Six Women's
Rights Advocates Receive Lengthy Prison Sentences
(New York, April 27, 2007) – The
head of Iran's Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, should immediately overturn the convictions this week of six
women's rights advocates and end the Judiciary's persecution of all such human
rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said
today.
The six women are active
participants in Iran's burgeoning women's rights movement. The Judiciary filed
charges against them following a public demonstration to protest Iran's
discriminatory laws against women in Tehran on June 12, 2006.
"The Iranian Judiciary is using
national security laws to imprison women's rights activists for peacefully
protesting against legally sanctioned discrimination," said Sarah Leah Whitson,
Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of persecuting women's
rights activists, Iran's government should scrap laws that discriminate against
women."
On April 24, the Sixth Branch of
the Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced Nusheen Ahmadi Khorasani, Shahla
Entesari and Parvin Ardalan to three years' imprisonment for "collusion and
assembly to endanger the national security," under article 610 of the Islamic
Penal Code. The court ordered Khorasani, Entesari, and Ardalan to serve six
months in prison, but suspended the remaining two-and-half years of their
sentences.
The same court sentenced two other
women's rights advocates to prison terms on April 18. It sentenced Fariba
Davoodi Mohajer to four years' imprisonment, three of which are suspended, also
for "collusion and assembly to endanger the national security." The court
sentenced Sussan Tahmassebi to two years' imprisonment, with one-and-a half
years suspended, for "acting against national security."
A week earlier, Branch 15 of the
Revolutionary Court in Tehran on April 11 sentenced Azadeh Forghani, also a
women's rights activist, to a suspended sentence of two years for "acting
against national security by participating in an illegal
gathering."
In these proceedings, the judge can
implement the suspended sentences if he determines that the defendants have
broken any law during the next five years.
All six women supported the
recently launched campaign, "Change for Equality," to collect 1 million
signatures to protest these discriminatory laws. This campaign seeks specific
reforms, including making women's testimony in court carry the same weight as
that of men, equality of inheritance rights between men and women, the
elimination of polygamy, and equality of compensation payments in the event of
the wrongful death of a man and of a woman.
As a party to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is legally bound to protect freedom
of expression, assembly and equality before the law, and prohibit arrest and
detention resulting from the exercise of one of these rights.
Over the past year, the Iranian
government has substantially increased its persecution and prosecution of
women's rights activists. The security forces detained 33 prominent women's
rights advocates on March 4. Ardalan, Entesari, Khorasani, and Tahmassebi were
among the detainees. Although the Judiciary released all of the detainees on
bail, it has started to announce prison terms for those
detained.
On April 18, the Iranian minister
of information, Gholamhussein Mohseni Ezhei, alleged that "the enemies of the
government" are pursuing their plans through the women's rights
movement.
"The Iranian government is making a
mockery of national security laws by using them to prosecute women's rights
activists who peacefully protest against discrimination," said Whitson.
For more information on the
persecution of women's rights advocates in Iran, please visit the following
Human Rights Watch materials:
