Iranian Intelligence Raids the Home of Ahwazi Activist Mustafa Amir Khanafra, Arrests Him for the Third Time in Less Than Two Years and Conceals His Fate
The Alahwaz Organization for Human Rights (A.O.H.R) has learned from Ahwazi sources that forces of the Iranian Intelligence Department raided, without prior warning, the home of Ahwazi civil activist Mustafa Amir Khanafra, son of Mohsen, a resident of the city of Al-Falahiyya, on Monday, 19 October 2026. They arrested him and took him to an unknown location. His whereabouts remain unknown to this moment, which endangers his safety and may amount to enforced disappearance if the concealment of his fate continues.
This is his third arrest in less than two years. Intelligence had arrested him in January/February 2025, then summoned and briefly detained him about a month ago, around September 2026. This repetition raises serious fears that he is being targeted because of his civil activism.
The organization stresses that what happened violates Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it ratified in 1975. According to the interpretation of the UN Human Rights Committee (General Comment No. 35):
Article 17: prohibits arbitrary or unlawful interference with a person’s home; raiding his house without disclosing any legal basis falls under this prohibition.
Article 9: prohibits arbitrary arrest and requires that a detainee be informed of the reasons for arrest at the time of arrest and of the charges promptly, be brought promptly before a judge (the Committee applies a 48-hour standard), and be able to challenge the lawfulness of the detention. No charge against him has been announced so far.
Articles 7 and 10: prohibit cruel or inhuman treatment and require humane treatment of detainees; incommunicado detention greatly increases the risk of ill-treatment.
Article 14 (paragraph 3): guarantees every accused person access to a lawyer of his choosing, a right that cannot be exercised while his place of detention is unknown.
Enforced disappearance: The UN Human Rights Committee regards enforced disappearance as an aggravated form of arbitrary detention. If the authorities continue to refuse to disclose the activist’s place of detention and fate, his situation amounts to enforced disappearance, which also threatens his right to life and physical integrity.
Iran has also been a party since 1968 to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which obliges it to guarantee the right to personal security and State protection against harm inflicted by public officials, without discrimination on the basis of national or ethnic origin.
The organization demands the immediate disclosure of Mustafa Amir Khanafra’s place of detention and health condition, his release unless a clear criminal charge is brought against him and his case is brought before an independent judge, and that he be allowed contact with his family and lawyer.
The organization calls on the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to intervene urgently and follow his case.
As of the time of writing, the authorities have released no official information about his place of detention, his health or legal status, or the charges against him.
