feminist international

RADIO ENDEAVOUR

March, 2007

 

Call for Action:
33 Women Activists Arrested in Iran

 

Campaign to Free Women's Rights Defenders in Iran

March 4, 2007

Thirty-three women's rights defenders were arrested on Saturday, March 3rd in Tehran during a peaceful gathering in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran.  The gathering was to protest the recent state pressures on women's rights defenders.

In today's peaceful protest, women held banners reading, "Article 27 of the constitution guarantees the right to peaceful protests" and "We, too, participated int he previous peaceful protest on 22 Khordad" to show their solidarity with the five women activists who had been summoned to the court for previous peaceful protests and had their appearance in court at the time.

Among those arrested were organizers of two major current campaigns, "Stop Stoning Forever," and "One Million Signatures to Change the Discriminatory Law."

The detention of the women activists occurs just before the March 8 gathering to be held in front of the Parliament which has been organized by the Iranian Women Movement.

Sign the petition at:

www.meydaan.com

When you sign the petition, a copy of it is sent to the offices of Mr. Seyed Mahmoud Shahroudi, the Head of Judiciary, and another copy is sent to Mr. Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament.

Spread the word:

Please tell friends, allies and all relevant contacts about this campaign and ask them to also support the release of the detained women's rights defenders.


Write a letter:

You can also directly write to the Iranian authorities, including Mr. Seyed Mahmoud Shahroudi, the Head of Judiciary, Mr. Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament, and Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As emails and faxes frequently are difficult to transmit, please also fax or courier your letters of support to the Iranian Embassy in your country. To find listings, see:
www.salamiran.org

In your letter, please ask the Iranian authorities to uphold the law and refer to the article 27 of the Iranian constitution which states that, "Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam." Ask for an immediate and unconditional release of all the women rights defenders detained and arrested.

Sample Letter

(Your Excellency / Dear Sir:)

I am writing to you to express my grave concern about the recent persecutions and prosecutions of the women’s rights defenders in Iran. I am especially dismayed at the news of the recent arrests of over thirty women’s human rights defenders on March 4, 2007, in Tehran while gathering in a peaceful protest in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Furthermore, I am distressed by the use of unnecessary violence by the National Security Police officers against these women which has led to some cases of physical injury.

According to Article 27 of the Iranian constitution, “Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam.” These women had peacefully gathered to show their solidarity with the five activists who were on trial for their participation in a previous peaceful protest last June.

I call upon you to ensure the safety and security of all the people arrested at the peaceful gathering in front of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on Sunday, March 4, including the following women, and their immediate and unconditional release from prison:

Nooshin Ahmadi Khorasani, Parvain Ardalan, Nahid Keshavarz, Mahboubeh Hosseinzadeh, Mahboubeb Abbasgholizadeh, Niloofar Golkar, Parastoo Dokoohaki, Maryam Mirza, Mariam Hossein Khah, Nahid Jafari, Minoo Mortezayee Langroodi, , Fatemeh Govarayee, Shahla Entesari, Soosan Tahmasbi, Azadeh Forghani, Jila Bani Yaghoub, Nahid Entesari, Shadi Sadr, Saghi Laghaee, Saghar Laghaee, Elnaz Ansari, Sara Imanian, Jelveh Javaheri, Zara Amjadian, Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh, Nasrin Afzali, Asieh Amini, Mahnaaz Mohammadi, Somayeh Farid, Farideh Entesari, Sarah Loghmani, and Rezan Moghaddam.

Your sincerely,

(Name)


Please address your letters to:

Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Iran
Email:
irjpr@iranjudiciary.org
(Mark: 'Please forward to HE Ayatollah Shahroudi')
Salutation: Your Excellency

President
His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Iran
Fax: +98 21 649 5880
E-mail:
dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Salutation: Dear Sir

Leader of the Iranian Parliament
Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel
Imam Khomeini Avenue
Tehran, Iran
Fax: +98 21 646 1746
Salutation: Dear Sir

Please note that given the difficulties in transmitting faxes and emails to Iran, we urge you to also fax or courier your letters to the Iranian embassy in your country. For listings of Iranian embassies in your country see:
www.salamiran.org
 

Source: Women Living Under Muslim Laws