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International Organizations demonstrate solidarity with women of Iran on International Women's Day
Change for Equality has called on its international partners to use the month of March as a time to highlight the efforts of Iranian women to create a more equal and just society
. The One Million Signatures Campaign is one of the most prominent tools of the women's rights movement in Iran. The One Million Signatures Campaign works to end the discriminatory laws in Iran against women.
Nobel Laureates call for international intervention in Iran on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution
To mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Shirin Ebadi is calling upon the international community to help end the political crisis and mounting repression in Iran. In an open letter to the Honourable Madam Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) she outlines the mounting human rights abuses and calls for immediate action by the UN.
The people of Iran are continuing to resist and insist on the realization of their just demands for democracy and human rights by demonstrating their political maturity through peaceful protests. -- Shirin Ebadi
Iranian Government continues attempts to silence activists
The Iranian Government is continuing its campaign of intimidating activists, arresting thousands. Many of the detainees are women, who seemingly vanish into Iranian prisons without a trace. The security and intelligence forces justify their actions using a blanket detention order, which gives agents the license to arrest anyone at will.
Peace Laureates Unite to Condemn Treatment of Shirin Ebadi and Iranian Activists
In an open letter to Iranian President Ahmadi Nejad, 14 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates condemn Iran's intimidation of Shirin Ebadi and other Iranian activists. The letter was signed by Wangari Maathai, Jody Williams, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, F.W. de Klerk, and 9 other Nobel Peace Laureates. The letter warns Ahmadi Nejad's government that the crackdown on opposition will not end the demands for human rights.
Peace Laureates Unite to Condemn Treatment of Shirin Ebadi and Iranian Activists
President, Islamic Republic of Iran
Pasteur Avenue
Tehran, Iran 13168-43311
21 January 2010
To President Ahmadi Nejad:
We are deeply distressed to learn of the recent actions taken against our sister Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi. We urge the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately release all funds belonging to Dr. Ebadi and her husband and stop the harassment of Dr. Ebadi and her family.
Dr. Ebadi has been the target of a long campaign of intimidation. In the past, her home has been vandalized, her offices have been searched and shut down and her documents and computer seized. Dr. Ebadi has been denied access to her bank accounts and denied her pension payments. She has received death threats and her family members have been threatened as well. Her husband has also had assets frozen and confiscated and has been assaulted and detained. Most recently, her sister Dr. Nooshin Ebadi was arrested and detained.
Although the foreign ministry has implied that the assets have been frozen because of a tax dispute, Dr. Ebadi has stated that the confiscation of her property is in breach of the law of the Islamic republic. The claim from the government for taxes on the Nobel Peace Prize money has been presented only recently, many years after her receipt of the funds. The fact that Dr. Ebadi's assets were frozen by an order from the Islamic Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office, rather than tax authorities, and the blocking of her husband's assets and accounts, further undermines the credibility of the claim that this is a tax dispute. Any genuine dispute about taxes should be resolved by the proper procedures and authorities, not by security forces through such unlawful and extrajudicial methods.
In 2003, Dr. Ebadi was the first Iranian to win the Nobel Peace Prize and her honor brought honor to the Iranian people. Dr. Ebadi advocates on behalf of Iranian political activists, religious and ethnic minorities, and women and children through peaceful means. The continued attempts to intimidate her and stop her work are not only futile, they color your regime as unjust and unreasonable.
These recent actions against Dr. Ebadi appear to be part of an intensifying strategy to silence civil society and human-rights defenders. This has included the harassment, arrest, imprisonment, torture and execution of human rights activists, violent reactions to peaceful protests and a crackdown on Internet access and press freedom. We have recently learned of the arrest of more than sixteen women human rights activists and the imposition of the death sentence on five other human rights activists.
We know this strategy will not succeed. Thousands of Iranians will continue to express their ideas about how they want to live and what they believe Iran should look like and we, along with the rest of the world, will continue to support them. We urge you to halt the policies of intimidation and harassment of Iranian citizens exercising their rights. It is long past time to listen to and work with the people of Iran instead of violently suppressing them.
We respectfully await a response to our concerns and requests.
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize (1976)
Betty Williams, Nobel Peace Prize (1976)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize (1984)
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize (1986)
His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize (1989)
Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Nobel Peace Prize (1992)
F.W. de Klerk, Nobel Peace Prize (1993)
President Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize (1996)
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize (1997)
John Hume, Nobel Peace Prize (1998)
David Trimble, Nobel Peace Prize (1998)
Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize (2003)
Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize (2004)
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Political prisoners in Iran face execution: 16 women arrested
The Iranian Government has arrested more than 16 women journalists and human rights activists in its most recent crackdown on protesters, activists and the political opposition. The Nobel Women's Initiative is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of these women, including Mansoureh Shojaee, a founder of the One Million Signatures Campaign, and Dr. Noushin Ebadi, Shirin Ebadi's sister.
Sentencing of the detainees will soon begin, and it is expected that some of the more than 100 individuals arrested will be tried as enemies of God, and sentenced to death. Others face prolonged imprisonment, torture and further harassment. Security forces have refused to release the charges and detention location of many of the detainees to the media - or even the prisoners' own families.
Read more »Shirin Ebadi Calls for the Immediate Release of her Sister *UPDATE: Dr. Noushin Ebadi, Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi's sister, has been released from prison on bail.*
The Nobel Women's Initiative joins Shirin Ebadi in this call for the immediate release of her sister, Dr Noushin Ebadi, arrested December 28 in Tehran.
Declaration by Shirin Ebadi
I hereby declare that my sister Dr. Noushin Ebadi who is a Medical lecturer at Azad University of Tehran was detained by four officers from the counter-intelligence agency of Islamic Republic of Iran.
She was arrested at 9 pm today (28/12/2009) at her home in Tehran. At present, we have no information of her whereabouts.
During the past two months, my sister had been contacted by the elements within the government and told in no uncertain terms to contact me and persuade me to cease my activities as a human rights advocate.
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In Honor and Celebration of the Civil Rights Movement in Iran
In celebration of International Human Rights Day, on Saturday December 12, 2009 United4Iran will facilitate Arts United 4 Iran, a day devoted to worldwide displays of musical, visual, and performing arts highlighting the issues of human rights in Iran. This non-partisan event will focus on human and civil rights in solidarity with the people of Iran. Nobel Women's Initiative is proud to support this event and the people struggling nonviolently for their rights in Iran.
Visit http://united4iran.com/ to read news, view videos, download podcasts and much more.
Update: Check the Flickr stream to see photos and video of the actions that took place around the world.
Read more »Iran Illegally Siezes Assets of Shirin Ebadi
Iranian authorities have illegally frozen the assets of Nobel Peace Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, and seized a safety deposit box containing her Nobel Peace Prize. This in a bid to increase pressure on Ebadi after her widespread calls on the Iranian government to improve human rights.
"Iranian officials want to put pressure on me in this way but it is not working," Ebadi said, according to the website of Radio Farda, a Farsi-language service that broadcasts from Europe to Iran.
"If the Islamic republic is angry about the publication of human rights reports, they would do better by improving the human rights situation," she told them.
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Congratulations to the Award-Winning One Million Signatures Campaign!
The One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality in Iran won the Reach all Women in WAR's third annual Anna Politkovskaya Award in September. The grassroots campaign, launched in 2006, aims to collect one million signatures of Iranian nationals to a petition demanding an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran.
RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) annually presents the Anna Politkovskaya Award to a woman human rights defender from a conflict zone in the world who, like Anna, stands up for the victims of conflict, often at great personal risk.
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