We are shocked that women in Iran go to prison for asking for their basic rights

Source: Change for Equality

Interview by: Sussan Tahmasebi

Interview with Members of Feminist Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development

There women from all over the world at the Commission on the Status of Women, which is presently taking place in New York. Both governmental and non-governmental delegations are present at this UN sponsored event. We used this opportunity to find out a little more about the situation of women’s rights and women’s rights activists in other countries. The following is an interview with two women’s rights activists from Tunisia, Dr. Khadija Arfaoui and Usra Farwes, who are working with the Feminist Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development.
Q: What is the legal situation of women in your country?
Well Tunisia has one of the most progressive laws when it comes to women, as compared with the rest of the Arab world. Our laws are both secular and also some are based on Sharia law. We have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). But, of course that ratification is with reservations on 3 issues, which include articles 8, 9 and 15. For the most part women have equal rights with men. There are a few issues which are problematic. One is the right to pass on nationality. Women are allowed to pass on their nationality to their children, but only with the stated permission of their husbands. And women are not allowed to marry non-Muslims, but marriages that occur outside of Tunisia are recognized in Tunisia, so women who want to marry non-Muslim men do so outside the country. The other issue of concern is one of inheritance, where women inherit less than men and this is problematic.
Q: In Iran too women inherit at half the amount of their brothers (when they are inheriting from their parents) and wives inherit 1/8 of the assets of their husbands, excluding land. Though new legislation has recently been passed in the parliament to allow for women to inherit land from their husbands and we are hoping that this legislation will be approved. Is it the same in Tunisia?
In Tunisia, women inherit land and there are no restrictions in this respect. But our law on inheritance is based on Sharia law and like Iran, when inheriting from their parents, female children inherit half of male children (or 1/3 to the female and 2/3 to male). Women inheriting from their husbands women inherit 1/8th of his assets. Our organization is involved in addressing this inequality and we are seeking equal rights for women to inheritance.
Q: In Iran women are working to change laws that discriminate against women, including equal rights in marriage, right to divorce and right for child custody and guardianship. One of the demands of women’s rights activists is an end to polygamy. How prevalent is the practice of Polygamy in your country? Is it legal?
Polygamy was abolished in 1956, at the same time that Tunisia gained independence. Currently polygamy and temporary marriage are not allowed under the law, and in fact if a man marries a second wife, he faces jail. Women and men have equal rights in marriage as well. In 1993 the law was changed to ensure that both men and women have equal rights in marriage. Before that the law required that women obey their husbands, but with its change in 1993, both men and women are obliged to obey each other. Women also have the right to divorce and custody and guardianship of their children. Also the legal age of marriage is 18 for both boys and girls.
Q: Tell us about what you are planning for International Women’s Day Celebrations in your country?
We are planning a conference on women. We are also holding a workshop to commemorate the 20th anniversary of our organization. And we will be launching our website.
Q: Do you plan to hold any public events, like a protest or a march?
No street protests need authorization and even if we request a permit we will not be issued one. The government fears public protests and so they do not allow for it. If we go out in the street without a permit, our protest will end in police violence. We recently held one protest in support of Gaza and to object to the killings that were taking place there. There was a lot of public outcry about the situation of Gaza in our country, so the authorities had no choice but to issue a permit for our protest, but the whole time, the protesters were surrounded by police. At the same time the government sent organizations that are affiliated with the government to our protest and instead of chant our slogan in support of Gaza, they began chanting slogans in support of the president and his bid for re-election. Our President has been in office for 20 years and now he wants to run for office again, despite the fact that when he was elected, he claimed that there should be term limits for Presidents. Anyhow, these government protesters chanted slogans like: “We want to elect our president to office again.”
Q: It sounds like you are working in a difficult security environment. What is the situation in your country with NGOs?
The situation of NGOs in our country is very difficult. There is a lot of pressure on activists and on NGOs and the police can storm the offices of NGOs at any given time. But we believe that our work is important and we continue. Interesting for you may be the fact that we had a meeting with Shirin Ebadi in our NGO when she was in Tunisia.
Q. I told you that women in Iran are fighting for their legal rights. I work with a national campaign that seeks to change all laws that discriminate against women. It’s called the One Million Signatures Campaign. Have you heard of the Campaign?
Yes we have heard of the Campaign. We get all the news related to the Campaign through different international email lists on women. In fact, when your colleague Khadijeh Moghaddam was arrested and we read the news, we took the initiative to translate the news into French and share it with our colleagues in French speaking countries and in Tunisia. We are shocked that women in Iran go to prison for simply asking for their basic rights.
Q. Have you ever had any women’s rights activists imprisoned in your country?
Not for the demand of equal rights, certainly not. But we have had some women in the south of Tunisia who have been engaged in demonstrations for several months. These mothers have protested lack of employment opportunities for their children. One woman’s rights activist who was a supporter of this group was placed in detention for 4 months. Her name is Zakia Dhifaoui. She is free now. We really commend all of you working with the Campaign and for women’s equal rights in Iran and we hope that you know that we will support you in whatever way possible.
Thanks for your time and your support

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Woman opposition leader in Germany to appeal for support for people's uprising in Iran

Sent by our reader S>A.

