THANK YOU

A huge THANK YOU for your support in 2012! Looking forward to a great 2013 in the fight for human rights!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151177794966363&set=a.399313911362.181157.7192716362&type=1&theater

Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a leading human rights lawyer widely respected for her efforts on behalf of juveniles facing the death penalty and for her defense of prisoners of conscience.

JAILED IN IRAN

On Sunday January 11th 2011, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a mother of two, was sentenced to 11 years in prison

The sentence included five years for 'violating the Islamic dress code (Hejab)' in a filmed acceptance speech, in which she was accepting a Human Rights Prize by the International Committee on Human Rights, in 2008.

Five years for 'acting against the national security of the country' and 1 year is for 'propaganda against the regime'.

She has also been banned from practising law and leaving the country for 20 years.

About Nasrin

During the reform years, in addition to her social and legal activism, Nasrin Sotoudeh worked as a journalist in reformist newspapers. After receiving her license to practice law, she officially began her work as an attorney and she has been working tirelessly especially in the areas of human rights and children’s rights ever since.

Nasrin took on her first case in the area of women’s rights a year after the start of her legal career. Following the launch of the One Million Signatures Campaign and the widespread growth of the women’s rights movement, she represented many women’s rights activists and especially Campaign activists fully pro-bono and without the smallest monetary expectation.

She is a member of the board of directors of the Society for Defense of Children’s Rights where she defended victims of child abuse.

Following her attempt to save the life of Arash Ramanipour, who was hung in January 2010 for crimes he had allegedly committed under the age of 18, she went on record to reveal the illegal process of conducting his execution.

At that time, she was threatened that if she publicly spoke on the cases she represented, she would be arrested.

PETITION TO FREE NASRIN

http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/rights-defenders/nasrin-sotoudeh/about-nasrin/246-about-nasrin-sotoudeh.html

UN Iran expert raises "access to education" at seminar in UK parliament

A seminar held on 18 December at the UK parliament, exploring the issue of access to education in Iran, was addressed by Ahmed Shaheed – the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran.

LONDON — The Iranian government's policy of excluding those it deems "ideologically unsound" from higher education is eroding progress made in women's access to secondary education, creating significant obstacles for minorities, and undermining academic freedom.

Those were among the concerns expressed at a seminar, held at the UK parliament, by Ahmed Shaheed – the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran.

Stressing the importance of global scrutiny of Iran on its human rights record, Dr. Shaheed noted that the "international community has an indispensable role to play in continuing to support the voices of Iranian citizens that continue to demand that the right to education become a reality for all."

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  A panel of human rights experts addressed a seminar held on 18 December at the UK parliament, exploring the issue of access to education in Iran.

Enlarge (2 images)

The seminar, held on 18 December, was organised by the UK parliament's All Party Parliamentary Friends of the Baha'is group and chaired by Nic Dakin, member of parliament for Scunthorpe.

Among other contributors to the discussion was Scott Sheeran, Director of the Human Rights in Iran unit at the University of Essex Human Rights Center. He explored the complex connections that link the right to education to other rights, such as the rights of minorities, non-discrimination and equality before the law, and freedoms of expression, religion and belief.

Daniel Wheatley of the UK Baha'i community shared details of the lengths to which Iran's government has gone to exclude Baha'is from access to higher education, while Tahirih Danesh – an independent researcher on women's rights – paid tribute to imprisoned human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh

http://news.bahai.org/story/937

Amnesty International Netherlands

Amnesty International Netherlands Our deepest sympathy goes to Ms Nasrin Sotoudeh and her family. Amsterdam, 21 december 2012 Not only because of Nasrin Sotoudeh’s injust imprisonment and poor health as a result of her recent hungerstrike and not getting the medical assistance she needs, but also because we have heard the sad news that Nasrin’s mother has deceased. In these difficult and sad times we wish Nasrin and her family the strength to cope with this unbearable loss. We would like to express our deepest desire that Nasrin and her family will share this grief together and she will be soon reunited with her husband, children and family. We are with them in thought. 

