On June 12th, a peaceful demonstration of Iranian men and women 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. Policewomen were used for the first time, pitting women against women.

UPDATE
Most of the detainees have been released, yet Ali Akbar Mousavi Khoini, head of the Alumni Association of Iran, a former student leader and Member of Parliament who has been a leading critic of the government’s human rights practices for several years, remains in detention.

Shirin Ebadi is now Mr. Mousavi Khoini’s attorney and reports that he remains in prison without permission to see visitors. He is ill and needs his medication. Ebadi has also accepted the case of some of the women who were beaten and imprisoned following the June 12 demonstration.

TAKE ACTION

Send a message to the Iranian authorities in support of the demonstrators demanding equality of men and women before the law, and call on the Iranian government to release Ali Akbar Mousavi Khoini immediately and unconditionally. Urge an end to the persecution of nonviolent activists and an investigation into the police beatings.

NWI Statement of Support

A peaceful demonstration of Iranian men and 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. 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.

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