Mass Arrests of Women and Civil Society Activists in Iran Continue

January 5, 2010. The wave of arrests following the protests and violence taking place on Ashura (December 27, 2009) has included over sixteen women journalists, women’s movement and civil society activists, according to The Feminist School and Change for Equality.

Among the women, activists and journalists who have been detained are Mansoureh Shojaee and Noushin Ebadi, Bahareh Hedayat and Maryam Zia, Mothers for Peace Mahin Fahimi and Zohreh Tanekaboni, Badarolssadat Mofid, Leyla Tavassoli, Nasrin Vaziri, Nilofar Hashemi Azar, Atiyeh Yousefi, Nafiseh Asghari, Mahsa Hekmat, Parisa Kakayi, Forough Mirzayie, Sara Tavsoli, and numerous others.

Harassment and targeting of women activists for arrest had already intensified prior to this new wave of mass arrests, and those remaining in detention include Shiva Nazarahari, Azar Mansouri, Somayeh Rashidi, Zahra Jabari, Kobra Zaghe Doust, and Mahdiyeh Golrou. This systematic clampdown is meant to threaten and silence not only political opposition, but all voices speaking out in support of human rights and reform. WLP is gravely concerned for the health and safety of all women and civil society activists who are currently in detention, and calls for their immediate, safe release.

For additional information on these and other activists, journalists, and women's rights defenders who have been arrested please visit Change for Equality and The Feminist School.

Source: Women's Learning Partnership