Two women’s rights activists and members of the One Million Signatures Campaign, Maryam Bahreman and Mahboubeh Karami, were detained on 11 May and 15 May respectively. Bahreman is being held in an unknown location on charges of “acting against national security.” Karami has begun to serve a three-year prison term for charges including “membership in the [organization] Human Rights Activists in Iran,” “propagating against the regime,” and “assembly and collusion with the intent to commit crimes against national security.” Karami’s severe depression puts her health at risk in prison.

“The continuing arbitrary prosecution of women peacefully and lawfully seeking equal rights puts the Iranian government at odds, not only with its own people and international law, but also with people throughout the region who are demanding equality, dignity, and human rights,” stated Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the Campaign.

Maryam Bahreman, a journalist, blogger and women’s rights activist, was detained at her home in Shiraz on 11 May on an arrest warrant reportedly issued by the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz. Security agents arrived early in the morning, searching Bahreman’s home, and confiscating some of her personal belongings.   Sources told the Campaign that Bahreman’s place of detention is unknown and her family has received no information about her condition or legal situation.

Bahreman was a founder of the Association of Women of Pars (Anjomane Zanane Pars), established in 2003, and served as its executive secretary. She contributed to the Coalition of the Women’s Movement  to Set Forth Demands in the Election, which raised women’s rights issues in the context of the 2009 presidential election.

Mahboubeh Karami began her three-year prison term on 15 May after responding to a summons requiring her to report to Evin Prison in Tehran. She had originally been arrested on 1 March 2009 and spent 170 days in prison before being released on bail of $500,000. Karami was tried at Branch 24 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, with Judge Pirabasi presiding, and sentenced to four years in prison. In February 2011, an appeals court reduced her sentence to three years.

Prior to her 2009 arrest, Karami had been arrested five times in connection with her activism. The first and second times were during the 18 July 1999 student protests at Tehran University, the third time was in June 2008 on the charge of “acting against national security,” and she was released after 70 days. Karami was arrested again on 26 March 2009 along with 11 other members of the One Million Signatures Campaign and Mothers For Peace, who intended to visit the family of Zahra Baniyaghoub, a young female doctor who suspiciously died while inside a prison in Hamadan, on the occasion of Persian New Year. She was charged with “disrupting public order,” and remained in prison for 13 days.  She has been acquitted of all charges in the above cases.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran is deeply concerned about Karami’s well being, given that she suffers from severe depression and has been the only caretaker of her aging father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

Before being summoned to serve her term, Karami spoke about her illness in an interview with the Feminist School website. ”My own physician and the medical examiner both believe that prison would intensify my depression illness, but this opinion did not cause my sentence to be reduced. I conveyed what my doctor had said to the judge both formally and informally, and my medical documents are in the case file, too,” she said. Karami referred to information about the conditions of female prisoners of conscience, and expressed anxieties about her potential transfer to Varamin’s Gharachak Prison and the situation of hygiene and nutrition at Evin Prison.

Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

(1 September 2010) Authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran are continuing to arrest and jail civil society activists while persecuting and prosecuting independent lawyers, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today.

“With a majority of Iranian human rights activists and lawyers already imprisoned or forced into exile, their remaining colleagues are systematically being taken down by the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Aaron Rhodes, a Campaign spokesperson said.

Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, told the Campaign, “The Judiciary’s lack of independence is resulting in persecution of lawyers. If we look at the Judiciary’s approach during the past year, we see that lawyers defending political prisoners have all been targeted,” said Ebadi.

Ebadi noted that prominent lawyers Mohammad Ali Dadkhah and Abdolfattah Soltani have both been imprisoned during the past year and released on large bails, Mohammad Seifzadeh is awaiting his trial, Mohammad Oliaeifar is serving a one year prison sentence, and Shadi Sadr and Mohammad Mostafaie have been forced into exile.

Two members of the One Million Signatures Campaign advocating for gender equality, Fatemeh Masjedi and Maryam Bidgoli, have been sentenced to one year in prison. On 22 August, security forces arbitrarily detained human rights activists Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi and Ali Jamali. Prominent human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has been summoned and her assets frozen.

In an interview with the Campaign, Sotoudeh said that a new method of persecuting human rights lawyers by the authorities is to make unfounded financial allegations on tax grounds.

“I was referred to the taxation bureau and while there I noticed in addition to my name, they are conducting special investigations into thirty human rights lawyers,” Sotoudeh told the Campaign. She noted that while human rights lawyers take on cases on pro-bono bases, authorities are using bogus tax charges to prosecute them.

Sotoudeh said she believes these developments are aimed at putting an end to any legal defense by the human rights community. “The only institution capable of defending lawyers is the Bar Association, but the authorities are putting it under tremendous pressure and attempting to incorporate it into the Judiciary and take away its independence,” she said.

With the arrests of Ali Jamali and Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi, almost all members of the Central Council of ADVAR, a student alumni organization devoted to human rights and social enhancement, have been arbitrarily imprisoned. ADVAR is a group of young Iranian citizens committed to improving the welfare of the people of Iran, and committed to peaceful methods and nonviolence to promote and protect Iranian citizens’ human rights. The Campaign is aware of no evidence that justifies prosecuting members of this group, and indeed, no such evidence has been presented in trials in which its members have been convicted and sentenced. The arrests and prosecution of ADVAR members have thus been politically motivated and at variance with Iranian and international law.