American pastor imprisoned without notice of charges while visiting family in Iran

By Lisa Daftari

Published December 19, 2012

FoxNews.com

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  Saeed Abedini is seen with his family.

A 32-year-old Iranian who is a U.S. citizen and a Christian convert has been imprisoned without notice of any formal charges while visiting his family in Iran, according to his wife and attorneys in the U.S., who are now hoping that a media campaign will help set him free.

The Rev. Saeed Abedini, who lives in the U.S. with his wife and two young children, was making one of his frequent visits to see his parents and the rest of his family in Iran, his country of origin and where he spent many years as a Christian leader and community organizer developing Iran's underground home church communities for Christian converts.

On this last trip, the Iranian government pulled him off a bus and said he must face a penalty for his previous work as a Christian leader in Iran.

He is currently awaiting trial at Iran's notoriously brutal Evin Prison, where he has been incarcerated since late September.

"When he became a Christian, he became a criminal in his own country. His passion was to reach the people of Iran," Naghmeh, his wife, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News.

"He comes from a very close-knit family, and he loved evangelizing and passing out Bibles on the streets of Tehran. This was his passion," she said.

In July, Abedini left his wife and kids to go to Iran to visit family and continue a humanitarian effort he began years ago to build an orphanage.

After a short visit to a nearby country, Abedini was traveling back into Iran to catch his flight back to the U.S. when members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard stopped his bus near the Turkey-Iran border and pulled Abedini from the bus, confiscating his passports and subjecting him to intense interrogation, according to his wife.

After weeks under house arrest and many calls to Iran's passport control office about the status of his confiscated passport, Abedini was told that his case has been referred to the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian government's elite military force.

On Sept. 26, five men kicked open the door of Abedini's parents' residence in Tehran where they collected all communications devices and arrested him while placing the rest of his family members, who are also Christians converts from Islam, under house arrest.

The family remains under house arrest, according to Naghmeh.

Two days before the home raid, Naghmeh reports getting a call to her cellphone in the U.S., from someone she thinks was an Iranian government agent threatening that she would "never see him again."

Abedini is the father of a house church movement in Iran, a community of underground places of worship for former Muslims who convert to Christianity and are not allowed to formally pray in recognized churches.

Over the course of his involvement, his home church movement had about 100 churches in 30 Iranian cities with more than 2,000 members.

"It was just growing so fast. They see the underground churches as a threat and they see Christianity as a tool from the West to undermine them," Naghmeh said. "They think if the country becomes more Christian, they are no longer under Islamic authority. That's why it's a threat."

But "Christianity saved his life," Naghmeh says of her husband, who converted at the age of 20, after becoming severely depressed from undergoing suicide bomber training by a radical Muslim group.

Abedini was recruited in high school and taken to the mosque to be trained, she says. The more he sought to be a devout Muslim and the deeper he went into training, the more depressed he became.

Under Shariah, or Islamic law, a Muslim who converts to Christianity is on a par with someone waging war against Islam. Death sentences for such individuals are prescribed by fatwas, or legal decrees, and reinforced by Iran’s Constitution, which allows judges to rely on fatwas for determining charges and sentencing on crimes not addressed in the Iranian penal code.

All religious minorities in Iran, including Bahais, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians, have faced various forms of persecution and political and social marginalization throughout the regime’s 30-year reign. But the government saves its harshest retribution for those who have abandoned Islam.

During the many rounds of interrogations, Abedini has informally been told he will be charged for threatening the national security of Iran and espionage, due to his involvement with Christian house churches and foreign Christian satellite TV ministries.

The Iranian government offered bail in the amount of 500 million toman, or roughly $410,000. Abedini's family has prepared the bail documents many times already but have not been successful in having it accepted or approved, they say.

Just this week they prepared yet again the bail documents but were told they were not going to be accepted. When they inquired, they were told, "Boro Gomsho!" or get lost.

