Persecution of Women’s Rights Campaigners Intensifies

(16 April 2009) A new report by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran documents that the persecution of women’s rights advocates has intensified in the past year.

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,” said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesperson for the Campaign.

Report on the Status of Women Human Rights Defenders — April 2009

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, 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.

International Organizations Call on Iran to End Persecution and Prosecution of Women’s Rights Activists

In a letter to President Ahmadinejad the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition, together with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, called on Iran to release Alieh Eghdamdoust and stop its increasing persecution and prosecution of women human rights defenders.

We, the undersigned members of the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition, submit this statement to express our deepest concerns…

UPDATE: Khadijeh Moghadam Released after Fourteen Days of Detention

(8 April 2009) Prominent women’s rights activist Khadijeh Moghadam, who has been in detention since 26 March 2009, was released from Tehran’s Evin Prison on bail at 8:15 pm, local time.

Moghadam and eleven other members of Mothers for Peace and the One Million Signatures Campaign were detained on 26 March 2009 as they sat in their cars at a street corner in Tehran. They were planning to make New Year visits to families of prisoners of conscience. Ten activists were released on bail on 29 March, but Moghadam and Mahboubeh Karami were kept in prison without any explanation.

Women’s Rights Activists Remain in Prison without Justification

(6 April 2009) Two women’s rights activists, imprisoned since 26 March 2009 after being arrested on the street as they embarked on making New Year visits, are being held without any legal justification and despite promises by judicial officials that they will be released.

Khadijeh Moghadam and Mahboubeh Karami are held in Tehran’s Evin Prison without having been arraigned. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called on the Judiciary head, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, to order their immediate release and put an end to illegal actions by his subordinates.

(UPDATE) Women’s Rights Activists Arbitrarily Detained, Preventing New Year Visits

(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.

Unprecedented Three-Year Sentence for Women’s Rights Activist Implemented

(3 February 2009) The Iranian Judiciary should immediately release imprisoned women’s rights activist, Alieh Eghdamdoust, and end its prosecution of all women’s rights activists. 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.

Women’s Rights Activists Detained for Collecting Signatures to Change Discriminatory Laws

(2 February 2009) Three members of the Iranian movement for equal rights, the One Million Signatures Campaign, were arrested on 30 January 2009, and one remains in detention charged with “acting against national security through propaganda against the state,” according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Nafiseh Azad, Bigard Ebrahimi and another member of the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality were arrested while collecting signatures to change discriminatory laws.

Crackdown on Human Rights Groups Continues with Arrest of Activist

(15 January 2009) Security agents arrested Jinous Sobhani, the former secretary of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC) and the Organization for the Defense of Mine Victims, and confiscated her address book, telephone and other work materials on 14 January 2009. Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate, is a co-founder of both groups.

The DHRC, a leading independent Iranian group providing legal defense of human rights violations, has been closed since 22 December 2008, when agents forced their way into the Center.

Renewed Attempts to Isolate and Silence Women’s Rights Activists

(27 October 2008) The Iranian government has substantially increased its persecution and prosecution of women’s rights activists in recent days. These actions come on the heels of a report by the UN Secretary General calling on Iran to end its repressive measures against women’s rights activists.

In a 20 October 2008 report, the Secretary General noted “an increasing crackdown in the past year on the women’s rights movement”…