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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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Alert Issued: February 2, 2009 UPDATE: On February 5, Nafiseh Azad was released on bail after being detained for six days. On Friday, January 30, three members of the One Million Signatures Campaign, a grassroots campaign to reform gender discrimination in Iranian laws, were arrested while collecting signatures in northern Tehran. The three activists, Nafiseh Azad, Bigard Ebrahimi, and a third person wishing to remain anonymous, were held for several hours at the local police station before being transferred to other detention centers. Of the three, Azad remains in detention and is being charged with "acting against national security." The next day, on January 31, security agents came to the home of women's rights activist Alieh Eghdamdoost and escorted her to the Revolutionary Courts. She faces the imminent enforcement of a three-year prison sentence for participating in a women's rights demonstration in June 2006. While a number of activists were sentenced for joining that protest, none have been imprisoned to date. Eghdamdoost's imprisonment will mark a further escalation of repression of human rights defenders. Join us in protesting these repressive actions against women human rights defenders in Iran:
Background On Friday, January 30, Nafiseh Azad, Bigard Ebrahimi and a third person were in the foothills of the mountains bordering the north of Tehran, collecting signatures in support of the One Million Signatures Campaign, a campaign launched over two years ago to collect signatures in support gender equality. The three of them were approached by police officers, questioned about what they were doing, and immediately arrested and taken to the local police station. After several hours, Azad and Ebrahimi were transferred to the Vozara Detention Center, while the third campaign member (a man) was transferred to another facility. Although Ebrahimi and the third activist have been released, Nafiseh Azad remains in detention. Azad was previously arrested on three occasions: during a women's rights demonstration on June 12, 2006, during an educational workshop about the Signatures Campaign in Khorramabad on September 14, 2007, and on June 12, 2008, when attempting to attend an event commemorating the June 2006 demonstration. On January 31, Azad's husband went to the Vozara Detention Center, expecting her to be released. Instead, he was informed that Azad must remain in detention because they are still investigating her case. Azad informed her husband that she had been interrogated for hours about her activities with the Signatures Campaign and other matters. She is being charged with acting "against national security through the spreading of propaganda against the state." Since its launch in August 2006, more than 50 members of the Signatures Campaign have been arrested for their peaceful activities in support of gender equality in Iran. Also on January 31, 2009, security agents came to the home of women's rights activist Alieh Eghdamdoost, and escorted her to the Revolutionary Courts so that her sentence can be implemented. Eghdamdoost was arrested with dozens of other activists at a women's rights demonstration in June of 2006. On July 6, 2007, she was sentenced to a prison term of three years and four months, and 20 lashes. On appeal, Eghdamdoost's sentence was reduced by four months, and the judge also overturned the lashings. Although a number of the activists who participated in the 2006 protest have been sentenced to prison terms, no sentence has actually been implemented. For example, Delaram Ali's prison and lashing sentence was stayed following international outcry and sustained pressure on the authorities not to execute the sentence. Eghdamdoost is the first activist who has been taken by security agents so that the sentence can be implemented. Eghdamdoost is currently detained at Evin prison, while her attorneys attempt to obtain a stay. These recent developments are part of a sustained wave of repression against human rights activists over the past three years, which most notably included the December 21, 2008 closure of Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi's Center for the Defense of Human Rights and the arrest and continued detention of one of the Center's employees, Jinous Sobhani.
Sample Letter Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei CC. His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President H.E. Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Islamic Human Rights Commission of Iran Your Excellency: I am writing to express my concern about recent actions taken against women's rights activists in Iran. I am specifically writing about the case of Nafiseh Azad, who, with two other persons, was arrested on January 30, 2009, for peacefully collecting signatures for a petition to reform discriminatory laws. Although the two other individuals arrested with Ms. Azad have been released on bail, I understand Ms. Azad remains in detention and is being charged with acting against national security. I am also writing to convey my deep concern about Alieh Eghdamdoost, a women's rights activist whose home was visited by security agents on January 31, 2009, who escorted her to the Revolutionary Court so that the authorities could begin implementing a three-year sentence for participating in a women's rights demonstration in June 2006. That demonstration, organized as a peaceful demonstration in support of women's rights, was violently broken up by the authorities and resulted in dozens of arrests. I understand that Ms. Eghdamdoost is the first person arrested on that day whose sentence is now being implemented by the authorities. Her imprisonment marks an increase in the repression of peaceful rights advocates, and I urge your office to stay the sentence and release her from custody. The rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of association are enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was endorsed by all U.N. member states, as well as the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory and which is binding on the Iranian government. These arrests indicate that the recent closure of Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi's Center for the Defense of Human Rights is just the most visible indication of a broader campaign to repress and intimidate human rights defenders over the last few years. I ask that the government of Iran end this crackdown immediately and comply with its obligations to protect citizens exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of association and assembly. I urge you to release Nafiseh Azad, and stay the sentence of Alieh Eghdamdoost and release her from custody. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
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Urge Iranian Authorities to Release Women Human Rights Defenders