The Change for Equality website reported that two women’s rights activists and members of the One Million Signatures Campaign, Maryam Bidgoli and Fatemeh Masjedi, were sentenced to prison terms of one year following their conviction on charges of “spreading propaganda against the state, through the collection of signatures for changing discriminatory laws and publication of materials in support of a feminist group (Campaign) which works in opposition to the Regime.” Both women denied the charges in their trial in the Second Branch of the Revolutionary Courts in Qom, explaining that the activities of the One Million Signatures Campaign are not in violation of any Iranian laws. Mina Jafari and Mahnaz Parakand, lawyers representing the women’s human rights defenders, plan to appeal the verdict.

The Campaign expressed its serious concern over the abuse of judicial powers by Iranian authorities to target members of the human rights community and civil society activists.

“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.

Narges Mohammadi

(11 May 2009) The Iranian government is continuing to expand its repression of women’s rights activists ahead of the 12 June presidential elections, with a new wave of travel bans, detentions, and summons, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

The Campaign reported that Narges Mohammadi, the vice president and spokeswoman of the banned Iranian human rights group Defenders of Human Rights Center and a member of the National Peace Council, and Soraya Aziz Panah, the Executive Director of the Center to Clean Mine Fields, were prevented from leaving Tehran on 7 May 2009. They planned to take part in an international women’s conference in Guatemala, organized by the Nobel Women’s Initiative. Their passports were confiscated at the airport by an agent from the President’s Office. They were summoned to appear in the Revolutionary Court within 72 hours.

“Once again, Iranian authorities have violated the rights of respected civil society activists in preventing them from leaving the country to attend important international events,” stated Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign.

The Defenders of Human Rights Center, founded by Nobel Peace laureate and human rights Lawyer Shirin Ebadi and others, has been closed since 21 December 2008, when government agents raided an event celebrating the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The Campaign appealed to Iranian authorities to allow the Center to open and carry on its assistance to Iranian citizens.

“Neither the government nor the citizens benefit in any way from illegal and repressive actions, which close human rights groups and prevent their members from participating in international events abroad,” Ghaemi said. “Such actions show a state apparatus afraid of human rights and afraid of the truth about Iran reaching the international community.”

Iranian authorities have recently arrested and interrogated a number of other activists working peacefully to change discriminatory laws.

Two members of the One Million Signatures Campaign in Qom, Maryam Bidgoli and Fatemeh Masjedi, were arrested on 7 and 8 May 2009. Maryam Bidgoli was arrested on the evening of 7 May while Intelligence agents searched her home and took her personal belongs. Fatemeh Masjedi was arrested in Karaj after her home was searched and her belongings confiscated on the following morning.

Gholamreza Salami, a researcher who published “The Women’s Movement in the East” was arrested with Masjedi in Karaj. They were working on a research project together. Bidgoli and Masjedi have been working on behalf of women’s human rights in Qom for many years.  According to information received by the Campaign, their recent work in investigating an honor killing had aroused the attention of authorities.

Khadijeh Moghaddam, also a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign and Mothers Committee for Peace was summoned to the Security Deputy of the Revolutionary Court along with her husband, Akbar Khosrowshahi, on 8 May.  They appeared in Court with their attorney, Nasrin Sotoudeh. Moghaddam was questioned about assistance she gave to victims of the Bam earthquake, as well as her advocacy on behalf of detained labor activists and the detention of another women’s rights defender, Maryam Malek.

The Campaign called for an end to the escalating crackdown on women’s rights and human rights activists in Iran.

UPDATE: (30 April 2009) Maryam Malek was released on 29 April at midnight local time after spending 5 days in detention. Five members of the Mothers Committee of the One Million Signatures Campaign met the spokesperson for the Judiciary and presented their protest letter to the head of the Judiciary. They requested him to release Maryam on 28 April. Malek who was previously ordered to be released on $20,000 bail, was released on a third person guarantee.

(27 April 2009) Maryam Malek is a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign and a reporter on legal matters related to family courts. She was arrested and transferred to Vozara Detention Center on 25 April 2009, after being summoned for interrogation and charged in the Revolutionary Courts.

She has been charged with “propaganda against the state,” and “membership in the One Million Signatures Campaign.” The magistrate, Mr. Heidarifard, has issued bail in the amount of $20,000 (20 Million Toman), but she was not able to provide such large amount. She is currently being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Maryam Malek

UPDATE: (30 April 2009) Maryam Malek was released on 29 April at midnight local time after spending 5 days in detention. Five members of the Mothers Committee of the One Million Signatures Campaign met the spokesperson for the Judiciary and presented their protest letter to the head of the Judiciary. They requested him to release Maryam on 28 April. Malek who was previously ordered to be released on $20,000 bail, was released on a third person guarantee.

(27 April 2009) Maryam Malek, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign and a reporter on legal matters related to family courts, was arrested and transferred to Vozara Detention Center on 25 April 2009, after being summoned for interrogation and charged in the Revolutionary Courts, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.