"Maryam Rajavi , President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, greets several hundred Iranian expatriates who had gathered to welcome her upon her arrival at Tegel Airport on March 22, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. Rajavi, who is among the leading Iranian opposition politicians in exile, is in Berlin to meet with members of the German Bundestag," AFP reported on Monday.


Maryam Rajavi's speech to German parliamentarians

Distinguished representatives
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am happy to be among the elected representatives of German people,

First, I would like to express my gratitude to you for your concern about human rights violations in my country Iran.

I would especially like to express my heartfelt appreciation to you for your support for Iranian freedom fighters in Ashraf. 1

I also deem it necessary to honor the memory of Mrs. Ingrid Holzhüter, former President of the German Committee for Solidarity with a Free Iran. The Iranian people and Resistance will always hold Mrs. Ingrid Holzhüter in high esteem and cherish her tireless efforts in defending the Iranian Resistance and Camp Ashraf.

******

I have come here today in circumstances where the issue of Iran has taken center stage internationally. I would like to concentrate on two issues:

First, the developments in Iran: Are the prospects for an end to religious dictatorship real? Can the Iranian opposition bring about change? What are the factors that restrict or delay the process and what are the ones that act as catalysts?

The second issue concerns the solution to the Iranian crisis. What is the correct policy for the West to adopt towards Iran?

Before delving into these topics, however, please allow me to point out as a preface the summary of some points about which I take to be a consensus:

• The nationwide uprising of the Iranian people over the past 9 months clearly showed that the Iranian people seek an end to the religious dictatorship;
• The rifts within the clerical regime have occurred at the highest level, as a result fundamentally weakening the regime.2
• The increase in domestic suppression and the acceleration of the nuclear weapons program, coupled with the intensification of meddling in Iraq, show that the clerical regime has no intention of producing a change in its behavior or of harboring reforms.
• The policy of the West and the European Union geared towards producing a change of behavior by the regime through negotiations and appeasement has proven to be mistaken and counterproductive. The core of this policy relied on keeping the Iranian Resistance at arm’s length and imposing restrictions on it.

The Trend of the Developments

We believe that the prospects for change are real. Despite a brutal suppression, the regime has failed to curb the uprising. Khamenei has not been able to mend the fissures within the regime. Conflicts at the apex of power have caused defections of a significant portion of the regime’s forces, which it had relied on for years.3 Based on the credible information we have obtained, there are signs of instability even among the ranks of the IRGC, which has acted as the regime’s principal suppressive organ.4

What is more important, however, is the eruption of the vast social potential during the nine-month-long uprising, which has gradually accumulated as a result of 30 years of religious suppression, corruption, poverty and social ills such as prostitution. That eruption has undercut the status of the regime’s Supreme Leader. Therefore, the situation will not revert to the past and despite any ebbs and flows on this path, the trend will continue to progress until an end to the religious dictatorship in Iran.

The continuation of the protests in circumstances where the regime faces fissures within itself has had an auxiliary effect. The people’s positive response to the Iranian Resistance’s calls to turn the traditional ritual of Chaharshanbeh Souri (Fire Festival) into a protest act against the regime signals the formation of a single front and consensus among people with regards to the path and methods adopted by the Iranian Resistance, which has always urged for the rejection of the regime in its entirety.

Despite the regime’s superficial prowess, change is on the horizon. In 1988 or even early 1989 almost no one predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990. The power of Stasi, the Army and their willingness to carry out suppression had instilled the notion that change would be impossible. But, behind the veneer of that exterior, hid a faltering and vulnerable political system.

In today’s Iran, there is an organized resistance movement. The Resistance’s network inside the country is comprised of youths and women, as well as the families and relatives of more than 120,000 slain political prisoners and hundreds of thousands of other political prisoners throughout the past three decades. This network plays a significant role in organizing and guiding anti-regime protests. In recent months, the regime has sentenced a number of Resistance supporters to death during show trials, acknowledging such organizational prowess.

Another unambiguous feature of the Iranian Resistance is the presence of 3,400 of its activists in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Many of them have been struggling for freedom throughout the past three decades. Ashraf is the symbol of perseverance, the heartland of hope, and an inspiration to the Iranian people to wage resistance for freedom. That is why the regime has not spared any efforts to destroy it.

Finally, as the most enduring political coalition in Iranian history, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has a clear and publicly declared political platform, bringing into focus a clear prospect for the Iranian people and also for the international community.

By declaring commitment to the three principles of rejecting religious dictatorship, embracing the establishment of a republic and separation of church and state, the NCRI has opened the doors for all other political forces to join a broad and extensive coalition.

At the same time, the Iranian Resistance’s stance in support of a non-nuclear Iran and peaceful co-existence with all the countries in the world acts as a serious litmus test for the responsible policies of this Resistance which has rendered it as a party for reliable negotiations on the world stage.

Of course, there are obstacles on the path for change. In addition to widespread suppression inside Iran, the lack of a firm policy vis-à-vis the clerical regime on the part of the West has also acted as an obstacle to bring about change in Iran.

