“Starred Student” was Blacklisted from Graduate Studies for her Peaceful Women’s Rights Activism

Somayeh Rashidi

(21 January 2010) Iranian judicial and prison authorities have refused to release any information about charges against women’s rights activist Somayeh Rashidi (24), who was arrested on 19 December 2009, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today.

During the past two months, over a thousand people have been detained through the use of a blanket detention order, which is effectively a license for security and intelligence agents to arrest anyone at will. Hundreds of these detainees, similar to Somayeh Rashidi, have disappeared into Iranian prisons without any information available to their families or lawyers.

Based on two brief contacts Somayeh Rashidi has been able to make, it is known she is in solitary confinement in Evin prison. The Campaign calls upon the Iranian Judiciary to divulge the charges against Rashidi and the evidence upon which they are based, and to release her immediately pending an independent investigation of her case.

Prior to her arrest, authorities stormed her house on 14 December 2009 at 6:00 a.m., searched the premises, and confiscated several personal items belonging to her and her roommate, including computers and hand-written notes. At the time, she was served a summons to attend Branch 12 of the Revolutionary Court on 19 December 2009. Upon appearing at the court, she was interrogated and read her charges, arrested, and detained. Over the past few days, her temporary detention orders have been extended and she continues to remain in solitary confinement.

Somayeh Rashidi, who comes from a traditional and religious family, has been active in peaceful women’s rights work in NGOs and also at universities, for which she has been persecuted by authorities.

She is a member of the One Million Signatures for Equality Campaign and has been active in the Campaign’s Education Committee. Most of her activities were concentrated on domestic violence. She had started a student organization, the Iranian Women’s Language Society, around this topic and was providing training in this area. The organization’s license was later revoked.

Right to Education Denied to “Starred Students”

Rashidi lost her job at a research institute because of her social activism, and was also a “Starred Student,” barred from graduate studies despite her top academic performance. She studied Sociology in college and passed the nationwide university entrance exam with high scores in Women’s Studies and Cultural Studies last year.

Although Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flatly denied the existence of “Starred Students” during the 2009 presidential election debates, the phenomenon has affected Iranian students since his first election in 2004. Undergraduate students who engaged in political, cultural or social activities in colleges, notwithstanding their high grades, had to be “selected” by the Ministry of Information. None of the “Starred Students” were able to attend their classes, even after they attended the selection sessions and signed written promises demanded by intelligence authorities. Rashidi had ranked fourth in Women’s Studies and twenty-ninth in Cultural Studies in entrance exams. During the months after she became a “Starred Student,” she tried all legal avenues to follow up on her case, including meeting with members of parliament. She had meetings with Ministry of Science and Technology authorities as well, but none of these meetings changed her situation.

Other “Starred Students” tried to alleviate their difficulties through establishing the Committee to Defend the Right to Education. Some of those individuals are now in prison, facing unfounded charges. Some of these charges include “relations with Islamic Republic of Iran opposition groups such as the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO),” which have been denied by the defendants and their friends and families.

Several “Starred Students” have told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran over the past few weeks that their political activities were all within Iranian law, but those activities have resulted in their being blacklisted and denied their right to education. Officials refrain from acknowledging these charges.

“Starred Students” recently convicted include Zia Al-din Nabavi, sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and 74 lashes, and Majid Darri, sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Other members of the Committee to Defend the Right to Education currently in detention are: Soroosh Sabet, Mahdiyeh Golroo, Shiva Nazarahari, and Peyman Aref.

Persecution of Women’s Rights Activists

Numerous women’s rights activists have been targeted for persecution and arrest in the context of the ongoing political turmoil in the Islamic Republic. At this time, women’s rights activists Mansoureh Shojaie, Mahin Fahimi, Shiva Nazarahari, Parisa Kakaie, Zohre Tonkaboni, Alieh Eghdamdoust, Bahareh Hedayat, Mahdiyeh Golroo, Shabnam Madadzadeh, and Maryam Zia are all in prison. Journalists Badrossadat Mofidi and Mahsa Hekmat, and political activists Azar Mansouri, Atefeh Nabavi, Shabnam Maddadzad, and Niloufar Hashemi Azar also remain in detention.

For the first time, a women’s rights advocate, Alieh Eghdamdoust, has been jailed for three years solely for participating in a peaceful demonstration on behalf of equal rights for women in 2006, in which 70 others were also arrested.

“Publicly expressing support for women’s rights has effectively been criminalized in Iran, as the authorities felt no need to cite trumped-up security or other charges in the case,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign. “If Alieh Eghdamdoust can be jailed for simply exercising her internationally guaranteed human rights, hundreds of others may meet the same fate.”

Iranian authorities arbitrarily shut down the Defenders of Human Rights Center, the main supplier of bro-bono legal defense and other support for the women’s rights movement. Attacks on Nobel Peace Laureate and human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, the Center’s founder, and confiscation of her files, indicate a more aggressive crackdown on the women’s rights movement.

Over the past year, numerous members of the Million Signatures Campaign and other groups working peacefully and legally to change Iran’s discriminatory laws have been arrested, searched, interrogated, prevented from meeting, and subjected to travel bans preventing them from traveling abroad.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran’s full report is available at:

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/04/whrdreport/

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Introduction

I. Women’s Rights Defender’s Jail Sentence Begins–A New Chapter in the Persecution of Women’s Rights Activists

II. Women’s Human Rights Defender and 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi Targeted

III. Pressure on the Activists of the One Million Signatures Campaign Continues Unabated

IV. Freedom of Assembly Curtailed

V. Stringent Control of Women Human Rights Defenders by the Courts and Intelligence Ministry

References

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Introduction

As the Islamic Republic of Iran celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, human rights abuses are on the rise. Women’s rights activists advocating for legal reforms and the protection of women’s rights have been increasingly targeted. Since our last report,¹ the most prominent human rights defender, Shirin Ebadi, has come under fire; a prison sentence of a woman’s rights activist has been implemented for the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and other women’s rights activists have been targeted, harassed, arrested, summoned, tried and barred from travel. The following report covers the pressures on women human rights defenders since June 2008.

