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Iran: Authorities should guarantee fair
court hearings for two Kurdish Women
24.6.2008
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June
24, 2008
Sanandaj (Sina), Iranian Kurdistan, — Iranian
judicial authorities should guarantee two Kurdish
women's rights activists transparent court
proceedings when their cases come up for a hearing,
Human Rights Watch said Monday. Activist Hana Abdi
is appealing a five-year prison sentence, while
Ronak Safarzadeh is on trial on charges that could
lead to a death sentence. Human Rights Watch urges
Iranian authorities to ensure fair and open court
proceedings for both women. The government's
previously documented patterns of restricting
freedom of association and expression using broad
security laws raise concern that the officials are
prosecuting both women only on the basis of their
involvement in Kurdish rights and women's rights
activism.
"It's become routine for the Iranian government to
use vague security charges to detain and intimidate
peaceful activists," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle
East and North Africa director at Human Rights
Watch. "Now, they're going further by handing down
outrageous sentences."
On June 19, Branch Two of the Revolutionary Court in
Sanadaj convicted Abdi on charges of "gathering and
colluding to commit a crime against national
security." The court ordered that she serve five
years in a prison in the city of Germi, in the
largely Azeri province of Ardbil.
Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj,
which is trying Safarzadeh, has not yet made a
decision on her case. The lawyer for both women,
Mohammad Sharif, told Human Rights Watch that
prosecutors have accused Safazadeh of the more
serious charge of "enmity with God." According to
Iranian law, this charge may be punishable with
death.
Safarzadeh and Abdi, both 21, have been in detention
in the largely Kurdish city of Sanandaj since their
arrest on September 25 and October 23, 2007,
respectively. Prior to their arrest, they were
active members of the Azarmehr Association of the
Women of Kurdistan, a group that organizes
capacity-building workshops and sports activities
for women in the city of Sanandaj and elsewhere in
the Iranian province of Kurdistan. Abdi and
Safarzadeh also volunteered with the One Million
Signatures Campaign for Equality.
Initially, Safarzadeh spent three months and Abdi
spent two months in solitary confinement in a
detention center run by the Kurdistan Office of the
Ministry of Information before authorities
transferred them to the women's unit of the general
prison in the city of Sanandaj.
The prosecution of these women follows on the heels
of the government's crackdown of women activists,
particularly those involved in the One Million
Signatures Campaign for Equality. This grassroots
campaign aims to raise awareness of Iran's laws that
sanction discrimination against women by collecting
1 million signatures throughout the country in an
effort to repeal these biased laws. In the last two
years,www.ekurd.net
the Iranian authorities
have arrested more than 35 activists involved with
the campaign and other women's rights projects.
Detentions and prison sentences against Kurdish
rights activists have also been on the rise, with
the government often accusing activists of having
links with armed opposition groups. In February
2008, the government charged and sentenced to death
a Kurdish teacher and civil society activist on
charges of "endangering national security" through
membership with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The government typically relies on vaguely defined
"security" offenses to prosecute Iranians who
attempt to associate or demonstrate. Human Rights
Watch documented the government's reliance on these
overbroad laws,www.ekurd.net
which violate the
internationally guaranteed rights to freedom of
speech and association in its most recent report
"'You Can Detain Anyone for Anything': Iran's
Broadening Clampdown on Independent Activism."
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
Human Rights Watch | hrw org
Iranian Kurdistan
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranę or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatę
Kurdistan (East of Kurdistan)) is an unofficial name
for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has
borders with Iraq and Turkey. It includes the
greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan
Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province.
Kurds form the majority of the population of this
region with an estimated population of 4 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
More about Iranian Kurdistan
PJAK
The present leader of the organisation is Haji
Ahmadi. According to the Washington Times, half the
members of PEJAK are women, many of them still in
their teens, and one of the female members of the
leadership council is Gulistan Dugan, a psychology
graduate from the University of Tehran. This is due
primarily to the fact that PEJAK is strongly
supportive of women's rights. PEJAK believes that
women must have a strong role in government and must
be on an equal level with men in leadership
positions.
More about PEJAK- Party for a
Free Life in Kurdistan
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