By establishing extensive economic relations with the regime and restricting the main Iranian opposition, the West has provided the greatly contributed to the regime’s survival. The policy of negotiations and appeasement has allowed the mullahs to inch closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon while strengthening their fundamentalist policies and proxies in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

Today, the clerical regime is the most serious threat to global peace and security. The solution to this threat is neither the continuation of appeasement nor foreign military intervention. There is only one solution: Democratic change by the Iranian people and their organized resistance. However, the West continues to play a restrictive role against the main factor for bringing about change, namely the Iranian Resistance.

In recent months, the necessity of a firm policy has taken center stage but has still not been quite answered. We are still witnessing inaction by the EU.5 The regime’s most fundamental needs are still fulfilled through economic relations with the West. According to London Financial Times the volume of trade between Iran and Europe in 2008 was over 11 billion euros, one third of which took place with Germany.6 The regime has also obtained equipment from Europe and Germany which it uses for suppression and intimidation of the Iranian people. 7

Revenues resulting from such commerce are placed at the disposal of the IRGC which currently has a monopoly on the Iranian economy. In recent years, the so-called “privatization” policy has handed over large industries, including oil and gas, to the IRGC.8 Generated revenues from economic deals are spent on suppression, developing of nuclear weapons, and providing funding to fundamentalist and terrorist forces in the region.

As such, the Iranian Resistance calls on western governments, in particular the German Government, to take the following measures:

1. Impose comprehensive sanctions, especially with regards to oil and gasoline, against the regime.9 Opposition to sanctions by citing supposed harm to regular Iranians is an enormous deception. We have credible information from inside the regime that even the minimal sanctions on banking have led to crippling effects for the regime.10 Moreover, the IRGC must be placed on the list of terrorist organizations and the mullahs’ intelligence agents in Europe must be expelled.

2. Sanctions are necessary11 but not sufficient. Sanctions must be coupled with a change of policy towards the Iranian Resistance. Thus far, the policy of western countries has prevented the Iranian Resistance from being able to harness all its potentials to bring about change. The time has come for the NCRI to be recognized.

3. In the face of the threats emanating from the Iranian regime and its allies in Iraq to annihilate Ashraf residents, Europe must warn the Iraqi government against use of violence and call on the United Nations to assume the protection of Ashraf.

---------------

1 There are 3,400 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) residing in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. In July 2009, at the behest of the Iranian regime, Iraqi forces attacked the camp, murdering 11 people and wounding 500 more. 36 Ashraf residents were taken hostage for 72 days. As a result of an extensive international campaign, which was supported by German lawmakers, bolstered by the hostages’ hunger strike and that of Iranians in various countries, including Germany, the Iraqi government was ultimately forced to release the hostages. Consequently, a United Nations monitoring team was stationed at Camp Ashraf.

2 One of the signs revealing this rift is the widening differences between Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Khamenei. In December 2009, before his death, Ayatollah Ali Montazeri, Ruhollah Khomeini’s former designated heir, as the highest ranking religious authority, officially declared the government to be unjust. A number of other high ranking clerics, including Ayatollah Youssef Sanei, have taken a stance against Khamenei. Moreover, in political terms, the faction of defeated presidential candidates (Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi) has always been part of the regime and its members have held senior positions in the regime.

3 According to a classified report by a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Tehran: “We are faced with a shortage of [paramilitary] Bassij forces. Their families exert pressure that their children must not take part in confronting protests. As such, we are witnessing defections on a daily basis. The beating up of Bassijis and other forces by people has had a negative effect on morale of the forces. It is imperative to have a plan to prevent these daily defections and raise moral among commanders.”

4 According to a secret report produced by the regime, the State Security Forces (SSF) did not perform their duties well during the protests on December 27, 2009. Even the special units could not operate at a satisfactory level. When SSF officials were criticized about their inability to firmly suppress the protests, they retorted that they are worried about the situation turning into another Kahrizak prison scandal. They added that our forces are unstable.

5 One of the signs of inaction is lack of a serious response to the brutal suppression of uprisings, including show trials and death sentences issued merely on charges of contacts with PMOI supporters. In similar cases, there have been some actions such as summoning ambassadors. Another aspect is the lack of imposition of sanctions even as there have been ongoing talks for months. The EU can impose sanctions independent of the UN. In view of the fact that the EU is the main trade partner of the Iranian regime, EU sanctions would be profoundly influential.

6 The trading partners of many German companies are IRGC-affiliated businesses. For example, Shahed International, also known as ICS, is an IRGC front company which is active in Hamburg. The same is true with Misaq, which has purchased electronic equipment from Germany for the IRGC and the State Security Forces. IMACO, affiliated with the Foundation of the Oppressed, has made huge purchases from various German companies, including stoves, oven, and centrifuges, among other things.

7 The engineering firm Saberin Development Horizon is one of the “IRGC Co-Op Foundation” companies, which has acquired from various countries, including Germany, communications equipment and parts, closed-circuit cameras and microphones for IRGC’s intelligence organs, including the IRGC Protection and Intelligence.