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I. Women’s Rights Defender’s Jail Sentence Begins–A New Chapter in the Persecution of Women’s Rights Activists

Alieh Eghdamdoust,² 57, is the first women’s rights activist in Iran to have her prison sentence implemented. Her sentencing was based solely on her activities promoting women’s rights. On 12 June 2006, Eghdamdoust was arrested along with 70 others during a peaceful protest in Hafte Tir Square in Tehran in support of women’s rights. She spent approximately a week in prison. Subsequently, she was charged with security violations, including acting against national security through participation in an illegal protest and disruption of public order.³ In her first trial, Eghdamdoust was sentenced by the 15th security branch of the Revolutionary Courts to a three-years and four months mandatory prison sentence and 20 lashes. The appeals courts upheld three years of the mandatory prison sentence, reducing her original sentence by four months and 20 lashes.

On 1 February 2009, Eghdamdoust was transferred under guard supervision to the Office of Implementation of Sentences at the Revolutionary Courts, where she began serving her three-year sentence.⁴ According to her lawyer, Nasim Ghanavi, Alieh’s participation in the peaceful protest in Hafte Tir Square was legal, based on the constitution, which allows for public protests. Additionally, Ghanavi points to the fact that Alieh was a political prisoner in the 1980s and that the court considered this background when issuing a sentence against her. According to Ghanavi the only option left for Eghdamdoust is to request a Judicial Review, allowable under the 18th Amendment of the Law Regulating Public and Revolutionary Courts.⁵ Likewise, other women’s rights activists have been acquitted on similar charges,⁷

The sentences of some of the others in this case have been appealed and rulings have been issued by the appeals court, while others are still awaiting the outcome of their appeals ruling. Bahareh Hedayat,⁸ a student and women’s rights activist, was initially sentenced to a two year suspended prison sentence (a probationary sentence that can be changed to a prison term at any time) for the period of five years,⁹ which was upheld by the appeals court. Masoumeh Zia was initially sentenced by the 28th branch of the Revolutionary Courts to a one-year mandatory prison sentence and a three million Rials (approximately $300) fine by the 1060 Branch of the Tehran Public Court in lieu of lashings and imprisonment.¹⁰ The appeals court reduced the initial prison sentence to a one year suspended prison sentence for the period of three years and reduced the fine to two Million Rials (approximately $200). During the course of the three years Zia is expected to introduce herself to the local police station every four months.¹¹ Bahman Ahmadi Amouie, a journalist present at the scene of the protest, was initially sentenced to a six months suspended sentence in court, which was upheld by the appeals court.¹² Azadeh Forghani, as reported in our previous report on women’s rights activists,¹³ had been issued a suspended sentence of two years that was reduced to a two Million Rial fine (approximately $200) in appeals. The status of the appeals rulings or appeals hearings of the others charged in this case is still unclear.

The discrepancies and differences in the manner in which the cases of Ali and Eghdamdoust have been treated by the courts is of great concern, and at a minimum signifies that the courts do not follow a similar process in reviewing and assessing similar cases before them. Additionally, the lawyers representing Eghdamdoust have pointed out that they had never been officially served with papers regarding the final ruling in Eghdamdoust’s case, preventing them from filing a petition with the courts requesting a Judicial Review.¹⁴

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II. Women’s Human Rights Defender and 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi Targeted

Over the past year, Shirin Ebadi has been targeted by the conservative press and slandered. In December, this harassment took on a different and more violent form, targeting both Shirin Ebadi and the NGO she runs, the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), and resulted in the Center’s closure. Both Ebadi and the lawyers working for the DHRC represent, on a pro-bono basis, individuals accused of political crimes. Many of the women’s rights activists charged with security crimes have been represented by Ebadi and the team of lawyers working with the DHRC. The pressures placed on Ebadi and the DHRC are a sign of the worsening human rights situation in Iran. If Ebadi, given her international notoriety and position, is not immune from this type of pressure, then other women human rights defenders (WHRDs) are at increasing risk for harassment and crackdowns. The pressures on Ebadi may also be a signal to other human rights defenders as presidential elections near, pressing them into silencing their voices of dissent and criticism.

• Closure of the Defenders of Human Rights Center: On Sunday, 21 December 2008, plain clothes and uniformed police and security officials raided the offices of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a human rights organization headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, preventing a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Center and sealing their offices. According to reports from those present at the scene, the raid on the office included both physical and verbal violence.¹⁵ The Center is the main human rights organization in Iran, providing pro-bono services to those accused of political crimes, providing support to families of imprisoned political activists and providing regular reports on the situation of human rights in Iran.¹⁶ The closure of the DHRC signals a shift in the approach of security forces and attests to the lack of tolerance on their part, not only for dissent by political and social activists, but also for any defense, even legal defense in court, provided to these individuals.
• Raid on the private office of Shirin Ebadi: On 29 December 2008, the private law offices of Shirin Ebadi were raided by officials who identified themselves as tax officials. The computers in the office were seized. Especially worrisome was the confiscation by the officials of private client files containing information on clients accused of political crimes.¹⁷
• Mob attack on the home of Shirin Ebadi: On 1 January 2009, a mob of approximately 150 people demonstrated in front of Shirin Ebadi’s home chanting slogans such as: “Israel commits crimes and Ebadi provides support.” The outside façade of Ebadi’s home was vandalized and slogans were written on the building walls. The plaque for Ebadi’s law office was torn from the outside wall and stomped.¹⁸ Despite the fact that police were present at the scene, they took no steps to stop the mob from committing these acts or to disperse the protesters.¹⁹
• Arrest of Jinous Sobhani, Secretary of the DHRC: On 14 January 2009, Jinous Sobhani, who served as a secretary for the DHRC and the Center for Mine Victims, an NGO also headed by Shirin Ebadi and housed in the offices of the DHRC, was arrested. Prior to her arrest, security agents showed up at her home at 6:00 am and searched the premises, seizing her personal belongings.²⁰ No reason was provided for the arrest of Sobhani, who is member of the Baha’i Faith. Baha’is have come under increasing attack in recent months, with a number of them being arrested. Ebadi has taken up the legal representation of a number of Baha’is, for which she has been targeted for harassment by the conservative press. On 11 March 2009, Jinous Sobhani was released on approximately $70,000 (7 billion Rial) bail pending the setting of her court date.

