The Problem of  Southern Azerbaijan

 ANNIVERSARY OF THE MAY 2006 MASS PROTESTS IN

SOUTHERN AZERBAIJAN AGAINST IRANIAN RACISM

The Committee for the Defence of the Rights of World Azerbaijanis

The Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva

Please circulate this Briefing Note to the following:

·  Working Group on arbitrary detention (also for Fair Trials);

·  Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

·  Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance

·  The Independent Expert on Minority Issues

·  Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges;

CC      Mr Dyke and Mrs. Harrison, Amnesty International, London

Also:   Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Server

Dear sir/ Madam,

Briefing Note:  

FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MAY 2006 MASS PROTESTS IN SOUTHERN AZERBAIJAN AGAINST IRANIAN RACISM

Please find enclosed Briefing Note to communicate the ongoing repressive acts of the Iranian authorities, arbitrarily depriving Southern Azerbaijanis from their liberty and preventing them from their right to association in marking the Anniversary of the May 2006 Mass Protests.  Table 1 lists some twenty individual activists arbitrarily detained and tortured by the Iranian authorities in two weeks, portraying Southern Azerbaijan, four years on from May 2006.

This wave of protests were orchestrated throughout Southern Azerbaijani cities and towns, as a decisive response to Iranian singular racial policies and made a definitive chapter in the modern history of Southern Azerbaijan. Our past communications reflected on the aftermath of the protests and the brutality of the Iranian authorities. These evidences show that the Iranian governance in Southern Azerbaijan is tantamount to an arbitrary rule, reminiscent of colonialism, as there is no authority to hear the voice of Southern Azerbaijanis. Examples of our communications include:

·       Communications on extra-judiciary victims: up to 30 Southern Azerbaijani individuals were killed by extra-judicially Iranian militia (Ref.: 344/2006 on 28 June 2006)

·       Arbitrary detentions and sentences: a detailed report was submitted to your attention with the analysis of arbitrary sentences passed by the Iranian authorities (Ref: 382 / 2006 on 17 September 2006)

·       Demand for justice: a report providing evidence on active demands for an enquiry on the extra-judiciary killings (e.g. Ref.: 420/2006 on 4 December 2006)

·       Second Anniversary: A briefing note on the events on the 2^nd anniversary (Ref.: 494/2008 on 10 June 2008)

·       Third Anniversary: a General Communication on the third anniversary (Ref: 515/2009 on 31 May 2009)

Fourth Anniversary was likewise marked the intransigence of the brute Iranian forces that after four years still act in their trigger-happy manner to repress, as evident from the names listed in Table 1. Since our last communication on 15 May 2010, many have been arrested and arbitrarily detained, or tried in the Iranian kangaroo courts.  These were largely calculated acts to deter Southern Azerbaijanis and possibly prevent the marking of the 4^th Anniversary on May the 22^nd. Despite the enactment of the medieval mindset of the Iranian authorities, the activists managed to stage protests up and down Southern Azerbaijan but suffered arbitrary detentions needing your support.

Once again, we appeal to you to campaign for the national rights of Southern Azerbaijan and human rights of Southern Azerbaijanis, else the Iranian authorities will be appeased. We thank you in advance for your campaign.

Yours faithfully,

Boyuk Resuloglu

The Committee for the Defence of the Rights of World Azerbaijanis

www.solgunaz.com