SPHER International, LTD. www.spherinternational.org.uk Protecting the environment in the face of violence against minorities Al Ahwaz current study Dr. Asma AlKetbi 1. Introduction I will begin with the aims of this seventh session on the rights and issues of minorities, which centre on factors leading to violence and the perpetration of crimes. These include addressing the failure of good governance and the rule of law and a failure to respect human rights which belittles minority groups as well as varieties of discrimination against them in political, economic, cultural and social spheres which arise from time to time and develop into crimes against humanity and the environment. Beginning with the international legal framework on minorities in which the General Assembly of the United Nations in its preamble considered as amongst its concerns the: ‘promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities contribute to the political and social stability of States in which they live’ and ‘constant promotion and realization of the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, as an integral part of the development of society as a whole and within a democratic framework based on the rule of law, would contribute to the strengthening of friendship and cooperation among peoples and States.’ From these two starting points Spher International, an organisation for human and environmental rights puts forward this paper which makes clear the correlation between human rights and the environment. It takes Al Ahwaz as a real life example which throws light on how the violation of human rights in this region has led to a violation of environmental rights. The two violations have caused a lack of political stability and vice versa; if the Iranian government took care of economic and human development in its minority provinces by protecting their rights and treated them as an indivisible part of its territory, and if it met their basic requirements treating them as fully part of the Iranian people (beginning with the right to life and ending with the right to live in a suitable environment) then political stability in the country would be achieved. In short these actions would result in everyone being winners. 2. Spher International An international organisation to protect environmental and human rights founded in April 2013, SPHER ‘Society for the Protection of Human and Environmental Rights’. The ethos of the organisation is based on contributing to improving the human and environmental situation by focussing on human rights according to international environmental law and the international law on human rights. Therefore Spher International strives to emphasise the importance of political stability as a basis for