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III. Pressure on the Activists of the One Million Signatures Campaign Continues Unabated

The One Million Signatures Campaign is a grassroots initiative working to raise public awareness about the impact of discriminatory laws on society and collecting signatures in support of a petition addressed to the Iranian Parliament asking for the reform of these laws. Since its inception in August 2006, and despite its peaceful and civil nature, the members of the Campaign have come under fire and have been summoned to court, summoned for interrogation, detained, sentenced to prison, had their meetings broken up by police, their homes searched and property seized and some have been banned from travel. This report highlights the pressures on Campaign activists since May 2008, the date of our last report on women human rights defenders.²¹

1. Arrest of Campaign Members

• Nafiseh Azad, Bigard Ebrahimi and Shahin Ebrahimi: On 30 January 2009, three members of the Campaign were arrested in the Tochal Mountains north of Tehran, while collecting signatures in support of the Campaign petition asking for the reform of laws that discriminate against women. Bigard Ebrahimi and Shahin Ebrahimi were released on a third party guarantee of 200 Million Rials (roughly $20,000)²² within a day. However, a temporary arrest order was issued for Nafiseh Azad, who was detained in Vozara Detention Center for six days and released on 4 February 2009. During the time of her detention, security police came to the home of Nafiseh Azad, which she shares with two roommates, Elnaz Ansari and Aida Saadat, also members of the Campaign, in order to search the premises and seize property. The search of the home turned violent, and police beat both Elnaz Ansari and Nafiseh Azad’s husband, who had accompanied police to the home of his wife in Tehran where she lives and attends university. Azad’s husband, Vahid Maleki, was handcuffed during the search of his wife’s home and during the scuffle. Azad was released on 500 million Rial Bail (roughly $50,000) in the form of a third party guarantee. During these six days she was detained at Vozara Detention Center, which is intended as a temporary detention center and has poor sanitary conditions.²³ Azad was charged with actions against national security through the spreading of propaganda against the state.²⁴
• Esha Momeni: Esha Momeni, a graduate student at California State University Northridge and a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign in California, was arrested on 15 October 2008 while on a visit to Iran. During this time, Esha had conducted video interviews with several members of the Campaign as part of her graduate school thesis. After her arrest, Esha was transferred to Evin Prison Section 209, which is managed by the Intelligence Ministry. She was released on 10 November 2009.²⁵ According to Hassan Hadad, the Prosecutor General of the Revolutionary Courts, Esha Momeni faces charges of “spreading propaganda against the state.”²⁶ Esha was released on 2,000 million Rial bail, in the form of a property deed, put up by her family. Despite claims by the Judiciary spokesman, Mr. Jamshidi, Esha has been banned from travel and cannot return to the United States to continue her studies.²⁷ The arrest of Esha constitutes not only the continuation of pressure on women’s rights activists, especially members of the One Million Signatures Campaign, but is also part of a systematic campaign of intimidation and a crackdown against dual nationals. Iranian-Americans in particular are seen as facilitators of connections and contacts between activists on the ground and the West. The pressures on dual nationals intensified with the arrest of several prominent Iranian Americans, including Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, in April 2007.

2. Pressure on Ethnic Minority Women’s Rights Activists

• Hana Abdi, who was arrested on 6 November 2007, was released from prison on 26 February 2009. Abdi was arrested in the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province, and initially sentenced to serve five years in prison in exile in a border town in West Azerbaijan Province. On appeal, the sentence of Abdi was reduced to 18 months. Abdi was released after serving the duration of her sentence.²⁸ Sentences to be served in exile have been implemented in the case of minority rights activists and women minority rights activists including Hana Abdi and Zeinab Bayazidi. These sentences are intended to inflict greater hardship on these activists and their families, while weakening the support they may receive from their local communities. During the time of her imprisonment, Hana Abdi spent several months in solitary confinement and was transferred to several different prisons, as some did not have facilities for political prisoners. In the end, Abdi was transferred to a prison in Meshkin Shahr.²⁹ While Abdi has served her sentence in this case, she has another case pending against her in relation to a hunger strike while in prison. Fatemeh Goftari, another female Kurdish rights activist was sentenced to a year in prison in relation to a similar charge.³⁰
• Zeinab Bayazidi, a women’s rights activist, member of the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization and of the One Million Signatures Campaign, was arrested on 9 July 2008 in the City of Mahabad, Kurdistan Province, after being summoned to the local office of the Intelligence Ministry. In a closed-door trial, without access to a defense lawyer, Bayazidi was charged with “acting against national security,” “supporting a Kurdish political organization,” “spreading of propaganda against the state,” “conducting interviews with foreign media,” and “membership in an illegal organization.” Bayazidi was sentenced to serve four years in prison in exile in the city of Zanjan. Her appeals process, which took only two days to complete, was unusually speedy and suffered from legal irregularities. Bayazidi is currently serving her prison term in Zanjan, although her lawyer has requested a Judicial Review in her case in accordance with the 18th Amendment of the Law Regulating Public and Revolutionary Courts.³¹ Bayazidi was served with court documents indicating that her suspended prison sentence of six months for the period of four of years in an unrelated case had been changed to a mandatory sentence,³² increasing her total time in prison to four years and six months.³³
• Ronak Safazadeh, a women’s rights activist, member of Azar Mehr NGO and a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, was arrested on 10 October 2007, and remains in prison in the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province. No sentence has been issued in the main case pending against Safazadeh.³⁴ An initial court hearing was held in the case against her in March 2008, but no sentence was issued. A second hearing is reportedly scheduled for Saturday 28 February 2009.³⁵ Safazadeh was, however, tried in a secondary case for illegally crossing the border and for having in her possession illegal satellite equipment. She was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment in this case.³⁶

