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  • Liberate Southern Azerbaijan - Save Life of Activist Yunis Aghayan

    http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/948 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"
    (http://www.americanchronicle.com/art 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

    http://www.gaip.biz/eng/yunus%20Aghayan.h 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 (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/la 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

    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.
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    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.
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