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Iran
Focus
 London, Mar. 24 – The international human
rights group Amnesty International expressed concern over the possible arrest
of two young Arab boys and three Arab women one of whom is pregnant in the
south-western volatile city of Ahwaz, fearing that they may
face “torture and ill-treatment”.
Ma’soumeh Ka’bi, aged 28,
the wife of prominent political activist Habib Nabgan, was arrested along with the couple’s
four-year-old son Imad at their home in the early
hours of February 27, Amnesty said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Their four other children, aged between six and 13, and Habib
Nabgan’s mother, were also arrested but were
released the following day. Ma’soumeh Ka’bi and Imad have reportedly
been held at the Sepidar detention centre in Ahwaz since March 8. Habib Nabgan, who has fled the
country, has received threats that his family will be tortured or killed if
he does not return to Iran,
the group said.
Soghra Khudayrawi and her
four-year-old son Zeidan were reportedly arrested
in Ahwaz on March
7. Her husband, Khalaf Derhab
Khudayrawi, is said to be wanted by the authorities
in connection with his political activities, Amnesty said.
Sakina Naisi, a mother of
five, was reportedly arrested in Ahwaz
on February 27 along with her 19-year-old son Nahez
and taken to the Sepidar detention centre. Nahez was reportedly released after about 10 days in
detention. Sakina Naisi
is three months’ pregnant and reportedly suffers from asthma, the statement
added. Her husband, Ahmad Naisi, a prominent political
activist, is said to be wanted by the authorities. Following Sakina Naisi’s arrest, the
Iranian authorities reportedly destroyed her husband’s family home in the Sho’aybiyeh district of Ahwaz
with bulldozers.
“Amnesty International believes all five are very likely to be prisoners of
conscience held solely in order to force their husbands and fathers to give
themselves up to the Iranian authorities. As such they should be released
immediately and unconditionally”, the statement said.
Ahwaz, the capital of the Arab-dominated province of Khuzestan, has been the scene of
unremitting anti-government protests since the start of 2005. Iran has pointed the finger at Britain as
the primary instigator of anti-government violence in Khuzestan.
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