NWI Support for Women’s Rights Activists in Tehran
A peaceful demonstration of Iranian women on June 12th in Tehran, held to call for an end to discriminatory laws against women, turned violent as police used force to disperse the gathering. A number of women and girls were beaten and 70 people, including 28 men, were arrested.
Some prominent women activists were summoned to court and the police attacked their homes. Earlier, The Nobel Women’s Initiative, other international organizations, such as Amnesty International, and individual human and women’s rights activists had expressed public support ahead of this demonstration. All of those detained have subsequently been released except for one. Some cases are still pending against some activists.
We women Nobel Peace Prize Laureates condemn this act of violence carried out by the police force, particularly the attacks of policewomen, against citizens who had merely gathered together peacefully to call for their legal rights. We believe such attempts to use women against women are a manifestation of an oppressive patriarchal system which cultivates a culture of fear. We welcome and encourage men’s support of women’s demands for equality. We urge the immediate release of the remaining detainee, an end to the persecution of nonviolent activists and an investigation into the police beatings. The struggle for women’s rights in Iran will be mighty but will prevail. We will continue to support our courageous Iranian sisters and brothers until such time.
June 12 demonstration in Tehran. Photo by www.kosoof.com
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Letter of support prior to June 12
We women Nobel Peace Prize laureates together with our Iranian sisters oppose laws and regulations discriminating against women in Iran. We praise our sisters’ struggle in the path of reforming these laws and thus support the gathering of Iranian women on the 22nd of Khordad 1385 (12th of June 2006) convened with this aim.
Shirin Ebadi, Iran
Jody Williams, United States
Betty Williams, Ireland
Wangari Maathai, Kenya
Rigoberta Menchú Tum
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Download the pdf of the Nobel Women’s Initiative Letter of support in Farsi here.
