Save the Date :News Conference: Mass Arrest of Women Activists in Iran

"(Washington, DC, March 7, 2007) – To mark International Women’s Day, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International will hold a news conference calling attention to the increasing persecution and prosecution of women’s rights activists in Iran.

Last Sunday, Iranian security forces arrested 34 prominent leaders of the women’s rights movement in Tehran. Although 15 detainees have been released, 19 women remain in Tehran’s Evin Prison, a notorious site of prisoner abuse.

As well as prosecuting women’s rights activists, the Iranian authorities have also increased their persecution of people who call for reform of the country’s discriminatory laws against women.

Women’s rights activists in Iran recently launched a campaign, “Change for Equality,” to collect 1 million signatures to protest these laws. Another campaign by Iranian activists aims to remove stoning as a punishment from Iran’s legal code. The authorities have responded by targeting campaign volunteers for harassment and denying them the right to advocate peacefully for their cause in public places.

WHEN: 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 8, 2007

WHERE: Amnesty International USA, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, 5th Floor,
Washington, DC

WHO: We will be joined by the following to discuss the women’s movement and
recent detentions in Iran, as well as provide the human rights implications of this
situation:

Fariba Davoodi Mohajer, prominent Iranian women’s rights campaigner;
Solmaz Sharif, Iranian journalist;
Hadi Ghaemi, Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, and
Zahir Janmohamed, Middle East and North Africa advocacy director at Amnesty International USA.
For more information and to schedule interviews, please contact:
In New York, Hadi Ghaemi (Human Rights Watch): +1-917-669-5996; or ghaemih@hrw.org
In Washington, DC, Sharon Singh (AI): +1-202-544-0200 x289; or ssingh@aiusa.org