By Shabnam Sahandy,
National Iranian American Council (NIAC)
|
Esha Momeni
The President of
California State University at Northridge has issued a
Statement about the Arrest of Esha Momeni, a graduate student at
CSUN Northridge and a member of the Campaign, who was arrested on
October 15, 2008 while visiting family and conducting research for
her thesis project, focused on women's rights activists. (read
more) |
Esha Momeni, a graduate student at the School of
Communications, Media and Arts at California State University, Northridge was
arrested in Tehran on October 15, 2008 and detained in section 209 of Iran's
Evin Prison - an area under the control of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence.
According to Amnesty International, she has not yet been charged with any
offense and is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Ms. Momeni was nearing the end of a two month
stay in Iran during which time she visited with family members and conducted
interviews for a Master's thesis on the Iranian women's movement.
According to Momeni's thesis advisor, Professor Melissa Wall, her objective
was to conduct scholarly research, not to agitate for political or social
reforms.
Iran is one of few countries in the world that
is not a party to
The Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in
1979 by the UN General Assembly. Persecution of Iranian women's and human rights
defenders has intensified in recent years,
according to Amnesty International.
Iran
is a signatory of
The International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), however. By ratifying this
international treaty, Iran has legally obligated itself to uphold the following
principles:
1) No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest
or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and
in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.
2) Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at
the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed
of any charges against him.
3) Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal
charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by
law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a
reasonable time or to release.
The Iranian-American community favors increased
contact between the people of Iran and those living outside of Iran. "We ask the
Iranian government to cease actions which hinder the ability of individuals of
Iranian descent to visit their homeland and their families," said NIAC founder
and President Dr. Trita Parsi.
Human Rights organizations have reported an
increase in rights violations in Iran over the past few years. NIAC strongly
opposes all violations of human rights in Iran.
"We also call on the Iranian government to stop
the persecution of human rights defenders working peacefully to end gender
inequality and increase respect for human rights in Iran," added NIAC Board
Member Dokhi Fassihian.
NIAC supports Amnesty International's guidelines
for taking action on behalf of Ms. Momeni. Please click
here and scroll to down to "Recommended Action" toward the middle of the
page to learn more about how you can help.
To view NIAC's coverage of the arrest of several
prominent Iranian-American scholars in Tehran during the summer of 2007, please
follow the links below.
... Payvand News - 10/31/08 ...
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