3. Search of Homes
Security officials have repeatedly gone to the homes of members of the Campaign to break up their meetings. These women’s rights activists have been repeatedly told by security officials to refrain from holding meetings in their homes. Because Campaign activists have been systematically denied public space in the form of conference halls and office space to convene their meetings, they are forced to hold meetings in their homes. Additionally, several members of the Campaign have had their homes searched and property seized in the past few months.

• Sussan Tahmasebi: On 26 October 2008, five security officials entered the home of Campaign member Sussan Tahmasebi and proceeded to search her property and confiscate personal belongings, including handwritten notes, papers and her laptop computer. The agents entered Tahmasebi’s home after presenting a court order. Tahmasebi was also served with papers to appear in court for interrogation. She was interrogated on several occasions, the first of which lasted over five hours. The search of Tahmasebi’s home occurred after she was stopped at the airport and prevented from traveling.³⁷
• Parastoo Alahyaari: The home of Parastoo Alahyaari, a member of the Campaign, was searched on Saturday 18 October 2008, and her laptop, CDs, books, picture albums and Campaign materials in her possession were seized. Two security officers from the Gisha Police station went to the home of Alahyaari, a member of the Volunteer Committee of the Campaign in Tehran, to search her home and seize property while asking about her whereabouts, as she was at her office at the time. Upon receiving a phone call from her mother, Alahyaari returned home, where she was presented with a summons to appear in court immediately. The security officials escorted Alahyaari to the Revolutionary Courts, where she was interrogated by Mr. Sobhani, the investigative judge in charge of her case. Because Parastoo had a business trip planned for that same day, she was released. On Friday 17 October 2008, Alahyaari, along with other members of the Volunteers Committee, was in Laleh Park, when the group was approached by police and security officials who asked them to disperse. Prior to allowing these women’s rights activists to leave the Park, the police asked Alahyaari and another member of the Volunteers Committee to submit identification cards.

4. Travel Bans
Several women’s rights activists, especially those involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign have been targeted by officials and prevented from travel abroad. This is apparently part of a larger effort to isolate Iranian human rights defenders from the international community.

• Nasrin Sotoodeh: On 10 December 2008, Nasrin Sotoodeh, lawyer and women’s rights activist, was banned from travel and her passport confiscated as she was leaving the country to participate in an award ceremony in her honor scheduled to take place on 12 December in Merano, Italy.³⁸ Sotoodeh was selected as the recipient of the International Human Rights Prize, awarded by the organization Human Rights International. Sotoodehwas able to pass through the passport control check point, indicating that she did not have a travel ban. After going through passport control at Imam Khomeini International Airport, her name was announced over the airport PA system. Officials identifying themselves as agents of the Office of the President informed Sotoodeh that she had a travel ban and prevented her from travel. Sotoodeh was provided with a receipt and a summons for appearing in court to follow-up her travel ban.
• Sussan Tahmasebi: On 26 October 2008, Sussan Tahmasebi, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, was stopped at the airport and prevented from traveling. The manner in which she was detained at the airport was similar to that of Nasrin Sotoodeh, indicating that she also did not have a travel ban prior to being stopped at Imam Khomeini International Airport. After she was stopped at the airport, five agents went to her home to search the premises and seize property. Tahmasebi had been prevented from travel on three other occasions over the past two and half years. Her travel ban was lifted in February 2009.

Other women’s rights activists have also been targeted in a similar manner, including Parvin Ardalan, who was stopped in March 2008 on her way to Sweden where she was to receive a human rights prize, as well as Mansoureh Shojaie and Talat Taghinia. Since then, several human rights activists have filed a complaint against the authorities with respect to these travel bans.³⁹

5. Court Hearings

• Parvin Ardalan, Maryam Hosseinkhah, Nahid Keshavarz, Jelve Javaheri: On 3 September 2008, four members of the One Million Signatures Campaign received mandatory prison sentences of six months. Parvin Ardalan, Maryam Hosseinkhah, Nahid Keshavarz and Jelve Javaheri were charged with security violations in relation to their activities on the sites of Change for Equality, the official site of the Campaign, and Zanestan, the webzine of the Women’s Cultural Center. The six-month mandatory sentence was issued by the 13th branch of the Revolutionary Courts and based on Article 500 of the Islamic Penal Code. In relation to this same case, Maryam Hosseinkhah was arrested in November 2007, and served 45 days in prison and Jelve Javaheri was arrested in December and served 30 days in relation to this case. These women’s rights activists, represented by Shirin Ebadi and Nasrin Sotoodeh, appealed the ruling, and a public appeals hearing was held on 27 January 2009. The appeals court has not issued its ruling as of this date. It should be noted that authorities systematically censor women’s rights activists.

