# 2 0 3 -6 9 9 0 W a lth a m A v e . B u rn a b y , B .C .

V 5 J 4 K 2 , P h : 6 0 4 -6 7 6 -0 3 4 6

Ariana – Vancouver TV Press Release

May 16, 2010
Over five millions Afghans emigrated around the world to seek refuge from three
decades of war. Many have returned home from neighboring countries such as
Tajikistan, Pakistan and Iran. However many Afghan refugees have had to return back to
Iran or Pakistan due to lack of , security and peace in Afghanistan. Afghan refugees are
doing the most degrading, harsh, unsafe and low wage jobs in Iran to feed their beloved
ones. Currently there are over one million such refugees in Iran who are facing enormous
amount of abuse, violence and threat on a daily basis.
The Islamic Republic of Iran treat Afghan refugee as , criminals and use different
methods of harassment to falsely accuse them of wrong doings, arrest, and often deport
them back to Afghanistan. In some cases, they have been even executed. Furthermore
the Islamic Republic of Iran deprives the Afghan legal immigrants and refugee children
of their rights to education, employment and limit their movements within Iran. The
abuse and cruelty are well known among Iranian people and Afghan communities who
lived in Iran for many years. Most recently there were cases in which Iranians have been
involved in the murders of numerous Afghan laborers, who were thrown down from
buildings when demanding their salaries.
As though these atrocities were not enough, Iran has imprisoned thousands of Afghan
refugees in jails and so called “temporary loggers” in horrible conditions for the past few
months. Many were falsely accused of illegal activities, 45 of which have been hanged in
the past few weeks and 100s more are to be executed. According to the media reports,
eye witnesses and a number of human right organizations these imprisonments and acts
of violence against the Afghan immigrants have political motives.
This shocking news has caused deep concerns among the Afghan community, people of
other countries, as well as the human rights institutions around the world. It is obvious
that Iran does not have a transparent and equitable judiciary system, a system that
deprives the Iranian people of their human rights as well.
Media interviews with Afghan refugee prisoners indicate that, not only these refugees
had no access to lawyers but also they were not even given the opportunity to defend
themselves in a court of law. In most cases their execution notices were handed over to
them in jail all of a sudden and in a short period of time, without their family’s
knowledge.

Ariana TV of Vancouver and demonstrators of this rally condemn Afghan refugee’s

unjust, inhumane, heartless and cruel execution and express our deepest concern over
their poor conditions in Iranian jails.
1. We demand the release of innocent Afghan refugees from Iranian jails and insist
on their freedom from Islamic Republic of Iran.

2. We urge the Iranian government to provide lawyers for those Afghan refugees
accused of crime in a fair, transparent and just court without any outside pressure
and observed by the representatives of the International community and the
media.
3. We urge United Nations, International Organizations, human rights organizations,
Red Cross, Amnesty International and other human rights activists to address
Afghan Refugee’s issues and stop Iranian government from executing 100s of
Afghan refugees in their dungeons and jails.

4. We demand that the Afghan government to urgently solve this issue through
diplomatic channels and put pressure on the Iranian government to change its
violent treatments of the Afghan refugees and immigrants.

5. We kindly request the Canadian government to take actions against Iranian

government and pressure them on stopping these cruel injustices.

6. We appreciate the Canadian government’s help for Afghanistan and the Afghan
people. We request that the Canadian government and people to support our
efforts to continue to help Afghan refugees and provide opportunities for them to
escape Iranian’s abuse and immigrate to Canada.

7. We promise Afghan refugees and immigrants in Iran that we will follow up their
stories, support their struggles, defend their innocence, demand their rights and
continue our protest against such violent actions against Afghan refugees
anywhere in Iran or around the world.