"It's hardest on the kids," Naghmeh said. "Saeed was a stay-at-home dad. My daughter said she is forgetting Daddy's voice and she asked me, 'Do you think he has a beard now?' I didn't even think of that. She keeps playing the home videos over and over. It's the hardest at night because he had a night routine with them when he would read them books and tuck them in. They miss that the most."

Abedini and his wife had met in Iran in 2002, while she was there working for Iranian relatives, and were married shortly thereafter. Together, they worked as Christian leaders in the underground house churches. After facing persecution for these activities, in 2005, they moved to the U.S. together.

His first trip back to Iran was in 2009 with his wife and two children to visit his family when he came under government scrutiny. As the family attempted to catch their flight back to the U.S., Abedini was detained and told he would have to stay in the country for further questioning. His wife and children were put on a plane bound for the U.S., separated from their husband and father.

After the arrest and rounds of intense interrogation, in which the interrogators threatened Abedini with death for his conversion to Christianity, they agreed to release him, according to his attorneys, but only after he signed a written agreement in which the government would not charge him for his Christian activities, and he would be allowed to enter and exit the country so long as he ceased all official house church activities.

According to his attorneys, he had honored this agreement. "He thought if he honored his part, they would honor theirs. He was transparent about his humanitarian work there," said Tiffany Barrans, International Legal Director at the American Center for Law and Justice based in Washington D.C, the organization representing Abedini’s U.S.-based family.

This was ninth trip since 2009 to visit family and to continue his humanitarian work on developing a non-sectarian orphanage in the city of Rasht on a family-owned land plot.

"You have a situation of arbitrary detention here. Iran is violating its own constitution and its international obligations. As citizens of the world, we need to wake up to these violations. Iran needs to be exposed for its violation of these laws," said Barrans, who has been working very closely with Naghmeh to push for her husband's release.

The American Center for Law and Justice is providing legal support to Naghmeh by working through the US government, members of Congress, various governments around the world, and with leaders in the United Nations to help release Pastor Saeed.

The ACLJ previously played an integral role in reaching various government representatives in the case of imprisoned minister Youcef Nadarkhani, who was freed from an Iranian prison after nearly three years following a tremendous international outcry demanding his release.

Despite the fact that Abedini was arrested Sept. 26, the family elected to work through different private means to get him released. In that time, however, he was denied access to an attorney and was badly been beaten by prison guards. According to his wife, Abedini is also being severely beaten by his cell mates who self-identify as members of Al Qaeda. The family is greatly concerned for his health and well being.

The U.S. has not had formal diplomatic ties with the Iranian government since 1980 and relies on alternative efforts in such instances.

Fox News reached out to the State Department for comment on Abedini's case but has not received a call back yet.

"We were hopeful that the Iranian government would have released him by now and that private efforts would have been more successful. Also, as Saeed has family in Iran, we had to be mindful of the fact that any public action taken could put his family at risk," said Barrans.

"They see that the house church culture is alive and thriving. They believe that making an example out of their former leader will deter others from practicing and converting to Christianity."

Several house church members, friends and distant relatives of Abedini have had to flee the country in recent months after being summoned by the government to collect evidence against him.

As a convert away from Islam, worshippers are not permitted to attend services at official churches. Underground house churches became a popular way to get around this restriction.

"They have denied converts the opportunity to worship in an official place of worship. Then they tell them they can't practice their faith underground, and doing so is a crime against Iran’s national security interests. How is this not a violation of religious freedom?" Barrans said.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/19/american-pastor-imprisoned-without-notice-charges-while-visiting-family-in-iran/

Nasrin Sotoude Writes From Evin

Imprisoned rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh has written a letter of gratitude to the people after ending her 49 day hunger long strike.

Following is the translation of Sotoudeh’s letter:

My fellow countrymen,

Is penalizing family members (families of the political prisoners) an accidental occurrence?

I was on a hunger strike for 49 days to protest a variety of issues including punishment of my family. During this time much concerns were generated, all of which arose out of grace and love for a common demand, and that was a big “No” to penalizing the families.

It is my duty to extend my gratitude and appreciation to all the people that with their benevolence and kindness paid attention to this matter.