The charges brought against these activists are in line with the strategy to censor and silence the voices of those working to promote women’s rights and to defend women human rights defenders who are persecuted. Along these lines, several women’s websites have been filtered repeatedly, with the sites related to the One Million Signatures Campaign bearing the brunt of this censorship effort. For example, the site of the Campaign, Change for Equality, has been filtered 19 times⁴⁰ and the site of the Feminist School has been filtered 8 times. On 25 November 2008, in a mass censorship effort, 27 websites and weblogs based both inside and outside Iran reporting on women’s issues were filtered by authorities, including the site of Change for Equality, the sites of the Campaign in Hamedan, Azarbaijan, Zahedan, Shiraz, Mashad, Zabol, Amol, Ilam, Kermanshah, Rasht, Arak, and Karaj, California, Kuwait, Germany, Cyprus, Sweden, the Feminist School, the site of the Women’s Solidarity Network, the weblog of the men’s committee of the Campaign, the weblog of the working group on equal inheritance, the photoblog of the Campaign, and weblogs addressing women’s issues, such as Parandeh Kharzar, Zananeha, Havva, and Free Keyboard were blocked through this mass effort at censorship.⁴¹ Also, the sites of Focus on Iranian Women and Women’s Field have been filtered on several occasions in the past.

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IV. Freedom of Assembly Curtailed

• Nine Women’s Rights Activists Arrested on Day of Solidarity of Iranian Women: On 12 June 2008, nine women’s rights activists who had intended to convene a seminar in honor of the anniversary of the national day of solidarity of Iranian women (22nd of Khordaad, June 12), were arrested after security officials and police prevented the seminar from taking place. These women’s rights activists include: Nahid Mirhaj, Aida Saadat, Nafiseh Azad, Nasrin Sotoodeh, Jelve Javaheri, Jila Baniyagoub, Sarah Loghmani, Farideh Ghaeb and Alieh Motalebzadeh. The women were transferred to Vozara Detention Center and were processed and released within a few hours after their arrest.⁴² Since then all of these women’s rights activists have been charged by the Revolutionary Courts with disrupting public order and freed on bails ranging from personal guarantees to third party guarantees in the amount of 500,000 Rials (roughly $50,000). According to a statement issued by the coordinating committee of the seminar, “Officials have systematically denied women’s rights activists permits to hold peaceful public demonstrations and protests. Even small protests by women’s rights activists have been violently attacked by security forces and police. Additionally, women’s rights activists have been systematically denied the right to convene meetings and seminars. Meetings in their private homes too have been broken up. It is unfortunate that security forces fear the convening of simple meetings with limited participants of about 100-150 people to such a degree.”⁴³
• Twelve Women’s Rights Activists detained for Assembling: On 26 March 2009, twelve women’s rights activists were detained on Sohrevardi Avenue in Tehran while meeting to visit families of imprisoned social and political activists. Those arrested were: Delaram Ali, Khadijeh Moghadam, Leila Nazari, Farkhondeh Ehtesabian, Mahboubeh Karami, Bahara Behravan, Ali Abdi, Amir Rashidi, Mohammad Shoorab, Arash Nasiri Eghbali, Soraya Yousefi and Shahla Forouzanfar. The group was taken to Niloofar Police Station whereupon some were transferred to Galoobandak Police Station. All were later transferred to Evin Prison.The activists were charged with “disruption of public opinion” and “disruption of public order.” Bail for each member of the group was 50 million tomans (approximately $50,000). The bail orders required a third party guarantee from a government employee making it more difficult to pay. Ten of detainees were releasedon 29 March 2009. Mahboubeh Karami was released on bail on 7 April 2009 and Khadijeh Moghadam was released on bail on 8 April.All of the detainees are subject to further prosecution based on charges of “disruption of public opinion” and “disruption of public order.”

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V. Stringent Control of Women Human Rights Defenders by the Courts and Intelligence Ministry

The prosecution of women human rights defenders by the courts often results in stringent restrictions. In the cases of many activists, requirements of their sentences make it difficult to freely move around. The Change for Equality website reported on the case of a women human rights defender, Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh, on 3 November 2008:

“the 21st Branch of the appeals court has upheld the sentence issued in the case of Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh who was arrested in front of the Revolutionary Courts on 4 March 2007 during a peaceful protest in support of women’s rights activists on trial, during which 32 other women’s rights activists were also arrested. The appeals sentence has issued a sentence of one year suspended sentence for the period of three years in the case of Zeinab. During these three years, Zeynab is required to report to the office of Intelligence Ministry every 4 months. If Zeinab is found guilty of another crime during these three years, her prison sentence of one year will be implemented.”⁴⁴

What is unusual and of concern in this case is the severe level of control the courts have imposed in requiring Peyghambarzadeh to report to the intelligence ministry every four months for a period of three years while her suspension is in effect. Prior to this ruling, the courts had required similar reporting of Amir Yaghoubali, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign who was arrested while collecting signatures in support of the Campaign’s petition. The appeals court ruling sentenced Yaghoubali to a one year suspended sentence for the period of four years. He was required to report to the local office of the Intelligence Ministry every 4 months.⁴⁵ Another activist, Masoumeh Zia, was sentenced to a one year suspended prison sentence for the period of 3 years and was required to report to the office of the local police every 4 months.⁴⁶

Peyghambarzadeh’s sentence has been upheld in this manner, despite the fact that of the 32 other women charged in this case, at least 12 have been acquitted.⁴⁷ Five other women’s rights activists received sentences in relation to the protest in front of the Judiciary on 4 March 2007, including Nahid Jafari, Parvin Ardalan, Rezvan Moghaddam, Minou Mortazi and Nasrin Afzali. The courts acquitted Nahid Jafari⁴⁸ in an appeals hearing, while upholding the 6 month suspended sentence and 10 suspended lashings issued in the case of Rezvan Moghaddam,⁴⁹ Minou Mortazi⁵⁰ and Nasrin Afzali.⁵¹ In the case of Parvin Ardalan, the appeals court issued court issued a suspended sentence of 1 year, with the suspension being in effect for the period of three years.⁵²

The strict reporting requirements of women human rights defenders constitute severe control of those accused of human rights activities and work to curtail their freedom of movement. Moroever, they inflict fear designed to render them inactive in the field of women’s rights.

