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