Internet outage in Khuzestan and concerns over the situation of protesters on the ninth day of the uprisings
24-July-2021
Category: ethnic minorities
24-July-2021
Newsgroup: Ethnic Minorities –
Breathing in Confinement: On Friday, July 23, 2021, concurrently with the ninth day of the uprisings in Khuzestan, despite the widespread repression and disruption of the Internet, protests rallies were held in various parts of the province.
The protests which began on Thursday, July 15, 2021, spread rapidly to more than 30 cities and regions. People in the neighboring provinces such as Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kurdistan, Isfahan, Bushehr and Yazd also staged protests in support of the people in Khuzestan. On Friday, rallies were held in the cities of Yazd and the City of Junaqan in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.
A large number of people have been killed, wounded or detained since the start of the protests. The identities of 8 killed protesters have so far been confirmed. Local sources, however, believe that the death toll is much higher. In addition, to avoid being arrested, those who have been shot refrain from going to the hospital for treatment, which in turn endangers their lives.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, despite the widespread repression and disruption of the Internet, the protests in Khuzestan continued to the ninth night. According to the reports, the protest rallies in Mahshar and the town of Enghelab in Ahvaz were severely repressed by the security forces who opened fire on protesters.
On the night of Friday, July 23, in parts of Ahvaz electricity power was cut off.
Reports received by “Breathing in Confinement” indicate that mobile internet network was shut down and home internet service was too slow. Over the last nine days protest rallies were held in the cities of Abadan, Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Dezful, Behbahan, Izeh, Susangerd, Enghelab Town, Azadi Town, Malachieh, Ramshir, Shush, Kut Abdullah, Kut Seyed Naeem, Hamidiyeh, Bostan, Mahshahr, Shadegan, Hoveyzeh , Weiss, Alhaei, Ramhormoz etc. According to the reports, a large number of security forces armed with military vehicles and ammunition, have occupied the cities.
People in nine other provinces also supported the uprisings in Khuzestan. On Friday, July 23, people in Robat Karim, Meybod, and Junaqan rallied in support of the protesters in Khuzestan. There have been reports of Saveh road being blocked by the locals where at least three residents named Mohammad Niazi, Omid Saeedi and Mostafa Arefai, were arrested.
Nine of the killed protesters in Khuzestan have been identified as: Mostafa Asakereh (Naimavi) in Shadegan, Qasem Naseri (Khadiri) in Kut Abdullah, Issa Baldi, Meysam Achresh in the Town of Taleghani, Hamzeh (Farzad) Frisat in Ahvaz, Mehdi Chenani in Shush, Hamid Mujaddam in the City of Chamran, and a teenage boy, Hadi Bahmani in Izeh.
So far, government authorities have not released any official report on the number of detainees. Ali Shamakhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council in a short text, confirmed the arrest of protesters in Khuzestan. He also claimed that an “order” had been issued on the release of those detainees who “had not committed a criminal act”.
The deputy commander of the Lorestan police confirmed that a young protester was killed, and seven others were wounded by gun shot last night in Aligudarz. IRIB News Agency also reported that two of the detainees were 16-year-old teenagers.
In a statement, Amnesty International confirmed and condemned the use of “live ammunition and birdshot to crush Khuzestan protests.”
Also on Friday, July 23, Michelle Bachelet the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement condemning the repression of the people in Khuzestan and calling on “the Iranian authorities to concentrate on taking urgent action to address the chronic water shortage in the province of Khuzestan, rather than using excessive force and widespread arrests to crush the protests about the situation.”