From public and social groups, specifically the Mourning Mothers that have lost their children in the 2009 Movement (I had the honor of representing few of them), to the Mothers for Peace and the women’s rights activists, from the political prisoners that I have the honor of having endured imprisonment with them, to my dear cellmates that endured the hardships associated with my hunger strike, and of course, my husband and my young daughter who endured great sufferings.

From the human rights activists across the world, from the Iranian Diaspora that, after the 2009 Movement, have shown how important their presence is in restoring the human rights and democracy in Iran.

From those who used their individual rights and freedom to stand with us and support the demands that, on the surface, seemed to be limited only to my small family.

Those courageous people that personally decided to participate in my hunger strike, and of course caused me to share the experience of being worried for hunger strikers. They caused me to understand how one person’s hunger strike can create and cause others to worry and be concerned.

Their action brought much heavier responsibility for me, for they had decided to launch a hunger strike in my support.

From the human rights activists across the globe that assisted me in my resistance and standing. And every time I think to myself of what noble human beings are in the other side of the oceans, that support and are sympathetic to my cause and pave the way for me and my family to endure this burden.

I know you were worried about my hunger strike. I would like for all to know that I also was worried for everyone’s worries and concern.

But why I was not willing to halt my hunger strike?

I, along with my clients and tens of political prisoners who are in prison merely because of their noble actions, spend although difficult, but valuable days in prison.

I now proudly endure imprisonment amongst the civil activists, political activists, prisoners of conscience, and our fellow Baha’i countrymen and Christians that I have had the honor to represent few of them. Those who received unfair sentences for simply living based on their beliefs.

After all the injustices, they (the regime) have even resorted to punishment of the families. First they pursued my husband and then they pressed new charges against him.

After the detention of my family and children for hours, even though for only few hours, they pressed new charges on my twelve year old daughter. Then in a rush to judgement, they placed a ban on her foreign travel.

My daughter, like every other child at this age. and not more than other children, has the right to live without the fear of threats and punishment.

Previously, I have had the honor of defending the children of my country. Punishing the children is absolutely prohibited, much less for political charges on account of their parents.

But of course, this sort of punishment has not been only limited to my family. To explain the wide scope of this unjust treatment, it is enough to remember that among the 36 female prisoners incarcerated in the political prisoner’s ward, the immediate family of 13 of them are either imprisoned or are under Judicial pursuit.

This figure represents one third of the female political prisoners. Among this group there are some that have more than one family member either imprisoned or under Judicial pursuit.

Michael Cashman, who has himself been recognised as a long-standing human rights activist and a defender for minorities, welcomed the Sakharov award:
“By awarding this year’s Sakharov Prize to Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi the European Parliament is recognising the strength and courage of two individuals who have refused to be bowed by fear and intimidation. They have stood up for prisoners of conscience and freedom of expression. In doing so they have sacrificed there own freedom. This award shows that the European Parliament stands in solidarity with Nasrin, Jafar and all those who stand up for human rights.”

To protest the punishment of the families (the punishment of my family was an example of this sort of treatment), I launched a hunger strike.

It is my hope that the punishment of families is removed from the policy of threats and pressure.

Once again, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all those who’s constant support did not leave me in this endeavor and to declare my confidence in the path that certainly will result in justice, rule of law and democracy.

With hopes of liberty and freedom,
Nasrin Sotoudeh
Evin
December 2012

http://www.persianicons.org/culture/nasrin-sotoudeh-writes-from-evin-explaining-reason-for-her-hunger-strike/#ixzz2EnTcI5Ac

Release of All Political Prisoners

Event Report: Washington DC Activists Demanded an End to Execution in Iran, Release of All Political Prisoners

POSTED BY MISSIONFREEIRAN ⋅ DECEMBER 3, 2012 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

On 2 December 2012, Mission Free Iran together with Unity for Democracy and Justice in Iran implemented awareness-raising and protest actions in Washington DC against execution and political imprisonment in Iran as part of a unified international protest action (link) to demand an end to execution in Iran and worldwide.

