Fighting Between Dezj’s Residents and Government Forces in Iran.

For many years the road between cities of Brojen and Shah-Reza in south central Iran has been without any road signs. Cars and trucks going to these two cities need to pass through the village of Dezj. So far 10 villagers have lost their lives in car accidents on this road. In last 3 months alone, 3 villagers lost their lives and two have been injured. The last person to die was Mahmoud Mohammadi son of Mr. Shir-Ali Mohammadi. Frequent complains to city officials in nearby city of Dehaghan by the villagers had no use as far as changing the condition. Finally villagers decided to take control of the road in their hands and start building road bumps along the road to slow down the traffic. This move by the villagers caused anger among the local police authorities making them to attack the village and arrest some of the villagers. The detainees were later taken to city of Dehaghan and were tortured and interrogated. They were asked to release the name of those who were behind this move. Since none of the villagers were willing to give in and surrender to the government officials, conflict started to escalate. Now, during the day government forces remove and destroy the road bumps and the residents rebuild them again over the night. There are reports of direct fighting between residents of Dezj, who are joined by the people from the neighboring villages, and the government forces. People have started burning tires at nights and taking over the control of the main road and also the control of the village itself.

Islamic Republic of Iran by ignoring the very basic demands of the local residents in Dezj is constantly harassing the people and putting pressure on them. Instead of listening to people’s basic demands the government has decided to deploy more forces to the region from the neighboring cities of Shah-Reza and Esfahan to put down the conflict in case if the uprising starts escalating. Last reports from the region indicate that the government has put pressure on the detainees to reveal the name of those who believe in Bahaie faith and those who have guns at their homes. Regime’s anti-riot Passdaran force by using these types of justifications is preparing the conditions for more arrests in the village. It should be noted that a large number of Bahaies live in this region and the regime knows about their conditions. Despite pressures by the government to convert these people to Islam, that has never happened, and it has openly been rejected by the believers of this faith.

28.08.2004