UPDATE: Iran: Arrest Order for Nafiseh Azad Renewed

Submitted by wluml on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 00:00

Source:

Change for Equality & Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

Nafiseh Azad, Bigard Ebrahimi and a third person who wishes to remain anonymous at this point, were arrested 30 January.

The women were interrogated at Vozara detention center this morning before being transferred to the Revolutionary Courts.

Three members of the One Million Signatures Campaign who were arrested in the mountains north of Tehran yesterday while collecting signatures in support of the Campaign’s petition, were taken to the Revolutionary Courts today, where their cases were tended to by an investigative judge.

The Investigative Judge, Mr. Sobhani renewed the temporary arrest order for Nafiseh Azad, charging her with actions against the state through the spreading of propaganda against the state. Nafiseh Azad objected to the arrest order and the charges against her.

In this same court session Bigard Ebrahimi was issued a third party guarantee bail order. Both Nafiseh Azad and Bigard Ebrahim were then transferred to the Police Station One in Darband and then to Vozara Detention Center. It is expected that Bigard Ebrahimi and the other individual arrested yesterday will be released tomorrow on a third party guarantee, but Nafiseh Azad’s charges will be tended to in the Security Branch of the Revolutionary Courts tomorrow.

It is worth noting that family members and members of the Campaign were present from early morning at Vozara Detention Center and the Revolutionary Courts to follow up on the case of these women’s rights activists.

31 January 2009

Source: Change for Equality

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran calls on Iranian authorities to respect national and international human rights laws, release Nafiseh Azad immediately and unconditionally, and end persecution and prosecution of women’s rights activists.

For more information:
Hadi Ghaemi, in New York: +1 917-669-5996
Aaron Rhodes, in Vienna: +43 676-635-6612

BACKGROUND:

13/06/2008: On June 12th, the occasion of the National Day of Solidarity of Iranian Women, nine women’s rights activists were arrested outside of the Rahe Abrisham Gallery just prior to a small, peaceful assembly planned to commemorate the day.

Aida Saadat, Nahid Mirhaj, Nafiseh Azad, Nasrin Sotoodeh, Jelve Javaheri, Jila Baniyagoub, Sarah Loghmani, Farideh Ghaeb, were arrested by Tehran security police along with photographer and reporter Aliyeh Mohtalebzadeh and taken to the Vozara Detention Center.

June 12th has been chosen by Iranian women’s rights activists as their national day of solidarity to object harmful actions which attempt to silence Iranian women. Women’s rights activists are continually denied the right of freedom of association and assembly. Even meetings in private homes are often broken up by security forces.

Related info/URLs:

The Campaign “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws” is a follow-up effort to the peaceful protest of the same aim, which took place on June 12, 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran.

Campaign Description: Iranian law considers women to be second class citizens and promotes discrimination against them. It is noteworthy that legal discrimination of this type is being enforced in a society where women comprise over 60% of those being admitted to university. It is generally believed that laws should promote social moderation by being one step ahead of cultural norms. But in Iran the law lags behind cultural norms and women’s social position and status.

Without a doubt, women of lower socio-economic status or women from religious and ethic minority groups suffer disproportionately from legal discrimination. On the other hand, these unjust laws have promoted unhealthy and unbalanced relationships between men and women and as a result have had negative consequences on the lives of men as well.

On the other hand, the Iranian government is a signatory to several international human rights conventions, and accordingly is required to bring its legal code in line with international standards. The most important international human rights standard calls for elimination of discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.

The Campaign aims to collect one million signatures in support of changes to discriminatory laws against women. It will provide education on legal issues to the public and especially to women, raise public awareness, promote collaboration between groups demanding equality between men and women, and document experiences. The Campaign will be implemented through the following means:

1. Collection of signatures through door-to-door contact and dialogue with individual women;

2. Collection of signatures in places and events in which women gather, and where dialogue and discussions with groups of women can be carried out;

3. Implementation of seminars and conferences with the intent of raising the profile of the campaign, promoting dialogue, identifying supporters and collecting signatures;

4. Collection of signatures through the internet. The internet will be utilized to share information about the Campaign, including legal educational materials, and those interested in supporting this effort can sign petitions related to the Campaign.

Contact Information:

• For more information on the Campaign please visit: www.we-change.org/english; or write to the Campaign Organizers at: forequality@gmail.com