We began at 1pm at the corner of M St and Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown, displaying banners with images of a number of people recently killed by the regime in Iran, including blogger and facebook user Sattar Beheshti and laborer and activist Jamil Sowaidi, as well as several banners and posters of political prisoners and victims of human rights abuses still surviving in the dank prisons and bloody torture houses of the Islamic regime, including Houtan Kian, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Sakineh Ashtiani, Zeinab Jalalian, and Hanieh Shotorban, among many others. We talked to passers-by about the concomitant economic and human rights crisis ongoing in Iran, and handed out flyers that show people how to take action in support of human rights in Iran.

Many people walking by took explicit notice of Nasrin Sotoudeh’s image, indicating that the American public recognizes her and is aware of her situation. The banner showing Majid Kavousifar waving goodbye to his loved ones with a smile immediately prior to his execution transfixed peoples’ gazes. We told the stories of Sattar Beheshti and Jamil Sowaidi before reading a short statement about why we were out demonstrating.

We then moved our demonstration to the offices of the Islamic regime, further north on Wisconsin Avenue. Our demonstration there also garnered a great deal of interest from people in passing cars, several of whom tapped their horns enthusiastically in support of our action condemning the regime.

The statement that we read at the action appears below the clip and photos.

Mission Free Iran thanks everyone who joined yesterday’s action in support of political prisoners in Iran, and in fervent opposition to execution.

http://missionfreeiran.org/2012/12/03/event-report-washington-dc-activists-demanded-an-end-to-execution-in-iran-release-of-all-political-prisoners/

Gangnam style -In support of Nasrin Sotoudeh Gangnam style- Iranian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJUuTlVZSVo

Iranian Gangnam style -In support of Nasrin Sotoudeh 
The way Iranians dance with this song today.

Produced by the members of The Campaign to Defend Incarcerated Mothers in support of Nasrin Sotoudeh the mother of two children who was in hunger strike for many days.
Face book (The Campaign to Defend Incarcerated Mothers) :https://www.facebook.com/madaranedarband
Page Facebook (The Campaign to Defend Incarcerated Mothers) 
:https://www.facebook.com/madaranezendani?ref=hl

website: http://iranian-incarcerated-mothers.blogspot.com/

Newsletter Issue 2 of The Campaign to Defend Captive Mothers

Newsletter Issue 2 of The Campaign to Defend Captive Mothers (from the ban of visiting to Sakharov)

The Campaign to Defend Captive Mothers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madaranezendani?fref=ts

Please forward this newsletter to your friends.

Abdolkarim Lahiji Supports Nasrin Sotoudeh & Jafar Panahi

Abdolkarim Lahiji vice president of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) Support Nasrin Sotoudeh & Jafar Panahi 13.12.12 Paris La Rotonda Stalingrad Square. Photography by Sabri Najafi

Good news on Nasrin

Lawyer and mother of two, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has been sentenced to six years in prison and is suffering ill health.

Over 40 action groups have organised Write for Rights events and 125 events are being hosted around Australia.

Thanks for everyone’s hard work in achieving this!

If you haven’t registered an event, it’s not too late to host one with your group, friends or workplace.

Nasrin Sotoudeh

Reza Khandan, Nasrin Sotoudeh's husband, has reported that Nasrin Sotoudeh ended her hunger strike yesterday after the 'judicial restrictions' on their daughter were lifted. Nasrin had spent 49 days living on just salt-water and sugar-water.

The lifting of the restrictions on Nasrin's daughter, Mehraveh Khandan, is one of the calls in her Write for Rights action. Thank you to everyone who has taken action so far - your pressure on the authorities has helped make this happen. Over 25,000 emails, aerograms and petitions targeting the Iranian authorities have been sent in the past two and a half weeks.