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References

¹ Equal Rights Denied—The Systematic Repression of the Women’s Rights Movement In Iran, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/01/repression-women, 5 May 2008
² Alieh Eghdam Doust to Serve Three Year Prison Term, Change for Equality; http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article455, 1 February 2009
³ Hope for Judicial Review: Interview with the Lawyer of Alieh Eghdamdoust, Roozonline; http://www.roozonline.com/archives/2009/02/post_11643.php, 18 February 2009
⁴ Alieh Eghdamdoust One of the Protesters at the June 12, 2006 Protest, Transferred Under Guard to Office of Implementation of Sentences and then To Evin Prison, the Feminist School; http://www.femschool.info/spip.php?article2056, 1 February 2009
⁵ Alieh Eghdamdoust to Serve Three Year Prison Term, Change for Equality; http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article455, 1 February 2009
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Delaram Ali Sentenced to Prison; Stay on Implementation of Sentence Issued by Head of Tehran District Court, Change for Equality; http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article396, 25 November 2008
⁸ The Two Year Suspended Sentence of Bahareh Hedayat, Member of the Central Council of Office to Foster Unity, Upheld, Advar News, as quoted in Balatarin; https://balatarin.com/permlink/2007/10/9/1148359, 9 October 2008
⁹ A timeframe is usually attached to suspended sentences. In this case the timeframe is 5 years. This means that if the person receiving the sentence is found guilty of another crime during the period of 2 years the sentence will be implemented. Because human rights activists are usually charged in relation to their activism, these suspended sentences work to deter activism on the part of human rights activists, because they inflict fear of retribution and possible prison.
¹⁰ Masoumeh Zia Sentenced to One Year Suspended Imprisonment for Her Participation in the June 12th Protest, Focus on Iranian Women; http://www.irwomen.info/spip.php?article6429, 7 November 2008
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Six Months Suspended Sentence for Bahman Ahmadi Amouie, Journalist, Upheld, Gooya News as reported in Focus on Iranian Women; http://www.irwomen.org/spip.php?article5348, 2 March 2008
¹³ Equal Rights Denied—The Systematic Repression of the Women’s Rights Movement In Iran, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/01/repression-women, 5 May 2008
¹⁴ The Imprisonment of Women’s Rights Activists is not the same as Imprisonment of the Women’s Movement, Focus on Iranian Women; http://www.irwomen.info/spip.php?article7019, 2 March 2009
¹⁵ The Defenders of Human Rights Center Raided and Closed, Change for Equality, http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article432, 21 December 2008
¹⁶ Statement No. 1 by DHRC Public Relations Office: The Office of the DHRC Raided and Shut, Campaign in Support of Defenders of the Human Rights Center in Iran, http://support-dhrc.com/spip.php?article1
¹⁷ Raid of the Private Law Offices of Shirin Ebadi, Campaign in Support of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, http://support-dhrc.com/spip.php?article20, 29 December 2008
¹⁸ Attack on the Home of Shirin Ebadi, Campaign in Support of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, http://support-dhrc.com/spip.php?article18, 1 January 2009
¹⁹ Attack on the Protest in Support of Gaza, RoozOnline, http://www.roozonline.com/archives/2009/01/post_10987.php, 12 January 2009
²⁰ Jinous Sobhani the Former Secretary of the Defenders of Human Rights Center Arrested, Public Relations Office of the DHRC, Campaign in Support of the Defenders of Human Rights Center; http://support-dhrc.com/spip.php?article57, 14 January 2009
²¹ Equal Rights Denied—The Systematic Repression of the Women’s Rights Movement In Iran, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/01/repression-women, 5 May 2008
²² Interview with women’s rights activists working with the Campaign.
²³ Opportunity to Live with Women who are Invisible: Interview of Elnaz Ansari with Nafiseh Azad, Change for Equality, http://www.campaignforequality.info/spip.php?article3641, 15 February 2009
²⁴ Nafiseh Azad Member of One Million Signatures Campaign Released, Change for Equality, http://www.campaignforequality.info/spip.php?article3594, 4 February 2009
²⁵ Esha Momeni Released on Bail, For Esha Blog, http://for-esha.blogspot.com, 10 November 2008
²⁶ ibid.
²⁷ Esha Momeni Banned from Leaving the Country, For Esha Blog, http://for-esha.blogspot.com, 13 January 2009
²⁸ Hana Abdi Released from Prison, The Feminist School, http://www.feministschool.com/spip.php?article2179, 26 February 2009
²⁹ Mohammad Sharif following a Visit with his Client, Hana Abdi: After a Year and Half Imprisonment and Continuous Transfers You Can Guess How Hana is Doing, Change for Equality, http://www.4equality.info/spip.php?article3707, 27 February 2009
³⁰ Ibid.
³¹ Acquit Zeinab Bayazidi: The Statement of 2000 Social Activists, Roozonline, http://www.roozonline.com/archives/2009/01/post_11003.php, 13 January 2009
³² Change of Suspended Prison Sentence to Mandatory Prison Sentence for Zeinab Bayazidi, April 4, 2009, Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, http://insannorg.accounts.combell.net/article.aspx?fld=Scout&id=124
³³ According to the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan news report on this case, Bayazidi in an unrelated case had been found guilty of the charges of publishing lies and spreading of propaganda against the state, to which she was sentenced to a suspended sentence of six months for four years, meaning that if during these four years she is found guilty of another crime, her suspended sentence would change to a mandatory sentence.
³⁴ Hana Abdi Released from Prison, The Feminist School, http://www.feministschool.com/spip.php?article2179, 26 February 2009
³⁵ Ibid.
³⁶ Updates on Prison Sentences, Detention and Imprisonment of Women’s Rights Activists, Change for Equality, http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article370, 12 October 2008
³⁷ Sussan Tahmasebi: I Was Not Officially Banned From Travel, Radio Zamaaneh, http://zamaaneh.com/special/2008/10/post_671.html, 26 October 2008
³⁸ Nasrin Sotoodeh Banned from Travel, The Feminist School, http://femschool.info/spip.php?article1811,
10 December 2008
³⁹ No Legal Procedures are Adhered to with Respect to those Banned from Travel, The Feminist School, http://www.femschool.info/spip.php?article2189, 28 February 2009
⁴⁰ Site of Campaign Blocked for 19th Time, Change for Equality, http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article439, 9 January 2009
⁴¹ Defense of Women’s Rights Not allowed, Change for Equality, http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article399, 25 November 2008
⁴² Charges Brought Against Four Women’s Rights Activists Two Months After their Arrest, UK Iranians, http://www.iranianuk.com/article.php?id=31070, 23 August 2009
⁴³ Statement issued by the Coordinating Committee of the Seminar of Women’s Day of Solidarity, distributed via email. Also see: http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article291
⁴⁴ Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh Found Guilty in Appeals Court, Change for Equality http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article386, 3 November 2008
⁴⁵ Appeals Court Ruling in Case of Amir Yaghoub-Ali Constitutes Severe Control of the Accused, Change for Equality, http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article338, 1 September 2008
⁴⁶ Masoumeh Zia Sentenced to One Year Suspended Imprisonment for Her Participation in the June 12th Protest, Focus on Iranian Women, http://www.irwomen.info/spip.php?article6429, 7 November 2008
⁴⁷ Equal Rights Denied—The Systematic Repression of the Women’s Rights Movement In Iran, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2009/01/repression-women, 5 May 2008
⁴⁸ Interview with a human rights defender based in Iran, who wishes to remain anonymous.
⁴⁹ Rezvan Moghaddam’s Sentence Upheld in Appeals Court, Change for Equality, http://www.campaignforequality.info/english/spip.php?article389, November 2008
⁵⁰ Sentence of prison and Lashings for Minou Mortazi and Masoumeh Zia Upheld, Women’s Field, http://www.meydaan.net/news.aspx?nid=2416, 15 September 2008
⁵¹ Interview with a human rights defender based in Iran, who wishes to remain anonymous
⁵² Interview with human rights defender.

