Women’s
Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
ACTION ALERT
Public Statement
CONTACT:
press@wfafi.org
July 19, 2009
Take Action to Support Women and the Nationwide Uprising in Iran
BOSTON, MA- Thousands of women have been arrested, beaten and many have been killed over their last several weeks in Iran. On Friday, July 17, a prominent lawyer, journalist and women's rights activist, Ms. Shadi Sadr was arrested and taken to an unknown location. Eyewitnesses report that several plainclothes agents attacked Ms. Sadr in Keshavarz Boulevard in Tehran and while beating her with clubs, forced her into a car and drove away.
As Ms. Sadr's kidnapping took place on Friday, body of a 28-year-old women's activist, Ms. Tahereh Mousavi, was found in the west part of Tehran. On June 17, 2009, Ms. Mousavi was kidnapped by plainclothes agents and taken to a safe house for torture. Ms. Mousavi was raped and her body was burnt to disguise the signs of torture. According to reports from Iran, two weeks after Ms. Mousavi's arrest, an anonymous caller told her mother that Taraneh’s corpse was in Karaj hospital. After weeks of search, her body was discovered between Karaj and Qazvin, west of Tehran.
There is no doubt that Ms. Sadr, along with hundreds of other women who have been arrested and kidnapped over the past several weeks, face imminent threat of torture and unspeakable danger. The leaders of the free world and civil societies must take urgent action to ensure the release of political prisoners in Iran. Silence and inaction is not an option. Such crimes against the Iranian people will continue so long as the regime in Tehran is in power. Iranian people, particularly women and youth, are risking their lives everyday to bring an end to such crimes and atrocities. You can help them by:
-
Urging President Obama to declare Tehran's regime illegitimate and call for
international boycott until the violence, torture and execution stops.
- Urging members of congress (House and Senate) to issue a resolution and
condemn the ongoing atrocities and call for immediate release of all political
prisoners in Iran.
- Urging the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon to declare the illegitimacy of
the Tehran's regime by vacating Iran's UN seat. The seat belongs to Iranian
people and not the current regime in Tehran.
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