Nasrin Sotoudeh should never have been imprisoned in the first place, and we are still calling for her immediate and unconditional release. Please keep up the pressure on Iranian authorities by sending through the petitions and aerograms. We are sending these off every few days to the targets - the latest batch left this morning.

http://www.amnesty.org.au/leader/comments/30654/

Nasrin Sotoudeh Should Be Freed

After nearly 50 days, Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has ended her hunger strike in Evin prison. She stopped when Iranian authorities agreed to lift a travel ban imposed on her husband and 12 year-old daughter.

A winner of the 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Ms. Sotoudeh is one of Iran’s most prominent political prisoners. A human rights defender whose clients have included many political dissidents, including Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, as well as vulnerable women and juvenile defendants, Ms. Sotoudeh is serving a six year sentence for supposed crimes against national security. She has also been prohibited from practicing law for 10 years.

Ms. Sotoudeh has been on several hunger strikes since her arrest in September 2010, and has spent much of the last two years in solitary confinement. She started her latest hunger strike on October 17, to protest the harassment of her family and restrictions on her right to visitation.  Her husband, Reza Khandan, said his wife’s weight had plummeted to 43 kilograms (94 pounds).

The Iranian regime’s treatment of Ms. Sotoudeh has caused outrage among many in the international community.  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed grave concern for Ms. Sotoudeh’s health and urged the Iranian government to release her from prison. Ms. Pillay’s spokesman Rupert Colville noted that UN human rights mechanisms view the imprisonment of Ms. Sotoudeh as arbitrary, and in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran has adopted.

Exiled human rights attorney Ebadi recently wrote that the persecution of Nasrin Sotoudeh “raises a fundamental question about Iran’s future.  If the people who come to the defense of people whose human rights are violated cannot do their jobs,” asked Ms. Ebadi, “who will ensure that such values as equality and justice are upheld in Iran?”

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland has called the Iranian government’s mistreatment of Nasrin Sotoudeh “intolerable,” and said in a statement that the United States “demand[s] that she and more than 30 female political prisoners detained in Evin Prison be released immediately.”

http://editorials.voa.gov/content/nasrin-sotoudeh-should-be-freed/1561646.html

Nasrin Sotoudeh has been awarded in October by the European Union

Rennes City (France) : " Nasrin Sotoudeh has been awarded in October by the European Union, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. This award, Nasrin must receive it from the hands of the President of the European Parliament."

Museum of Modern and Contemporay Art Bolzano

09DEC

Museum of Modern and Contemporay Art Bolzano

Solidarity with Nasrin Sotoudeh In Musion
Museum of Modern and Contemporay Art Bolzano

http://freenasrinsotoudeh.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/museum-of-modern-and-contemporay-art-bolzano/

Free Nasrin Sotoudeh

"Nasrin Sotoudeh won an important victory this week against human rights abusers in Iran's government. After enduring a 49-day hunger strike demanding that travel restrictions on her daughter be reversed, the Iranian government finally gave in.

But Nasrin remains in Evin prison and is one of hundreds of prisoners of conscience languishing in jails in Iran. 

Representative Dennis Kucinich is introducing a resolution Tuesday calling for Nasrin Sotoudeh's unconditional release and urging for President Obama to utilize direct diplomacy with Iran to support human rights.

The measure also calls for the U.S. to support the establishment of multilateral mechanisms to advance human rights issues in Iran and commends the people of Iran who have braved repression to peacefully exercise their fundamental human rights, as enshrined in international human rights law.

The resolution highlights how the Iranian government continues to imprison prisoners of conscience in influential fields including artists like Jafar Panahi, students like Majid Tavakoli, women’s rights activists like Bahareh Hedayat, journalists like Ahmad Zeidabadi, and former officials like Mostafa Tajzadeh. And it shines a spotlight on the recent murder of Iranian blogger Sattar Beheshti.

The approach in this resolution is the best way to address human rights in Iran. It supports productive measures that can improve the human rights situation in Iran and not impose more harm on ordinary Iranians or heighten the threat of war. 

In order for us to convince other Members of Congress to support the call to release Nasrin and the use of human rights-focused diplomacy, they must hear your encouragement to sign this important resolution."

http://iranian.com/posts/view/post/237