40+ Iran Rights Groups Call for Independent Investigation into Violence Against Women Political Prisoners 

In a joint letter, the Center for Human Rights in Iran and 42 fellow human rights organizations and activists have voiced their support for women political prisoners, who were subjected to a brutal attack by prison guards on August 8 in the Women’s Ward of Iran’s Evin Prison for protesting the execution of 34-year-old protester Reza Rasaei. Nobel Peace Laureate Narges Mohammadi was among the victims and remains behind bars despite facing severe health problems.

“This unprecedented act of repression occurred while the women were peacefully gathered in the prison courtyard, exercising their freedom of expression by chanting slogans demanding the abolition of the death penalty and an immediate halt to executions,” said the letter, which has been published in German, French, Persian, and English.

CHRI strongly echoes the letter’s calls for an immediate end to executions in Iran, the release of all political prisoners, the cessation of unlawful judicial proceedings, guarantees of physical and psychological safety for all detainees, and an independent international investigation into the violence against political prisoners in Evin Prison.

Read the full letter below:

Political prisoners are being brutally repressed in the women’s ward of Iran’s Evin Prison. As human rights activists, we stand in solidarity with the women of Iran and demand an independent international investigation!

We, the undersigned, as human rights activists dedicated to gender equality and the rule of law, are deeply alarmed by the reports now emerging from the women’s ward of Iran’s Evin Prison.

Around 70 women of all different beliefs, affiliations, and generations are currently being held as political prisoners in Evin, Iran’s most notorious prison. These women have been arrested and unjustly detained solely because they have fought for freedom and human rights in Iran. The prisoners being held in the women’s ward have now come forward with accounts of brutal violence meted out by their jailers and by Iranian security forces, who stormed the ward on August 6th. We see no reason to doubt their version of events, and we and our organizations stand in unwavering solidarity with these women, alongside the activists and ordinary citizens who tirelessly champion their cause.

According to the information we have received, which has been duly verified and corroborated by several independent media outlets, several political prisoners were violently assaulted and beaten by guards and security agents as they protested the execution of Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei that morning. Rasaei, a protestor during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, was put to death in secret at dawn on August 6th, without his family or his lawyer being notified. His execution came after he had already been subjected to torture in order to extract forced confessions.

This unprecedented act of repression occurred while the women were peacefully gathered in the prison courtyard, exercising their freedom of expression by chanting slogans demanding the abolition of the death penalty and an immediate halt to executions.

The women’s gathering that day followed a series of prior demonstrations by the women of the ward, sometimes at their own initiative and sometimes in support of other efforts to mobilize, to demand the annulment of the death sentences handed down to their fellow inmate Pakhshan Azizi – an Iranian Kurdish journalist – as well as three other women: labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi, women’s rights activist Varisheh Moradi, and Nassim Gholami Simiari.

Due to the severity of the attack and the injuries inflicted, several of these prisoners lost consciousness during the assault, while others were placed in splints after a summary examination by the prison doctor but were denied adequate care. Even in the most severe cases, the authorities prevented any transfer of prisoners to an external hospital, depriving these women of the appropriate medical treatments they urgently needed.

Upon regaining consciousness, these female prisoners – no less determined and resolute – immediately declared their intention to file legal complaints against their jailers, thus seeking to ensure that no abuse would go unpunished.

In a context of intensified internal repression targeting Iranian human rights activists and political dissidents, we are alarmed by the acceleration of executions, which reached their gruesome peak when 29 people were killed on August 7th – including 26 in a collective execution at Gesel Hasar Prison in the city of Karaj.

Out of the public eye, and while media attention focuses on the talk of war and the escalating tensions in the Middle East, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues its main war, one it launched decades ago: the war against its opponents and on Iranian women writ large.

As human rights activists, we express our full solidarity with all the women who put their lives on the line in the fight for peace, democracy, and the rule of law in Iran.

Now more than ever, the women’s ward at Evin has asserted itself as the bastion of resistance in Iran’s struggle for freedom. The women unjustly and illegally held as political prisoners in Iran command our admiration, and it is incumbent on us to mobilize on their behalf.

As such, and in solidarity with all the women and men who continue to risk their lives to fight for the rule of law and for peace and democracy in Iran, we and our organizations demand:

• An immediate stop to Iran’s use of the death penalty, which is an inhuman and degrading punishment, in line with our commitment to the universal abolition of the death penalty;
• The release of all arbitrarily detained political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and the cessation of judicial proceedings which violate their rights to legal defense and to a fair trial;
• The immediate implementation of measures by the Iranian state to guarantee the physical and psychological safety of detainees under its custody throughout the country, particularly in the women’s ward at Evin Prison; and
• The implementation of an independent, international criminal investigation to fully uncover the truth about the acts of violence committed against the political prisoners in Evin Prison; these charges must be duly received by the Iranian authorities.

Signatories:

1. Narges Mohammadi Foundation (France);
2. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize (United Kingdom);
3. Pierre Haski, Reporters Without Borders (France);
4. Vibe Klarup, Amnesty International Denmark (Denmark);
5. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) (Norway);
6. Chirinne Ardakani, Iran Justice (France);
7. Düzen Tekkal and Mariam Claren, Hawar Help (Germany);
8. Rose Parris Richter, Impact Iran (Switzerland);
9. Hadi Ghaemi, Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) (United States);
10. Pen International (United Kingdom);
11. Stefan Löfven, The Olof-Palme Memorial Fund, Olof-Palmes Minnesfond (Sweden);
12. Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) (France);
13. Hamid Cyrus, Doctors Without Borders (Austria);
14. Karim Lahidji, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) (France);
15. End Gender Apartheid Campaign (Global);
16. Maria Søndergaard, Danish Women’s Society (Denmark);
17. Christine Stufferin, Alexander Langer Foundation (Italy);
18. Elisabeth Nicoli, Alliance of Women for Democracy (AFD) (France);
19. Roya Boroumand, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran (United States);
20. Rebin Rahmani, Kurdistan Human Rights Network (France);
21. Fariba Ehsan, Asociación Irani Pro Derechos Humanos (Spain);
22. Rezvan Moghadam, Stop Honor Killings (United States);
23. Shahin Helali Khyavi, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran (AHRAZ) (Norway);
24. Gabriele Nissim, Gariwo (Italy);
25. Darya Djavahery-Farsi, Neda of Iran (France);
26. Negin Khazaee and Rene Kassie, Queers and Feminists for Iran Liberation (France and Canada);
27. Karin Deutsch Karlekar, Pen American (United States);
28. Moein Arjomand, Baloch Activists Campaign (UK);
29. Taimoor Aliassi, Kurdistan Human Rights Association-Geneva (KMMK-G) (Switzerland);
30. Emma Dinparast, Azadi 4 Iran (France);
31. Reza Ghazinouri, United for Iran (United States);
32. Hassan Nayeb Hashem, All Human Rights for All in Iran (Switzerland);
33. Shima Silavi, Ahwaz Human Rights Organization (Belgium);
34. Hirbod Deghani-Azar, Norouz (France);
35. Balochistan Human Rights Group(Sweden);
36. Faramarz Bahar, Independent Committee against the Repression of Iranian Citizens Paris (France);
37. Collectif Alborz FVL (France);
38. Collectif Phénix (France);
39. PEN Sweden (Sweden);
40. Jaleh Tabrizi, Association for Human Rights of Azerbaijanis in Iran (Arcdh) (France);
41. Aban Families for Justice;
42. Masoud Raeisi, Rasank;
43. Zohreh Habibmohammadi, Collectif BA MA (France).

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran