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
http://www.gaip.biz/eng/yunus%20Aghayan.htm
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 (http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html) 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".
(http://www2.ohchr.org/English/law/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
http://www.gaip.biz/eng/azeri%20iranians%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