Iranian Women’s Rights Activists Sentenced to Jail
eleven women’s rights activists in Gilan-Iran province were summoned to serve a combined thirty-two years in prison.
July 17, 2024
The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) has launched a campaign in support of eleven women’s rights activists who have been sentenced to prison in Iran’s Gilan province.
For over 45 years, the Islamic regime in Iran has systematically oppressed women, depriving half of society of their basic and fundamental rights. Gender apartheid has been a consistent policy of the regime for the past 45 years.
In the aftermath of the recent contested elections in Iran, the regime announced Masoud Pezeshkian as the new president in July 2024. Despite being labeled as a ‘reformist’ and ‘moderate’ by Western media, Pezeshkian is deeply embedded in the current regime. He has held various governmental positions since 1979 and is a staunch supporter of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an organization notorious for decades of atrocities in Iran and the suppression of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Pezeshkian supports compulsory hijab laws, which empower the IRGC to harass, arrest, torture, and even murder women, exemplified by the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini by morality police in 2022 over hijab regulations.
Following the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, women in Iran initiated a women-led revolution in 2022. Their unwavering resistance against one of the world’s most brutal regimes, under the slogan “WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM,” has mobilized people across Iran and resonated globally.
In response to recent mass protests against the hijab as a symbol of women’s discrimination, the regime has intensified its crackdown on women and women’s rights activists, attempting to intimidate them. This crackdown began with harassment on the streets and violence but has escalated.
In the past week, eleven women’s rights activists in Gilan province, who were sentenced to a total of sixty years in prison, were summoned to serve their sentences. So far, Zohreh Dadras, Zahra Dadras, Jelveh Javaheri, Forough Samii-Nia, Shiva Shah-Siah, Negin Rezaei, Azadeh Chavooshian, and Sara Jahani have gone to prison to serve their sentences. Matin Yazdani, Yasmin Hashdari, and Hooman Taheri may also be arrested and taken to prison at any moment.
The CFPPI has received reports of harassment and abduction of rights activists in Iran by the IRGC. Among these activists is Sharifeh Mohammadi, a jailed labor activist sentenced to execution for her labor rights activities. Currently, a nationwide campaign for the release of Sharifeh Mohammadi, initiated by her family, has gained widespread support from civil activists, political prisoners, and labor unions worldwide.
The CFPPI calls on concerned individuals and organizations to join the Free Sharifeh Mohammadi campaign and the campaign against the prison sentences of the eleven women’s rights activists in Gilan, Iran. CFPPI demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.
How You Can Support:
We invite you to support political prisoners and their families in Iran through the following actions:
Send Emails/Tweets: Contact Islamic regime representatives demanding the immediate and unconditional halt of all execution sentences and the release of political prisoners.
Write to Your Government: Urge your government and members of parliament to:
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Pressure the Islamic regime to release all women’s rights activists and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally.
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Designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization for committing crimes against humanity.
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Demand the unconditional and immediate release of political prisoners as a precondition for any negotiations with Iran.
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Social Media Campaign: Record and publish a short video clip or post on social media to show solidarity with political prisoners in Iran. Use the hashtags:
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#FreeIranPoliticalPrisoners
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#StopExecutionsInIran
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FreeSharifehMohammadi
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Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
www.cfppi.org
For media inquiries, please contact:
Parisa Pouyande, Chairwoman Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Tel: +31622029312