Thirty-three women were arrested last March 4, 2007 in Tehran during a peaceful protest urging for a fair trial for five prominent women’s rights activists arrested in June 2006. At present, two of the 33 women remain in prison. Learn how you can support campaigns demanding the release of these women and help attain equal rights for Iranian women.

March 4, 2007—Thirty-three (33) women's rights activists were arrested during a peaceful demonstration in front of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. They were protesting the court proceedings of five prominent members of Iranian women's organisations who were arrested in June 12, 2006 during another peaceful gathering in support of women’s rights. Both arrests were clear violation of citizens' right to peacefully assembly, as guaranteed under international law.

The 33 women were charged with endangering national security, propaganda against the state, and taking part in an illegal gathering.

“These arrests raise Iran's repression of peaceful activists to a new level. There are absolutely no legal grounds for arresting these women, under international or Iranian law.” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.

The following day, March 5, family and friends of detainees gathered in front of the main entrance of the Evin Prison, where the women activists were detained, to protest their illegal arrests and to demand their immediate release. On March 6, the arrested women started a hunger strike inside the prison to protest their arbitrary detention.

In the following days, thirty-one women activists have been gradually released on bail.

As of March 12, two women—Shadi Sadr and Mahbobeh Abbasgholizadeh—remained in ward 209 of Evin Prison, monitored and supervised by the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, designated primarily for political prisoners.

Both Sadr and Abasgholizadeh have been denied the right to speak with their lawyers and have been interrogated in the absence of their lawyers. The two were also unaware that the interrogator and the prosecutor have refused to speak with their lawyers.

Their families have been denied all visitation rights. Sadr and Abasgholizadeh have also been denied of access to medical care.

Campaigns to Support

(1) Campaign to Free Women's Rights Defenders in Iran <http://www.meydaan.org/English/petition.aspx?cid=52&pid=11> by Women’s Field, a group of Iranian feminists who protests and campaigns against gender inequality and challenges the different faces of discrimination.
Contact:
- Soheila Vahdati  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +1.510.813.7786
- Sanam Dolatshahi, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +1.352.359.3789
- Homa Hoodfar, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +44.7799141241

(2) Help Free Iranian Women's Rights Leaders: Campaigning for Equality is not a Crime <http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/WomenArrests?qp_source=ga%5fadv> by Human Rights First, an international human rights organisation advocating for human rights and rule of law.

(3) Petition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Iran: Too dangerous to have equal rights? <http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/petition/1> by Front Line, an organisation which aims to protect Human Rights Defenders, people who work, non-violently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

(4) Stand With Our Sisters in Iran <http://feminist.org/stand/> by Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), a cutting edge organisation dedicated to women's equality, reproductive health, and non-violence.

Sources:
“Another Attack on the Rights of Iranian Women Activists” from Nobel Women's Initiative, posted on March 5, 2007, <http://www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/news.php?WEBYEP_DI=89>.
“Iran: Release Women's Rights Advocates, Mass Arrest Signals New Level of Repression” from Human Rights News, posted on March 7, 2007, <http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/03/07/iran15452.htm>.
“Large scale arrest of women human rights defenders in Tehran” from Front Line, posted on March 9, 2007, <http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/news/3644>.
“Three Women's Rights Defenders Remain in Detention” from Women’s Field, posted on March 8, 2007, <http://www.meydaan.com/English/showarticle.aspx?arid=184&cid=52>.
“Women's Rights Defenders Now in Solitary Confinement: Deemed A Threat To Iran's National Security” posted on March 12, 2007.