Paris-Geneva,
November 13, 2023 – Despite recent international praise and
recognition, prominent Iranian women human rights defenders Nasrin
Sotoudeh and Narges Mohammadi continue to be subjected to harassment
by the authorities. Facing great health risk, both defenders are
currently detained arbitrarily, and Ms. Sotoudeh is on a hunger
strike to protest her detention conditions. The Observatory
(FIDH-OMCT) and the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran
(LDDHI) call for their immediate and unconditional release.
On
October 29, 2023, human rights lawyer Nasrin
Sotoudeh
was violently rearrested while she was attending the funeral of
Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old girl who died after being in a coma
for 28 days after allegedly being beaten by Iran’s morality police
for failing to comply with the Iranian hijab laws. Ms Sotoudeh was
taken to a police station in Shahr-e Rey, south of Tehran, and then
transferred to Qarchak prison. On November 7, 2023, the prosecutor at
Branch 29 of Tehran Islamic Revolution Court rejected Ms Sotoudeh’s
request for bail.
The
Observatory and LDDHI recall that Ms Sotoudeh was arbitrarily
arrested on June 30, 2018, and sentenced
on December 30, 2018, to 38.5 years in prison and 148 lashes. At the
time of her latest arrest, she had been on medical leave since July
2021. The authorities are likely to revoke her medical leave, which
could lead to a serious deterioration of her health in detention,
given her pre-existing
health conditions.
There have been indications in media reports that she might face new
charges. In addition, Ms Sotoudeh has been on a hunger strike since
her latest arrest to protest her arbitrary detention, which further
increases the risk of her health deteriorating drastically.
Furthermore,
the journalist and spokesperson of Defenders of Human Rights Centre
(DHRC) Narges
Mohammadi,
arbitrarily
detained
in Evin prison since November 2021, has been recently denied medical
appointments in a hospital twice for cardiac examination by the
prison authorities because she refused to wear a headscarf to attend
the appointments. To protest this infringement on her rights and
those of other inmates, Ms Mohammadi went on a hunger strike on
November 6, 2023, putting her health at great risk. The authorities
finally sent her to the hospital for a few hours on November 8
wearing normal dress without a headscarf and the long mandatory
cloak. She ended her hunger strike upon returning to prison on the
same day.
The
Observatory and LDDHI express their utmost concern over the great
risk of deterioration of Nasrin Sotoudeh’s and Narges Mohammadi’s
health due to the deplorable
sanitary conditions
in Qarchak and Evin prisons, where they are respectively detained,
and to Nasrin Sotoudeh’s ongoing hunger strike.
The
international community recently highlighted the fight of women human
rights defenders in Iran. On October 6, 2023, Narges Mohammadi was
awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize.
On October 19, 2023, the European Parliament awarded the 2023
Sakharov
Prize for freedom of thought
to Mahsa Amini and the Iranian women protest movement. Nasrin
Sotoudeh won the Sakharov Prize in 2012. These awards are an
invaluable recognition of the essential work carried out by women
human rights defenders in Iran to ensure that fundamental rights and
freedoms are respected amid brutal repression.
The
Observatory and LDDHI urge the Iranian authorities to immediately and
unconditionally release Nasrin Sotoudeh and Narges Mohammadi, as well
as all other imprisoned human rights defenders, including women human
rights defenders, who are deprived of their liberty solely because of
their legitimate and peaceful human rights activities. The
signatories further call on the Iranian authorities to provide Mses
Sotoudeh and Mohammadi with timely and adequate medical care while
they remain detained.
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