8 For example, the Angouran mine, which is the largest lead and zinc mine in the Middle East and one of the biggest in the world. Three buyers colluded to acquire the mine in 2009 through a fraudulent contract worth about $153 million. The same mine was priced at $600 million just two years ago. It is now in effect controlled by the “Iranians’ Mehr Economic Institution,” which is owned by the IRGC’s Bassij Force. In addition, the IRGC controls the Telecommunications Company, construction and road building companies, Kurdistan Tractor Manufacturing, Sadra Oil Company, Bahman Cigarette Manufactuing Group, Saipa Car Manufacturing Group, Kermanshah Petrochemicals, and others. The IRGC also imports annually billions of dollars worth of commodities into the Iranian market including luxury items, home appliances, pharmaceutical drugs, spare parts, cell phones, SIM cards, various electronics products, and foodstuffs, through airports, docks, and other locations it controls without going through the legal customs procedures.

9 Despite gasoline rationing, Iran’s average gasoline use is more than 64.6 million litres, 9 million litres of which is used daily in Tehran city alone. Gasoline imports are currently 20.9 million litres daily on average, which shows a 19 percent increase compared to last year’s data. In the past year, the regime has not been able to increase the productivity of domestic refineries or to build new ones. That is why gasoline imports have become profoundly crucial for the regime and sanctions will cause serious problems for the regime.

10 A secret report obtained from inside the Iranian regime says that sanctions on banks have not only had important negative consequences on purchases but also sales from Iran. For this reason, some large companies have shunned dealings with Iran. The revenues primarily rely on oil exports. If the door to sales is closed, then, the report reads, the regime would face serious challenges. In 2008, the regime’s Supreme National Security Council set up a working group to identify ways to circumvent sanctions on the banking sector.

11 A secret report from inside the regime produced by one of the regime’s nuclear program managers says that with the onset of some sanctions, the regime has faced serious challenges in obtaining the required items for building centrifuges, especially since the large quantities of maraging steel previously purchased from Britain are running out. In an another classified report, the director of a Ministry of Defence parts company writes, “Currently, we have a serious problem for obtaining items for laser. One of the company’s laser equipment was inoperative and it took us months to repair as a result of some restrictions. I don’t understand how they could say that sanctions have no effects. Even now that the sanctions are not entirely imposed, we are running into serious difficulties.”

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Exclusive: The Resistance of Iranian Women: We Are All a ‘Neda’ Now

FamilySecurityMatters.org
Sara Ahmadi

When it comes to Iran, it is important for one to understand many things, especially considering the events of the last few months. I always think that nobody will know what our people – especially women – have gone through here in Tehran, the heart of Iran.

The bitterest reality is the presence of the mullahs who have imposed their rules on us. I was lucky to see a few years less of the misery these mullahs have brought for us because I was born a few years after the beginning of their rule!

Iran has attracted the attention of the world after the righteous uprising of its people for freedom and democracy; the decisive right of the people.

What is most outstanding in this uprising is the presence of the women of my homeland – the uprising that introduced the innocence of Iranians, especially Iranian women, to the world by the name of Neda (Neda Aghasultan) and the last scenes of her life in this world.

Though my friends and I had gone to her grave for several times and cried over it, we still feel national pride for introducing such a symbol to the world because all of us, the Iranian women, are all a “Neda.”

You know that you are living under the rule of the mullahs if you walk in the streets of Tehran the way you wish to walk. When you step outside of your home, you are forced to be something else. The eyes of these criminals watch you everywhere, watch all your moves, controlling everything from the way you dress to a sudden smile that forms on your lips. Your presence is like a dagger landing in their dirty minds; they cannot bear the free presence of even one woman on the street.

Before the years when I attended university, they only controlled the color of my dress, an extra band of my hair coming out of the compulsory veil and the length of my dress. Yet now they control everything – most of all, they wish to control my thoughts!

University! Just being able to be present there as a woman and not to be afraid that I am a woman is an everyday battle. I thought when I become a student I would have some authority in society as an adult, but this was just a dream. The natural right of every human being is a dream in my country.

I witnessed one of my friends being deprived of her education – someone who tried harder than I did. I got it, despite feeling that I would probably be next. But I didn't lose hope because I knew I wasn't the only one.

Since the beginning of our history and especially since the rule of the mullahs, the oppression of women has been “routine.” As I studied more and became acquainted with different people, I realized it is a misogynous state.

Of course there have been a great number of women who fought in the torture chambers and prisons of this regime and made the henchmen kneel. They proved themselves despite of torture and imprisonment and it must be said that it was because of their struggle that I, as an Iranian woman, am standing at this point.

Iranian women have learned that they will never give us our freedom on a golden tray – thus we have tried to be present where ever we could. The last election presented an opportunity. We found the outlet and took to the fields. We are present everyday, we fight everyday and the war is not over yet.

During the past eight months, my friends and I have had experiences each day; from being beaten to having our arms broken to being attacked by tear gas to being arrested, to name just a few. But what is important is that we have learned how to fight back. We have learned that we must move in front of men and throw stones, as maybe this would make those who still have something of humanity left in them to stop slaughtering our brothers. We learned that we have to seize the batons of Bassijies no matter what the price; we are no less. We understood that now that we have learned martial arts, we can defend ourselves and those beside us.

I well recall that one day a dirty Bassiji hit an old mother in her leg with his baton. A boy went to defend her but he couldn’t. I approached the Bassiji from behind and by my using two martial art techniques, the scene changed. The Bassiji was shocked.