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President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Your Excellency:

We, the undersigned members of the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition, submit this statement to express our deepest concerns regarding the imprisonment of Alieh Eghdamdoost, as well as the recent arrest of 12 other human rights defenders in Iran.

Alieh Eghdamdoost, together with dozens of other activists, was arrested at a women’s rights demonstration in Tehran in June 2006. On July 6, 2007, she was sentenced to a prison term of three years and four months, and 20 lashes. On appeal, the prison term was reduced by four months, and the judge overturned the lashings. Her sentence of three years is now being implemented, making her the first woman to have a sentence related to women’s rights activism actually implemented. Eghdamdoost was taken from her home on January 31, and has been held in Evin prison since. The fact that Eghdamdoost has been sentenced to a three-year sentence that she is now forced to serve, while some others arrested on the same day faced no charges, were acquitted, or received suspended sentences, demonstrates the completely arbitrary nature of these judicial proceedings. Her imprisonment also sets a dangerous precedent for all women engaged in human rights activism in Iran.

The implementation of Eghdamdoost’s sentence is taking place against a backdrop of increased repression of all human rights defenders, including women’s rights activists. Reliable sources have reported that on March 26 Iranian security forces detained 12 members of the One Million Signatures Campaign and Mothers for Peace, as they were sitting in their cars on a street corner in Tehran, preparing to make New Year’s visits to the family members of some prisoners of conscience.

The One Million Signatures Campaign, launched in August 2006, is a grassroots movement to raise awareness about gender-based discrimination in the law and to promote gender equality. Mothers for Peace are a diverse coalition of women seeking to promote a culture of peace in Iran and who condemn all forms of military aggression. Both groups employ peaceful methods to promote their message, whether through disseminating petitions, collecting signatures, or organizing and presenting lectures. As such, we consider members of both groups to be human rights defenders.

The twelve individuals arrested on March 26 were: Ali Abdi, Delaram Ali, Bahara Behravan, Farkhondeh Ehtesabian, Shahla Forouzanfar, Arash Nasiri Eghbali, Mahboubeh Karami, Khadijeh Moghaddam, Leila Nazari, Amir Rashidi, Mohammad Shoorab, and Soraya Yousefi.

After three days, ten of them were released on bail, but two activists, Mahboubeh Karami and Khadijeh Moghaddam, were kept in detention.

On April 5, the ten released activists were charged with “disturbing of public opinion,” and “disruption of public order,” charges all ten deny.

The two others, Karami and Moghaddam, who were also due to be arraigned on April 5, did not appear in court on that day. The deputy prosecutor informed their attorneys that they would be brought the following day, but in fact were kept in jail. In the end, Karami was released on April 7, and Moghaddam on April 8. Moghaddam faces charges in connection with a protest Mothers for Peace held on January 11, against Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

We strongly object to the arrest, detention and prosecution of these human rights defenders. The frequent arrest and prosecution of human rights defenders for non-violent exercise of their freedom of expression has been inconsistent with Iran’s obligations under international law.

Even more concerning, based on the facts as we understand them, the persons arrested on March 26 were not engaged in a public activity, but were planning visits to private residences at the start of the New Year, as is customary amongst Iranians. The circumstances of their arrest simply do not even remotely support lodging charges such as “disrupting public order,” or “disturbing public opinion,” and appear as deliberate efforts to silence and intimidate these activists. We note, with great concern, that since the One Million Signatures Campaign has been launched, dozens of its members have been arrested, summoned for interrogation, monitored, banned from travel and prosecuted.

