Reports received by the Karun Human Rights Organization indicate that the Iranian authorities have exploited the war with Israel to launch a new wave of repression in Ahwaz. Recently, 70 Ahwazi citizens were transferred to Ward 5 of Sheiban Prison in Ahwaz after weeks of interrogation under inhumane conditions. Just two days after their transfer, they faced severe judicial sentences.
According to credible reports, these prisoners have been sentenced to:
• 5 years in prison on fabricated charges of “espionage and collaboration with Mossad,”
• 1 year in prison for “propaganda against the regime,”
• 2 years in prison for “insulting Ali Khamenei,”
• 2-year travel ban, and
• 2 years of mandatory participation in so-called “reform sessions” organized by the Basij and IRGC forces.
These verdicts were issued by the First Branch of the Ahwaz Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Ehsan Adibi Mehr.
The average age of these individuals ranges between 23 and 28, all of whom are young people born in the 1990s and 2000s. Previously, they were held under harsh and severely deprived conditions in quarantine at Sheiban Prison.
These sentences were issued without access to legal counsel of their choice, and it is likely that state-appointed lawyers were assigned to them.
Torture and Forced Confessions
Sources close to the prisoners report that during interrogations, they were subjected to severe physical torture, psychological threats, systematic humiliation, and even sexual assault. According to these sources, their confessions were extracted under coercion and in inhumane conditions, carrying no legal legitimacy.
Political and Regional Context
In recent weeks, amid escalating military tensions between Iran and Israel, numerous reports have emerged regarding the increased arrest of political and civil activists, as well as ethnic minorities, and the issuance of harsh sentences against them. Human rights observers believe that the Islamic Republic is exploiting the wartime atmosphere and global inattention to intensify domestic repression to unprecedented levels.
The Karun Human Rights Organization, strongly condemning these rulings and the blatant violations of human rights, calls on the United Nations and international bodies to take immediate and effective action against the systematic domestic repression that has intensified under the cover of the regional crisis.