This is the reality in Iran – this glorious presence of young Iranian women shoulder to shoulder with the men in the fields of resistance. Instead of being busy with everyday house chores, Iranian women are pursuing their rights with bravery that has astonished the world. The symbols of our struggle include Neda, Taraneh (Taraneh Mosavi was raped several times by Khamenei's henchmen after she was arrested and her body was burnt with acid to cover this crime) and others.

These days, in spite all the horror provoked by the regime, we realize we cannot just sit by and let them turn us into slaves. There have been thousands of political prisoners and those who have fallen for freedom from amongst us, like the martyrs of the massacre of political prisoners in 1988, who are all buried in Khavaran. The regime fears very much people's gathering in Khavaran. In this cemetery, I saw mostly the names of women, very young ones who were only as old as I am now.

I ask myself: didn't these women love life? Of course they did but what was important for them – as it is for me and other women of my country now – was the right of freedom of any human being, gaining the freedom of our homeland. What I wonder is whether the world is hearing our loud cry for freedom. Does the international society know our condition? Do they know that each day thousands of us are being crushed under the boots of these criminals, on the gallows or in torture chambers, just for reaching for freedom and nobody comes to their aid?

What I really wish from the bottom of my heart is for West, and especially the U.S., to stop their appeasement policy toward this fascist regime so that the people of Iran can uproot this demon of their history.

Contrary to what Ahmadinejad and his Supreme Leader think, the people of Iran do not have a tendency toward violence, we simply want our freedom. If this regime wanted to, it could solve the problem with by holding a free election – but we know that this is not going to happen. The only way left is uprooting this regime in its entirety.

As students and intellectuals residing in the capital, we understand the different political and social problems such as poverty, corruption, prostitution, addiction, unemployment and the pressures imposed by these problems on society. We well know that the wealth of our country is easily used by power-mongers, as atomic bombs and different terrorist acts ordered by the rulers. We are thus inspired us not to keep silent, but to be effective, our voices must be echoed.

World powers must stop supporting and appeasing this regime and must stand beside the Iranian resistance leaded by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, its president-elect.

The women in the Students Committee in Iran demand U.S. to delist PMOI as a terrorist group; a listing that was based on the dirty policy of appeasement with this regime.

My homeland and its people are filled with the pain and suffering caused by appeasement policies with this religious fascist regime that have gone on for years. After eight months of uprising in Iran, the world must understand that Iranians defy this regime in its entirety.

Iranian women are under medieval pressures and limitations, but we will not retreat from our struggle and resistance. We all cry together that we are all a “Neda,” a “Neda” (Neda means cry for summoning) for the freedom of our homeland of Iran – and we need your support.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Sara Ahmadi is president of the Student Committee in Iran and a supporter of the PMOI

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Khalij Times: Stand Up for Iran’s Women

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui

8 March 2010

Today is International Women’s Day: a day to celebrate the achievements in the promotion of women’s rights globally and to commit to advance them further. This is a day when at Amnesty International we seek to reinforce our work with local and international partners to end violence against women, both in situations of conflict and in the home and protect migrant women from exploitation and other abuses.

In recent years we have also been campaigning in a number of countries to reduce maternal mortality and the discrimination and poverty, which lies at the heart of so many abuses against women.

Fighting for women’s rights in these areas requires, first and foremost, that women themselves have the freedom to debate, advocate and organise without fearing arrest, torture or even death. Yet today many courageous women in all continents struggle just to do so.

The struggle for women’s rights thrives around the world and in the UAE you need only look across the waters to find brave women standing up for women’s rights in spite of increasingly difficult challenges created by political repression.

In June last year, one such woman made global headlines when she was killed whilst taking part in the post-election protests in Iran. On the television and on the internet, millions of people witnessed the death of Neda Agha Soltan, believed to be at the hands of a member of Iran’s Basij militia although no one has yet been brought to justice for her killing. Neda’s killing somehow has become symbolic of the destiny of Iranian women where, in spite of deeply rooted discrimination, Neda was one of thousands of women who took to the streets of Teheran to express her views. She paid a high price for that. But was her stand in vain? The current government has introduced new rules, which worsen women’s unequal treatment under the law. In September last year regulations came into force in Iranian universities which prevent unmarried female students from studying outside their home towns or cities, restricting their free access to higher education. The majority of Iranian university students are women, and there are no such requirements for male students. A controversial Family Protection Bill which activists believe will actually worsen a woman’s place in the family also looks set to be passed into law.

Women in Iran already face widespread discrimination under the law. They cannot be presiding judges or stand for the Presidency. They don’t have equal rights with men in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. Evidence given by women in court is worth half that given by a man, and men get twice as much compensation for injury or death. While the legal age for marriage for girls is 13, compared to 15 for boys, fathers can apply for permission to arrange for their daughters to get married at a younger age — and to men much older than their daughters. Men have an incontestable right in law to divorce their spouse. Women do not.

Despite being treated as second class citizens by the authorities, Iranian women are claiming their right to be on an equal footing with men. They forced the issue of women’s rights onto the agenda of the presidential election. Women dissatisfied with the results of the election were prominent in the mass demonstrations by millions of Iranians who poured onto the streets.