She is charged with “propaganda against the state,” and “membership in the One Million Signatures Campaign.” The magistrate, Mr. Heidarifard, has issued bail in the amount of $20,000 (20 Million Toman), but she was not able to provide such large amount. She is currently being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

“This arrest reflects the effort to instill fear among women’s rights activists expressing their rightful demands with respect to women’s rights in public conferences as Iranians debate their political future,” said Aaron Rhodes, a spokesperson for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

“Officials have to be held accountable for their actions and explain which of Malek’s activities in preparing news reports from family courts, and activities designed to collect signatures asking for reform of discriminatory laws, are considered illegal according to law,” he added.

On 22 April 2009, Malek’s home was searched by three security officers, after which she was served with a summons to appear at the Security Police station. According to the website of Change for Equality, when Malek’s family home was searched, not only her room and personal property, but the rooms and possessions of all the members of her household, including her father and brother, were also thoroughly searched. Officials even searched the contents of the refrigerator and inside the oven.  After searching the home, officials confiscated 16 CDs, legal books, handwritten materials, her laptop computer, books and materials related to the Million Signatures Campaign including petition forms, and her personal calendar, which includes information on her meetings and activities.

Malek, a 26-year- old student, has written numerous articles about the violence and social and legal injustices faced by women in the family courts system.  After the search of her home on 22 April, in an interview with the website of Change for Equality, Maryam explained: “Instead of tending to their official business, the [officers] intimidated my mother through insults and lies.  Mr. Najafi [a security officer present on the scene] told my mother: ‘Ms., if only you knew what your daughter was up to, you would kill her.’”  Maryam had been released from the hospital on the day her house was searched. At the time, she was still ill and on bed rest at home.

According to Change for Equality, Maryam Malek reported that during her interrogation by Security Police,  “they accused me of many things, and I have denied all the accusations.”

“For years, Iranian security and judicial officials who cannot prove the peaceful activities of women’s rights activists to be criminal have been  arresting and prosecuting them on baseless charges,” said  Rhodes.  “The effect has been to subvert the integrity of the Judiciary and to undermine respect, not only in Iran, but around the world.  Such arrests do not diminish the determination of Iranian activists to peacefully and legally seek changes in discriminatory laws.”

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran expresses its concern for the health and physical safety of Maryam Malek, while demanding that judiciary officials immediately release her, and instead identify and prosecute those within the Judiciary who carry out such illegal actions.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran also urged that all sentences issued against women’s rights activists in Iran in the absence of evidence and due process be dropped and all pending cases against them be closed.  The Campaign calls again for the immediate release of women’s rights activist Alieh Eghdamdoust, who is currently serving a three and a half year prison sentence for participating in the peaceful protest in Haft-e Tir Square in 2006 in support of reform of discriminatory laws against women.

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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UPDATE: (31 March 2009) Ten of the twelve women’s rights activists detained last week as they were planning private New Year visits have been released on bail. Two of them however, Khadijeh Moghadam and Mahboubeh Karami, remain in Evin prison.

The ten activists were released after judiciary officials set bail for them in the amount of 50 million toman ($50,000) that had to be posted by a government employee as a third-party guarantee.

The authorities refused to accept bail posted by Moghadam and Karami, without explanation. Those released have to report for interrogations on Sunday, 5 April. They have been charged with “disturbing public opinion” and “disruption of public order,” and a judicial case has been initiated based on these charges.

The Campaign called on the Iranian authorities to immediately release Moghadam and Karami, noting that there is no legal justification for these detentions.

(26 March 2009) Iranian authorities should immediately release a dozen women’s rights activists detained arbitrarily in Tehran today, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said.

Security forces detained 12 members of the One Million Signatures Campaign and Mothers for Peace at a street corner as the group met to make private New Year visits to families of several prisoners of conscience. With the Persian New Year holidays underway, it is customary for families and friends to visit each other.

As of this evening, local time, all detainees have been transferred to Evin Prison. A judge named Matin Rasekh has charged them with “disturbing public opinion” and “disruption of public order.”

The arrests suggest that security and intelligence forces have been surveilling and eavesdropping on activists’ private communications. Police forces arrested the group at their meeting place, on Sohrevardi Street in Tehran, before they could embark on their private visits, the website Change for Equality reported.

“The paranoia and intolerance of the intelligence agencies have reached unbelievable proportions. There is no justification whatsoever to deny activists their rights to visit each other during New Year celebrations,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson.

According to the latest information from Tehran, the names of the twelve detainees are: 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.

After the security forces detained the group at Sohrevardi Street, they were taken to Niloofar Police Station. At around 8:30 pm local time, the detainees were transferred to Evin Prison and held in section 209, which is under the control of the Intelligence Ministry.

“We are seriously concerned about the fate of detainees and the absolute lack of transparency and due process demonstrated by this case. For what crime are they being held? Is observing New Year traditions now a crime in Iran? The Iranian leaders should step forward and explain why intelligence agents are given free reign to deprive citizens of their most basic rights,” Ghaemi said.

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.