Iran: Further Information on Prisoners of Conscience
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/036/2009
Further Information on UA 86/09 (MDE 13/024/2009, 27 March 2009) and follow-up (MDE 13/026/2009, 2 April 2009) – Prisoners of conscience
IRAN Khadijeh Moghaddam (f), member of One Million Signatures Campaign and Mothers for Peace
Mahboubeh Karami (f), member of One Million Signatures Campaign
Khadijeh Moghaddam and Mahboubeh Karami have both been released on bail. They and 10 others had been arrested on 26 March 2009 as they prepared to make Iranian New Year visits to the families of detained activists, including students and trade unionists. All 12 are now free on bail: no date is known to have been set for their trial, but they are at risk of being imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.
Mahboubeh Karami was released on 7 April 2009 on bail of 500 million rials (almost US$50,000) According to her lawyer, she has been charged with "disrupting public order." The day after her release, her mother, who had cancer, died in hospital.
Khadijeh Moghaddam was released on 8 April 2009. Her bail was set at 500 million rials (almost US$50,000) for the charge of "disrupting public order" in connection with her arrest on 26 March, and a further 20 million toumans (almost US$20,000) in relation to further charges of "propaganda against the system" and "disobeying police orders in front of the Palestinian Embassy" which have been brought against her in connection with a demonstration held by Mothers for Peace on 11 January 2009, protesting against the Israeli attack on Gaza.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Campaign for Equality, also known as the One Million Signatures Campaign, launched in 2006, is a grassroots initiative composed of a network of people committed to ending discrimination against women in Iranian law. The Campaign gives basic legal training to volunteers, who travel around the country promoting the Campaign. They talk with women in their homes, as well as in public places, telling them about their rights and the need for legal reform. The volunteers are also aiming at collecting one million signatures of Iranian nationals for a petition demanding an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran. Dozens of the Campaign’s activists have been arrested or harassed for their activities for the Campaign for Equality, some while collecting signatures for the petition.
Mothers for Peace was launched in 2007 by a group of Iranian women to campaign against possible military intervention in Iran over its nuclear programme, and to seek "viable solutions" to the region's Instability.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: PLEASE SEND APPEALS TO ARRIVE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, IN PERSIAN, ARABIC, ENGLISH, FRENCH OR YOUR OWN LANGUAGE:
- welcoming the release of Khadijeh Moghaddam and Mahboubeh Karami;
- urging the authorities to drop all charges against them, and the other 10 people arrested with them, as if they were imprisoned, Amnesty International would consider them to be prisoners of conscience solely detained for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression, reunion and assembly ;
- reminding the authorities that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Iran is a state party guarantees the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
c/o Director, Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office
Ardeshir Sadiq
Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office
No. 57, Pasteur St., corner of Khosh Zaban Avenue
Tehran, Iran
Email: [email protected] (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Islamic Republic Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter (Persian)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 6 649 5880
Email: via website: http://www.president.ir/email/
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737, Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: [email protected](In the subject line write: FAO Javad Larijani)
Salutation: Dear Mr Larijani
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 5 June 2009.