Sadly, many were arrested, and Amnesty International collected damning testimonies from young women and men who had been taken into custody. Since then many women — including students, civil society activists, political activists and journalists — have joined the dozens of women’s rights activists already held in prisons. Around 50 members of the One Million Signature Campaign (also known as the Campaign for Equality), a popular movement demanding an end to discrimination against women in Iranian law, have been detained since its launch in August 2006. Early last month, Mahsa Jazini — a journalist and member of the Campaign for Equality — was arrested and held in Iran for some three weeks. She was told that the reason for her arrest was because she was a feminist. Only days ago, Mahboubeh Karami, another Campaign member, was arrested for the fifth time on March 2.

Members of the ‘Mourning Mothers’ — a group of women whose children were killed during the demonstrations and their supporters — have been arrested for peacefully protesting about human rights violations and demanding accountability.

Seven supporters of the Mourning Mothers — Leila Seyfi Elahi, Zhila Karamzadeh Makvandi, Fatemeh Rastegari, Mrs Ebrahim, Elham Ahsani, Farzaneh Zaynali and Manijeh Taheri — were arrested on February 7 and 8 this year and are detained in Section 209 of Evin Prison without charge or trial.

The women mentioned above and many others are very likely to be prisoners of conscience, held solely for their peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression, assembly and association, or on account of their family links. As such, they should be released immediately and unconditionally.

In spite of the myriad obstacles and injustices faced daily, Iranian women are showing the world that they want to control their destinies for themselves. Amnesty International joined a recent call made by women’s rights activists in Iran for freedom and gender equality to provide a voice for them when their own is silenced through repression or arrest. Too many women around the world will spend this year’s International Women’s Day in prison for peacefully expressing their views, or will be subjected to domestic violence, or will be tortured.

In Iran, just as in so many countries, groups like the One Million Signatures Campaign or the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign, run by the activists of Women’s Field, are working locally and nationally to expose violations. We should support the women of Iran along with activists for women’s rights all over the world on International Women’s Day — and every other day.

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui is Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. For comments, write to opinion@khaleejtimes.com

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HRW: Iran: Stop Undermining Women's Rights

On International Women's Rights Day, Iranian Activists to Open Campaign for Equality

(Beirut, March 7, 2010) - Iran should stop infringing on women's rights and take immediate steps to meet Iranian women's demands for full equality, Human Rights Watch said today. Iranian women's rights activists have issued a call for freedom and gender equality in Iran in connection with International Women's Rights Day on March 8.

Their campaign, Call for Solidarity: Freedom and Gender Equality in Iran, seeks an end to state-led violence and other forms of repression directed against both men and women. On January 10, 2010, for example, more than 30 women were beaten at a weekly vigil in Tehran. The women were seeking news of their sons and daughters who had been detained during the protests following the June 2009 presidential elections. This campaign calls on the authorities to immediately release all political detainees, including many women's rights activists.

"This initiative of Iranian women's rights activists is crucial to the overall struggle for democracy in Iran," said Nadya Khalife, women's rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch. "It is also a tribute to the strength of women, who continue to demand their rights and support fellow citizens in the toughest of times."

For more than 30 years, the women's rights movement has been at the forefront in the struggle for human rights and gender equality in Iran, Human Rights Watch said. Iranian women have been subjected to a range of discriminatory laws and practices, often under the guise of enforcing Islamic law.

As an example, the Legal and Judicial Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of the Parliament is pressing for passage of a Family Support Bill, including an amendment that would legalize polygamy. Under the proposed measure, a husband could take a new wife if his wife is diagnosed with a terminal illness, is away from home for six months, or even if she is imprisoned for a bounced check.

"Iranian women have bravely sought over and over to end gender-based discrimination, only to be met with threats, arrests, and imprisonment of activists," Khalife said. "Human Rights Watch calls on the Iranian government to allow women's rights groups to operate freely, without harassment, or worse."

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Iranian Women Launch Campaign for Gender Equality

Written by Benjamin Joffe-Walt
Published Sunday, March 07, 2010

International Women's Rights Day campaign launched two months after beatings of the 'Mourning Mothers'

Iranian women's activists have launched a campaign for gender equality to mark International Women's Rights Day.

The campaign, Call for Solidarity: Freedom and Gender Equality in Iran, targets gender-based discrimination against women and what campaigners describe as state-led violence.

Launched on International Women's Rights Day (March 8), the campaign comes two months after 32 women known as the 'Mourning Mothers' were beaten and arrested at a weekly vigil for their sons and daughters who have been missing since protests began after the disputed June 2009 national elections.

One of the 32 women remains in detention and 6 female supporters of the 'Mourning Mothers' have since been arrested. The women are believed to be detained in the notorious Section 209 of Evin prison, which is administered by Iran's Intelligence Ministry. Rights groups say none of the women have been charged with any offense or granted access to lawyers hired by their families.

"There have been many infringement on women's rights since the elections," Nadya Khalife, the women's rights researcher for the Middle East at Human Rights Watch told The Media Line. "Women are being detained imprisoned and harassed just like anyone else, so this campaign is not looking only at gender discrimination but positioning the women's rights movement as a component of the larger protest movement."

