadcasted the situation and Amnesty International has also
campaigned for both of these victims.
Azeri-Iranians Under Pressure
%20%20under%20pressur.htm
Human rights monitors say members of Iran’s Azeri ethnic community are
under increasing pressure from Iranian authorities.
Amnesty International reports that more than 30 Sunni Azeris were
arrested on January 14th in the village of Khanegah-e Sork near
Oroumiye in west Azerbaijan province. They were protesting the
diversion of their water supply when police forcibly dispersed them.
Some demonstrators were reportedly injured during arrest; others were
reportedly tortured or mistreated during detention. At least 21 of
those arrested were tried February 1 before a court in Nazlu. Those
convicted received sentences that included up to a year in prison,
fines, flogging, and enforced residency in south-eastern Iran, far
from their homes.
On February 2, 5 ethnic Azeri activists were sentenced to 5 years
imprisonment in Ardebil for supporting Azeri-language schools in Iran.
On February 4, 5 Azeri students were sentenced to one-year prison
terms for running a blog that advocates language rights for Iranian
Azeris. And Abdullah Abbasi Javan, a professor at Tehran’s Shahid
Raja’I University, remains in detention.
Arrested on November 13 following the annual celebration of Sattar
Khan, a leading figure in the 1906 Constitutional Revolution in Iran,
Mr. Javan has been denied access to a lawyer or family members.
According to Amnesty International, Mr. Javan spent 130 days in
detention in 2007, on charges of so-called "pan-Turkism" and
"propaganda against the system." He was reportedly tortured during his
incarceration.
Fakhteh Zamani, Director of the Canada-based Association for the
Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners, says Iran has stepped up
its repression:
"The situation has been [was] bad in 2008, but since the start of 2009
pressure on minorities is increasing. For Azerbaijanis, since the
start of 2009, we have had the harshest prison sentences in several
years."
Ms. Zamani says Iran’s Azeri community is asking for the rights
guaranteed by Iran’s constitution to all Iranians:
"They are asking for their basic human rights, one of them being
language rights. Also there are many discriminatory policies –
economic, cultural, linguistic, and religious."
The United States, together with its international partners, urges the
government of Iran to respect the fundamental rights of all Iranian
citizens.
Note
Picture: This map reflects a reunification between independent
(Northern Azerbaijan) and only a part of the occupied Southern
Azerbaijan. It is quite indicative that even after a South Azeri
secession takes place as depicted in the map, in the rest of Iran,
there will still be a sizeable Azeri – Turkish minority amounting to
more than 10 million people.
[Image]Print [Image]Share [Image]Email
Your Name
Recipient’s Name
Recipient’s Email
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
[Image]
Orientalist, Historian, Political Scientist, Dr. Megalommatis, 52, is
the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of
encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and
writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages. He refuted Greek
nationalism, supported Martin Bernal´s Black Athena, and rejected the
Greco-Romano-centric version of History. He pleaded for the European
History by J. B. Duroselle, and defended the rights of the Turkish,
Pomak, Macedonian, Vlachian, Arvanitic, Latin Catholic, and Jewish
minorities of Greece.
Born Christian Orthodox, he adhered to Islam when 36, devoted to ideas
of Muhyieldin Ibn al Arabi. Greek citizen of Turkish origin, Prof.
Megalommatis studied and/or worked in Turkey, Greece, France, England,
Belgium, Germany, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Russia, and
carried out research trips throughout the Middle East, Northeastern
Africa and Central Asia. His career extended from Research &
Education, Journalism, Publications, Photography, and Translation to
Website Development, Human Rights Advocacy, Marketing, Sales &
Brokerage. He traveled in more than 80 countries in 5 continents.
He defends the Human and Civil Rights of Yazidis, Aramaeans, Turkmen,
Oromos, Ogadenis, Sidamas, Berbers, Afars, Anuak, Furis (Darfur),
Bejas, Balochs, Tibetans, and their Right to National Independence,
demands international recognition for Kosovo, Abkhazia, South Ossetia,
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and Transnistria, calls for
National Unity in Somalia, and denounces Islamic Terrorism.