The efforts of these activists to promote gender equality and a culture of peace should be applauded, not hampered. The U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders stipulates that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.” The actions of the Iranian authorities stand in stark violation of this principle.

We urge the authorities to reverse their ruling on Eghdamdoost’s case and release her from detention.

Furthermore, we call upon the authorities in Iran to drop all charges against all 12 activists arrested on March 26, and further, to cease the repression and prosecution of all peaceful human rights defenders in Iran.

Thank you for your attention to these urgent matters.

Sincerely,

Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development
Asian Forum for Human RIghts and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Baobab for Women’s Human Rights
Front Line, The International Foundation for Human Rights Defenders
Human Rights First
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

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Your Excellency,

I am writing to express my deep concern for women’s rights activist Alieh Eghdamdoust, whose prison sentence was implemented on 31 January 2009.

Ms. Eghdamdoust was originally arrested along with 70 other women’s rights activists in Haft Tir Square, Tehran on 12 June 2006. She was charged with “acting against national security through participating in an illegal gathering and disturbing public order” by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court on 6 June 2007.

She appealed her sentence and the appeals court upheld her conviction over a year ago. Despite that, neither she nor her lawyers were informed of the decision, in contravention of Iranian law. She was denied the right of due process and could not halt the implementation of her sentence under Article 18 of the amendment to the Penal Code.

Ms. Eghdamdoust’s sentence implementation is unprecedented. She is the first women’s rights activist to be imprisoned on charges based solely on her activities supporting women’s rights. Her involvement in the demonstrations of Haft Tir Square and the collection of signatures for the One Million Signatures Campaign were completely legal. She has dedicated her work to peacefully changing discriminatory laws and to protecting the rights of women and men equally, rights that are guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights signed and ratified by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

With the recent spike in the targeting and detention of women’s rights activists, I appeal to you to free Alieh Eghdamdoust and end the unlawful persecution and prosecution of women’s rights activists.

Sincerely,

Your Name

The authorities arrested Eghdamdoust on 31 January 2009 in her hometown of Foman, north of Iran, to begin serving a 3-year prison sentence. Neither she nor her lawyers were informed about the results of her appeal, which was decided nearly a year ago in contravention of Iranian laws, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said.

Security agents previously arrested Eghdamdoust, along with 70 other women’s rights activists protesting in Haft Tir Square, Tehran on 12 June 2006. She spent one week in detention, refusing to post bail because she did not accept that she had broken any laws. She was later summoned to the Intelligence Offices in Tehran on 19 September 2006, and charged with “acting against national security through participating in an illegal gathering and disturbing public order” by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court on 6 June 2007. The presiding judge, Mr. Salavati, sentenced her to three-year mandatory prison term for participating in an “illegal gathering” and four-month suspended prison term and 20 lashes for disturbing public order, based on articles 610 and 618 of the Islamic Penal code.

The authorities arrested Eghdamdoust on 31 January 2009 in her hometown of Foman, north of Iran, to begin serving a 3-year prison sentence. Neither she nor her lawyers were informed about the results of her appeal, which was decided nearly a year ago in contravention of Iranian laws, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said.

“This arrest, as well as the detention Nafiseh Azad during the last three days, signal a crackdown on peaceful and legal activities by women’s rights activists, with authorities apparently going out of their way to show a disregard for their rights,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “ There is no other logic to explain implementing a prison term sentence which was kept from the defendant and her lawyers for a year.”

Iranian authorities have stepped up attacks on women’s rights activists who are peacefully exercising their basic rights in recent days. Security agents detained Nafiseh Azad, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, 30 January 2009 while she was collecting signatures in support of changing discriminatory laws. Judiciary agents violently raided Azad’s home on 3 February in Tehran, beating her husband, Vahid Maleki, and another women’s rights activist, Elnaz Ansari. The agents seized Azad’s personal property and laptop.

Security agents previously arrested Eghdamdoust, along with 70 other women’s rights activists protesting in Haft Tir Square, Tehran on 12 June 2006. She spent one week in detention, refusing to post bail because she did not accept that she had broken any laws. She was later summoned to the Intelligence Offices in Tehran on 19 September 2006, and charged with “acting against national security through participating in an illegal gathering and disturbing public order” by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court on 6 June 2007. The presiding judge, Mr. Salavati, sentenced her to three-year mandatory prison term for participating in an “illegal gathering” and four-month suspended prison term and 20 lashes for disturbing public order, based on articles 610 and 618 of the Islamic Penal code.

Her attorneys appealed the lower court’s sentence. Nasim Ghovani, one of the attorneys who represent Eghdamdoust, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that neither Eghdamdoust nor any of her attorneys had been informed of the result of the appeal.

“I received a call from Alieh in Foman at 2pm on 31 January. She told me that agents from the Implementation of Sentences Department came to take her to Tehran to begin serving her prison term,” Ghovani said. She and another attorney for Eghdamdoust later found that the appeals court had upheld her three-year sentence for “acting against national security” about one year ago.

Ghanavi said, “If we had been informed before, we could have applied for legal possibilities, including Article 18 of the amendment to the Penal Code to prevent the implementation of the sentence. We don’t know why we haven’t been informed.”

Jila Baniyaghoub, a journalist who was also arrested in June 2006 at Haft Tir Square, reported on her website that during her trial, Eghdamdoust was asked by the judge why she participated in the protest. She responded by saying, “You should participate as well. Why didn’t you defend your daughters and wife’s rights by attending the legal peaceful gathering?”

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran calls the Iranian Judiciary to investigate and prosecute the officials who unlawfully withheld information about Eghdamdoust’s appeal from her attorneys. The authorities should immediately release Eghdamdoust and end persecution and prosecution of peaceful women’s rights activists.

“The authorities should protect the rights of women’s rights activists under Iranian and international law, not imprison them,” Ghaemi said.