“Iranian women have bravely sought over and over to end gender-based discrimination, only to be met with threats, arrests, and imprisonment of activists,” Khalife said. “Human Rights Watch calls on the Iranian government to allow women’s rights groups to operate freely, without harassment, or worse.”

"There have been various campaigns over the past few years and there may be some provisions which have improved women's rights along the way but there are still many that are discriminatory and there remains a lot more to be done," she added.

Dr Eldad Pardo, an expert in Iranian gender issues at the Harry Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, said that while conditions for women in Iran have improved, women's rights issues are increasingly prominent in mainstream Iranian political culture.

”Things have improved since the 1980s, when there was pretty extreme gender apartheid in Iran," he told The Media Line. "But the general picture is that the Islamic Shiite legal system is still extremely anti-women. Women are still discriminated against, harassed by police patrols, forced to give away their children when they divorce and you still have stonings of women."

"As a result, the status of women has become a symbol of oppression for the Iranian opposition," Dr Pardo said. "The plight of women has become a metaphor for the plight of the Iranian nation and as a result women will continue to present a problem for the regime, because large sections of the Iranian population, particularly in the cities, would like to see straightforward equality, including gender equality and everything else."

Women's rights have seen gradual improvements over recent years in Iran. Efforts are underway to reform gender-based compensation laws, in which a family of a woman who dies is awarded half the amount awarded to a dead man. Iranian parliamentarians have also discussed reforms to gender-based inheritance rights and introducing laws against the ability of Iranian men to marry many wives.

But President Ahmadinejad's administration began strengthening sex segregation laws in his first term, beginning with a ban on women being present in government ministry offices after working hours. This was followed by a program to replace male teachers in girls' high schools with female teachers. Shortly thereafter the country's Science Ministry launched a plan to create separate entrances for men and women at the country's universities and segregate some of the classes.

Only a portion of the segregation programs have been implemented, but symbols of unrest in Iranian gender relations were apparent early in the election campaigns last year, as presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi openly asserted the need for greater rights for women, an end to legalized gender discrimination, an increase in women's participation in Iranian workplaces and politics and a curb in the powers of religious police.

The candidate attacked the various barriers faced by women's rights activists and pledged to review "all discriminatory and unjust regulations against women's legal and judicial security", to devise "comprehensive plans for the promotion of women's rights at the country's social, economic, and political stage" and to work towards "eliminating violence against women by adopting legal supportive measures."

Moussavi also promised to repeal the expansive powers of Iran's religious police, which require women to wear loose-fitting clothing covering the entire body and something covering the hair. Some Iranian women completely cover their hair, but most do not.

To differing degrees, the other opposition candidates followed suit and for the first time since the Islamic revolution, women's rights entered public discourse and women have been at the forefront of Iran's burgeoning protest movement since the disputed elections.

Following Ahmadinejad's reelection, the government has made various moves to further segregate office buildings, hospitals, public parks and primary schools, and in the half year since the president was reelected a number of Iranian ministers and religious leaders have called for a more strict adherence to sex segregation in various aspects of public life.

Most notably, the former speaker of the Iranian parliament Haddad Adel, who is close to both President Ahmadinejad and Iran's supreme religious figure Ayatollah Khamenei, called on the country's new science minister Kamran Daneshjoo to segregate Iranian universities.

"Islamization of universities is a long awaited task for the new minister of science and we hope to accomplish it soon with the help of theology centers around the country and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution," Adel was quoted as saying.

Late last month the minister seemed to comply, stating that Iran "shall segregate students on sexual lines as the Islamic worldview requires."

The Legal and Judicial Commission of Iran's parliament has also been pushing a new Family Support Bill, which includes an amendment legalizing polygamy.

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Life inside EVIN

oudabeh Ardavan's prison drawings

Interview by Fariba Amini
September 26, 2002
The Iranian

Soudabeh Ardavan is from Tabriz, a former political prisoner now living in Sweden. She is in her early 40's. She spent eight years of her precious life in the Islamic regime's jail. She is also an artist who drew prison life while she was confined in a cell with other women.

Through these images, drawn from the time she became a prisoner in 1981 until she was released in 1989, Soudabeh tells a story of those horrible days. While in prison, her mother had a stroke because she had thought Soudabeh was among the many executed prisoners; she could not bear the thought of it. She died at age 57, a year after Soudabeh was released.

Soudabeh Ardavan speaks of those days. She and fellow inmates were kept in a small cell made for three people, but at times, the cell was shared with as many as 40 prisoners. Sanitary conditions were very poor. There was no proper clothing, and prisoners were given little food and minimum access to the shower. As punishment, prisoners were denied the use of toilets.

Prisoners would sleep on the floor, leaving enough space for the injured who had been severely tortured by guards to get confessions. Soudabeh had not confessed. She was considered a "sar mozei" -- a term used for those who had resisted torture. Those who had repented were called "tavaabin".

She tells her tale, enough to make you shiver. It makes you wonder if it is possible in this day and age, for a human being to be treated with such cruelty only because they were young and outspoken.

She was a university student interested in politics, books and publishing. She was studying architecture and interior design at Tehran's Polytechnic Institute. It was during the Cultural Revolution when the wide-scale crackdown began. The ruling revolutionaries wanted to get rid of "corrupt elements".

