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 Urge Iranian Authorities to Release Women Human Rights Defenders (02/02/09)   In English) ( In Farsi) (11/04/08) For more information, please contact Elizabeth Jordan, Tel: 212 845 5298 |
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For at least two weeks, authorities have prevented Internet users in Iran from accessing websites dedicated to women’s human rights. Though these sites can be accessed outside Iran, they are still inaccessible within the country. In Iran, where rallies in support of women’s equality have been violently broken up by authorities, the Internet is an essential forum for women human rights defenders to exchange information and communicate with the public. The web campaign was launched by women activists seeking to change laws that discriminate against women. They hope to collect signatures from one million Iranians to show their government that they are not alone in their fight for equality. Iranian advocates for women’s equality need your support; take action and defend their right to organize and express themselves through the Internet. Background Iranian advocates for women’s equality are pressing for reform of laws that discriminate against women in the areas of marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance among others. Iranian women also face brazen discrimination in other areas of the law; criminal harm suffered by a woman is less severely punished than that suffered by a man, for example, and the evidentiary value of women’s testimony in court cases is half of that of a man. On June 12, 2006, a coalition of hundreds of women and men gathered peacefully in a downtown square to protest the discriminatory laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Repeating the violence that has been used to quell dissent in previous years, about 100 police officers attacked the demonstrators, using pepper spray and batons, seriously injuring one woman. Witnesses claimed that women were dragged along the ground by their hair and savagely beaten. According to the Minister of Justice, 42 men and 28 women were arrested for having organized an “illegal” gathering. Ali Akbar Mousavi Khoini, head of the Alumni Association of Iran, a former student leader and Member of Parliament who has been a leading critic of the government’s human rights practices for several years, was held for more than four months. Just two months later, Iranian women’s groups – including the organization led by Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi – launched a campaign to gather one million signatures to a petition calling for a change in discriminatory legislation. The aim of the petition drive is to show the government that citizens of Iran are behind the call for change in the treatment of women before the law. This drive for signatures was inspired by a successful campaign on similar issues run by women’s rights organizations in Morocco. The August kick off for the Iranian campaign was to be a public rally in Tehran, but authorities prevented the gathering from taking place. Nevertheless, the www.we-change.org website went live on the same day, and carries the petition as well as a way to add signatures. Other websites, including http://www.meydaan.com/petition.aspx?cid=46&pid=9; http://www.irwomen.net/ Those in Iran who argue that women’s equality with men is not incompatible with Islam are persecuted for their beliefs and actions, and prevented from sharing their views. The Internet therefore provides an invaluable forum for the exchange of ideas and information so that defenders of women’s human rights can exercise their freedom of expression and access information. In an environment where women meet innumerable obstructions to their participation in public life, access to the Internet is especially critical. Furthermore, in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa, restricting access to the Internet has become a common way to deny citizens’ their right to express and organize themselves. For example, bloggers have been arrested and prosecuted in Egypt for their writings. In Tunisia, human rights lawyer Mohamed Abbou is serving a three and a half-year prison sentence for an online article criticizing the government’s use of torture. Bloggers in Iran are also currently being prosecuted for discussing the practice of torture by their government on the Internet. Human rights-related websites are frequently blocked in Bahrain, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia.
Sample Letter Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei,
Your Excellency: I am writing to express my deep concern about the blockage of access within Iran to the website www.we-change.org, and other sites promoting women’s rights in Iran. The rights enshrined in the 1998 Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which applies to all U.N. member states, include freedom of expression and the right to disseminate human rights information. Therefore, recent waves of arrests of bloggers and the blocking of websites that carry information about women’s rights should be seen as violations of the rights of human rights defenders. I would also like to convey my support for those who seek women’s equality with men in Iranian legislation. These activists seek reform of the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which deny women equality in marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, and work. These rights are enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the equal rights of men and women. Women human rights defenders in Iran should be allowed to freely advocate for their rights and equality. We call on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to uphold its obligation to protect citizens exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression, and extend our support to those in Iran who seek reform of laws that discriminate against women. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. cc. His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
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Iranian Women’s Rights Websites Blocked