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Women’s
Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Public
Statement; ACTION ALERT
CONTACT:
press@wfafi.org
August 11, 2005
Status of Women with the
Arrival of Iran's New President
BOSTON, MA- Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, took office on Wednesday August 3, 2005. Since his arrival to the office Women's
Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran (WFAFI) has
received various reports on crackdown, arrests, public execution, and
harassment of women in Iran. Iran's
official media have reported that at least 18 people have been executed and
seven others have been sentenced to death in the country since Ahmadinejad's
election.
While state-sponsored violence is spread and on the rise in various cities,
WFAFI urges the rights advocates, women's groups and international NGO's to
launch a campaign on the following cases:
August 2 - State
Security Forces detained Dr. Roya Toloui,
a Kurdish and women's rights activists for taking a part in peaceful protest in
support of basic rights and freedoms in northwestern city of Sannandaj. The
protest that took place on August 1st was in response to escalating conflict between
Iran's new
president and the Kurdish region. There
has been mounting unrest and a number of demonstrations held in Iran's Kurdish
region since July 10th. Eyewitness accounts and media reports indicate
large numbers of troops backed by several helicopter gunship
have been sent to quell protesters, resulting in more than 20 dead and hundreds
of arrests thus far. Dr. Toloui is one of the founders of
Association of Kurdish Women in Favor of Peace in Kurdistan. She has been very outspoken on the
recent crackdown and was warned by the Iranian regime because of her interviews
with foreign media and news outlets.
August
6 - Ahmadinejad's advisor, Hamid-Reza Taraghi,
a central committee member of the Motalefeh Party,
told a state-run news agency, "The circumstances for women to be ministers
in the cabinet do not exist, but probably they can become deputies".
"Until now, we have had several cases of trial and error, but our country
is in a state where one cannot tolerate experimenting with new
administrations", Taraghi said. While upholding Article 115 of Constitution that bans
presidency for women, the fundamentalism regime is now publicly rejecting the
role of women even at the ministerial level.
August 7 -
Upholding Article 1117 of Constitution, Tehran's court
barred a young woman from working after her estranged husband complained she
was only allowed to be a housewife. "Although their marriage certificate
defines the wife's profession as 'housewife', she left her husband two years
ago and worked in a private company without his permission," the court
ruled. When there is no clause in the marriage certificate allowing the wife to
work outside, the husband can bar her, the verdict said.
August 10
- Tehran's fundamentalist Supreme Court issued a court order to
execute a young woman, known by her first name as Fakhteh, in
coming days. The
hanging sentence was upheld since Fakhteh
is accused of murdering a man in December 2001. Fakhteh who maintained her innocence throughout the
proceedings and appealed the original verdict by judge Hemmatyar,
faces no legal protection at this point. Fakhteh is
said to be in her early 20's.
ACTION
ALERT
You can make a difference. Please take action today.
- Please
write to Secretary of State
and US Ambassador to the UN, usa@un.int urge them
to take actions on these issues.
- Please
write to Secretary
General Kofi Annan to
stop the execution of Fakhteh and press for
unconditional release of Dr. Roya Toloui.
- Please
submit the information through Violence Against
Women form.
4.
Please
write to Amnesty
International and Human
Rights Watch and urge them to issue a statement on the
following cases and mobilize their network.
###
http://www.wfafi.org
P.O. Box 15205
Boston, MA 02215
Tel: (617) 590-1665
Fax: (610) 862-9110