She was charged with participating in demonstrations against the Islamic Republic. At first, she was detained, interrogated, and finally, blindfolded on the floor, and sentenced to two years in jail. There was no judge nor a jury or a lawyer. "Islamic justice" did not take more than a few minutes.

It was the most despicable time in the history of the Islamic regime. Interrogation, torture, execution were the order of the day. For the next 8 years, she would be transferred, from Evin to Ghessel Hessar prison, back and forth, from one unit to another, spending time in between in solitary.

She remembers the first time she entered a cell. She thought she had entered a girls school. The prisoners were all young girls, in their teens. Sometimes, there were older women, as old as one's grandmother. They had apparently aided the prisoners or were family members.

Her three famous prison mates were Bijan Jazani's mother; Maryam Taleghani, the daughter of Ayatollah Taleghani, and writer Sharnoush Parsipour.

She tried to write her story through the many pictures she drew. First she hid them for fear of punishment. Then she would get rid of them. Later, she would keep her artwork and somehow smuggle them out. Other prisoners would help her find paper and pencils. She drew her cell mates, guards, life in prison, and cell conditions.

Excepts from my interview with Soudabeh:

I tried very hard, under excruciating conditions and fearing for my life as well as others in my cellblock, to capture moments, horrifying moments and sometimes beautiful ones. I drew pictures of the guards, their faces so cruel, without humanity. I drew pictures of cell mates who had become like sisters to me; their innocence, their youth, their fears.

I drew pictures of all of us cleaning the small area we lived in. Or the outside courtyard where we would exercise, when allowed. I drew pictures of the ugly, the unclean, the pure and the blue sky with white birds, hopinng to see freedom one day. I drew everything and anything.

First it was all black and white. I had no colors. Sometimes I would use the petal of a flower or tea to create color. Then someone threw a box of color magic markers through the cell. So I drew color pictures.

I tried to capture a time when evil had taken over all our lives. When the outside world was unaware of the crimes taking place in the jails of the Islamic regime. When revolutionary guards would come to our cells, beat us, flog us, torture us and then leave. And we would ask ourselves why? Why so much inhumanity? Are these people from the same land we have come from?

Most of the guards were extremely vicious and used foul language to humiliated us, and destroy us psychologically -- as they had attempted with physical torture. Most of us did not confess and kept our mouth shut. That would make them more furious. Then more floggings and beatings would begin.

From time to time, the head guard would come in. They were two women. They looked ugly and big and extremely rude. They were pros. I was told they were there from the Shah's era. Their names were Bakhtiari and Alizadeh. They would kick us real hard. The Bakhtiari woman wore a soldier's outfit and she would constantly curse us and beat us. She barked like a dog!

Most of the time, in our cell, we did not have to wear our scarves or the chador, only when the male guards would come in. There was the head of the prison, a man called Haji Rahmani. He was huge, quite a character, very vicious. We would be ordered to put our hejab and then he would come in and beat us. I believe he now holds a post in the Ministry of Intelligence.

Sometimes those who had repented -- tavaabin -- would spy on us and at other times they too would beat us. They were the ones who had asked for forgiveness and as a result of their "good behavior" they would be given a special task of making life even more miserable for other prisoners. Sometimes, they would even hold a gun in front of us to frighten us. We were very careful when they were around. We would not talk or say anything in front of them.

Out of the 8 years I was imprisoned, I remember only three months when I felt good. That's when we were taken to a prison block, which had a nice courtyard. There were flowers and trees. And no sign of tavaabin! We felt free, sort of speak. We could talk and walk and socialize without their presence. To some degree, we were not watched and I could breathe a little.

A few months later, when we were once again moved, we heard of the horror stories about the mass executions in prison. In the summer of 1988, right after the ceasefire between Iran and Iraq, there were many prisoners whose terms had ended but werenn't released.

Khomeini had personanlly ordered the male "infidel" prisoners be executed and the women lashed five times a day according to Islamic law. [Amnesty has reported close to 5000 prisoners were murdered in the prisons of the Islamic regime in 1988].

Death sentences were carried out against those who did not repent and beg for mercy. Twenty-five were taken from our cell alone. So many young men and women were amongst them. They were followers of the Mojahedin Khalgh or Fadaian, and many others. I was one of the lucky ones. I was released.

What can I say? The time I spent in prison will never be erased from my memory. So many lives were shattered. So many families lost loved ones. Many parents, facing the loss of their sons or daughters would eventually die from grief. Now, I am trying slowly to build a normal life.

I am studying Swedish and attend art school. I am also working on a book with two other former political prisoners. It is the first time we are telling our stories. A Swedish psychologist and a journalist have also collaborated on this book. My book containing more than 100 prison drawings, will be published by winter 2002.

I am hoping people will see these paintings and never forget the many innocent lives lost in those years, the many of us whose lives changed forever. The drawings tell a tale of the darkest history in our country.

As for the future, I hope to continue my life without feeling remorse. I am not vengeful. I do not want revenge from my captors. I only hope that one day, those who were directly involved in these crimes will be tried in a court of law and none would ever be able to hold political or governmental office. I do not believe in the death penalty. I want justice to be served but only under international law. And I truly believe that one-day; soon, justice will be served.

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