09/03/2018
To: Women’s rights organizations, trade unions and all concerned individuals and organisations
Condemn the crackdown on the International Women’s Day rally in Iran
More than 80 people were arrested
On Thursday 8th march 2018, people gathered outside of the Ministry of Labour in Tehran- Iran to mark the International Women’s Day. Women were holding a placard saying: “We do not stop until we end discrimination”, “Freedom, justice, gender equality” and “No to gender discrimination”. The security forces attacked the demonstrators; they arrested more than 80 women and men and forcibly took them to Vozara Detention Centre in Tehran. The guards violently tried to take away the participants’ mobile phones to stop them from publicising the news on the social media. According to eye witnesses there was a heavy presence of security forces, in vans and on motorcycles, around the area where rally was held.
According to the families, 10 detainees were released on the same night but most of them were kept in the detention centre. The families of detainees have gathered in front of the detention centre to demand the release of their children. Following is a video which was recorded by an eyewitness, on the night of March 8th, showing families who were marching and chanting: “we stay here and wait for their release”:
Some of these families do not have any news about the whereabouts of their children.
Protests against the misogynist Islamic laws in Iran and particularly against Hijab (Islamic dress code) have been an ongoing battle in the last 39 years. Prior to the above rally on March 8th, two women had been sentenced to two years in prison for participating in the ‘The Girls of Revolution Street’ movement which is opposing the Hijab. Tehran’s public prosecutor, Dolatabadi, stated that: “these women are charged with ‘inciting prostitution and corruption’ by removing their hijab in public”. The regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in his speech which was coincided with the International Women’s Day, stated, “Those who are protesting against Hijab must face punishment”.
Over the past four decades, hundreds of thousands of women have been assaulted, imprisoned, tortured and some raped and executed by the government in Iran for defying the Islamic regime’s laws and policies. Following the revolution of 1979, the Islamic regime hijacked the revolution and started its first attack against freedom by attacking women’s right in the form of imposing the compulsory Hijab. As time went on, the regime made misogynist policies and violence against women legal. The Islamic regime in Iran, including Rouhani’s regime, continues to deny basic human rights to women wherever possible. Tens of female political and civil rights activists are currently suffering in prison, some of them along with their young children, without their stories being heard.
About ‘The Girls of Revolution Street’ movement
Following the recent protests in Iran from December 2017 to January 2018, one woman began a new wave of protests against the Hijab (Islamic dress code) by performing a symbolic act. She courageously took her Hijab off and stood high on the top of a utility box in the middle of a crowded Revolution Street in Tehran. She tied her Hijab to a stick, and waved it to the crowd below her, symbolising her protest again the Islamic dress code. Since this brave act, many women have been inspired by her. Tens of women in different cities have boldly protested the Hijab in the same
symbolic way. More than 35 of these women have been arrested and many attacked by security forces for partaking in what is now known as the protest. Despite all the attacks, harassment and imprisonment, ‘The Girls of Revolution Street’ movement has spread in several cities in Iran. The regime has not been able to silence the women in Iran in their fight against the Hijab and the misogynist Islamic laws that have been enforced for four decades.
Urgent Action
We ask you to stand up for women’s rights in Iran and take an urgent action by sending a protest letter to the authorities in Iran to demand the immediate and unconditional release of the recent detainees. Your solidarity with women’s rights in Iran is vital. A sample letter is provided below.
[Sample Letter]
“ We condemn the crackdown on the rally which was held on March 8th, the International Women’s Day in Tehran outside of the Minister of Labour. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of these detainees and all jailed women’s rights activist. We urge you to end the harassment and imprisonment of women’s rights activists in Iran. “
Please send your letter to:
Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadiran.ir
Hassan Rouhani
Email: media@rouhani.ir
Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English) and @Rouhani_ir (Persian)
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
Email: iran@un.int
@khamenei_ir
Campaign o Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
For more information please contact:
Shiva Mahbobi, Spokesperson for CFPPI
+44(0) 7572356661 , shiva.mahbobi@gmail.com
www.cfppi.org