Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) Condemns Execution Sentences, Enforced Disappearances, and Gender-Based Violence Against Women’s Rights Activists in Iran
International Support Needed as the Regime in Iran Escalate Crackdown on Women’s Rights Advocates and Political Prisoners
The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) urgently calls on governments, women’s rights and human rights organizations, and labour unions worldwide to condemn the regime’s recent sentencing of women’s rights activists to death and its intensifying campaign of assault, abduction, and forced hospitalization against women defying mandatory hijab laws.
In recent months, female activists in Iran have faced brutal repression, including enforced disappearances, forced psychiatric confinement, and capital punishment. Among the imprisoned are Verisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi, two prominent women’s rights advocates from Kurdistan-Iran, who were abducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in August 2023. Both women were reportedly tortured and deprived of medical care during extended solitary confinement. Moradi, an activist and sports coach, was sentenced to execution in November 2024 without the opportunity to defend herself in court. Azizi, a humanitarian worker, received her death sentence in July 2024.
In protest of these draconian measures, female political prisoners in Iran’s Evin Prison bravely staged a protest on October 10, 2024, the World Day Against the Death Penalty, and subsequently Moradi began a 20-day hunger strike to draw attention to the escalating execution sentences in Iran. These protests were met with further punitive measures and sentencing from prison authorities.
Beyond the prison walls, Islamic regime in Iran continue to oppress women who defy the strict hijab laws. Authorities have recently announced plans to establish clinics aimed at “curing” women who refuse to wear the hijab, in what CFPPI warns is an attempt to normalize psychological torture under the guise of “mental health treatment.” Women detained for defying hijab laws are increasingly subjected to sexual assaults, torture, forced hospitalization, and psychiatric confinement.
Two recent high-profile cases highlight the severity of the crackdown:
- Ahou Daryaei, a 30-year-old university student and mother of two, was violently detained after publicly protesting the hijab. She was subsequently transferred to a psychiatric facility under claims of mental instability, and her condition and location remain undisclosed.
- Roshanak Molaei, a 25-year-old woman, was harassed by a uniformed man for walking without a hijab. After defending herself, she was detained and forcibly disappeared on November 3, 2024. Her whereabouts are unknown.
CFPPI condemns these actions as the crime against women and calls for global intervention to protect the rights and lives of detained women in Iran.
The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) urges the international community to demand the following from the regime in Iran:
- Immediate overturning of execution sentences including those of women’s rights activists, Verisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi.
- An end to the crackdown on women’s rights, including arrests, forced disappearances, and psychiatric confinements.
- Immediate release of Ahou Daryaei, Roshanak Molaei, and all political prisoners,who are detained for exercising basic freedoms and advocating for human rights.
CFPPI urges governments, human rights and women’s rights organizations worldwide to hold the regime in Iran accountable for its systematic persecution of women and activists. The international community’s voice is essential in preventing further human rights violations in Iran and supporting those who courageously stand against oppression.
For further information, please contact:
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran(CFPPI)
For media inquiries, please contact:
Shiva Mahbobi, Spokeswoman
Tel: +44757235666