autonomous rule for the Arab region in Iran. There was a paragraph in our demands, which stipulated the necessity to create Arab courts in the region to resolve the people’s issues and problems. Many of the sons of the minorities are subjected to mockery and disdain, because of their lack of proficiency in the official language, Persian, in municipal offices, courts and governmental institutions, which leads to them abstaining from presenting their cases, issues and demands in front of state institutions. As I was born in the Arab region in which Persian is not spoken, learning Persian was imposed on me and my peers since [we were young]. Despite this, I still speak Persian with much difficulty and a heavy Arab accent which raises ridicule from others. A fact that leaves a deep impact in my psyche, which makes me abstain from speaking Persian and doesn’t allow me to compete with my peers, who speak Persian, in education or in the job market. I am seen as a third class citizen and this applies to many of the sons of my people and the sons of the non-Persian people in Iran. I would also like to point out that the police and the guards use excessive violence when confronting any peaceful protests demanding civil rights for minorities, whether in Ahwaz or in other national regions. The police make random arrests and get depositions from the arrested by using torture and forced confessions. Often trials are conducted behind closed doors and without any lawyer present. The judicial system also does not take into account the conditions of the political prisoners and [those] of conscience from a health standpoint. Mr. President, Given the importance of this Forum to which oppressed minorities and peoples attach big hopes, and our belief for the necessity of positive and humane work to address these issues and the oppression, which minorities are subjected to, we demand that the Forum on Minority Issues of the United Nations in its 8th session pay attention to the issues of minorities and the discriminatory practices [aimed] towards them by the police and the judges. We recommend the following:  Pressure the Iranian authorities in regards to the independence of the judiciary, the creation of fair courts for activists [belonging to] minorities and dropping the frivolous accusations against them, such as [being a] threat to national security and similar, and [finally] repealing all the death sentences issued against them.  Stop the programs of systematic ethnic cleansing against our Ahwazi Arab people.