By: Nawwab Zeinoldini
Iranian theocratic regime celebrated its forty-second anniversary in Iran. 4 decades that people in Balochistan and other nations in Iran have suffered from a state policy that has embedded discrimination in its character law and conduct. In these 4 decades, it has intensified its persistent human rights violation in Balochistan.
One of the most important reasons for the regime animosity towards Baloch is that in 1978 and 1979 when Iranian religious and nationalist and leftist were protesting to change the regime and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the Baloch nation did join the protests and movement was against the new government from the beginning.
The new establishment continued with the policy of its predecessor the Pahlavi dynasty only harshening the religious discrimination and suppression. It has made sure that the Baloch region despite its extraordinary wealth and industrial capabilities, people are kept backward and poor.
In these 42 years, the Tehran regime is using any excuse to arrest and execute young Baloch people.
Executing Baloch youngsters has no political cost for the regime. Since the Iranian Persian elite which dominates the media and human rights organisations, ignores suffering and continues killing Baloch people. Hence Iranian Regime’s Human rights violation in Balochistan does not make it disclosed to the international media and Human Right Organisations. By their silence, they are showing that they agree and endorse regime’s crimes in Balochistan. As a saying in English says “Silence is Violence”.
All this indicates the depth of the tragedy that is happening in Balochistan, which has plagued Baloch people for the last one hundred years since Balochistan was annexed to Iran in 1928 and immediately partitioned large 3 pieces of it to its 3 neighbouring provinces of Khorasan, Kerman and Hormozgan.
Baloch people have been suffering from discrimination in social, cultural and political and particularly in economy and job opportunities in the market. But worse is yet to come when the Iranian Regime feels that it has been given a free hand to do whatever it wants, therefore systematic discrimination is continuously intensified its in Balochistan.
In the last years, it has started a policy to further divide the Baloch homeland into yet more provinces to speed up weakening Baloch people by creating more obstacles for its social cohesion and cultural relations through this action too.
It is finalized with China, that Iran is giving control of Baluchistan’s Mackoran coast and port cities like chabahar and Jask to China for investment worth $400 billion with Chinese political and security support in the international arena. In advance, it has intensified Baloch people suppression to make them silent during Chinese investment, and harsh combat to any kinds of resistance and protest by Baloch people in advance.
In the last two months, it has executed more than 20 Baloch prisoners. Most of them were political prisoners, and many were sentenced to imprisonment. Almost all of them were tortured to obtain forceful confessions while didn’t have access to free trials and access to defending lawyers.
Most of the arrested had no criminal records and some of these prisoners have not even had political activity. Some of them were imprisoned openly as hostage to pressurise their family members to stop their activities and surrender themselves. Teenager Sabir Malik Raeisi is a well-known example figure of regime’s hostage taking to have instead his brother surrendered. Many activists did not surrender; their beloved innocent hostage prisoners were executed.
There have been reports from “Balochistan Human Rights Group=BHRG” and United Nations Special Rapporteur Mr. Jawed Ahmed that prisoners do not have access to physical distance and their basic health facilities, at the height of the Covid_19 virus outbreak.
The families of Baluch prisoners and the people of Balochistan are worried about their family (prisoners) health given the non-stop Covid-19 pandemic in Iran.
This concern is all the more significant when the judiciary has sent many prisoners, both political and other, on leave due to the outbreak of Covid-19, but none of the Baloch prisoners have been given a chance to get a leave during this Pandemic Covid-19.
Meanwhile, many prisoners’ faith is undecided in the dreaded prisons of Iran. A person like #Molavi Kouhi, are in prison without any crime or sentence. His only crime was that he defended people’s right to protest according to the constitution during the uprising in November 2019.
The prisons in Balochistan and Sistan province, are run by the extremists on mission from other provinces while cooperated by Sistan region’s extremists Shiiats who are the core power for human rights violations in Balochistan.
Gender inequality as one of the most vivid constitutionalised discriminations in Iran has struck Baloch women worst. One of these insecurities which suffers from government discrimination and does not have the necessary security, for example, the rape of 41 girls in Iranshahr city of Balochistan by the members of the Iran Revolutionary Gard Corps(SEPHA) where after several years none of the aggressors have been convicted!
Baloch people have always resisted discriminations through their active civil campaign and peaceful resistance. All open discriminations will only end if the Iranian opposition groups of the regime are united in some important basic points commitment to work together to change the regime and transition to democracy.
We in the Balochistan People’s party are working in the form of “Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran” with other political parties from Ahwazi Arab, Azerbaijani Turk, Kurd Lor, Baloch, Turkmen and Caspians to create circumstances for a broader and united democratic opposition.
Be the first to comment