Award-Winning Activist Barred From Leaving Iran
Last week, Iran prevented a prominent human rights lawyer from leaving the country to receive an award in Rome.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, an activist who works closely with Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi on womens legal rights in Iran, had her passport confiscated by government officials at the airport. She was traveling from Tehran to Rome with her family to be honored by the Italian group Human Rights International.
This unlawful seizure of Sotoudehs passport appears to be part of a general crackdown of womens rights defenders in Iran. Last month, two UN human rights experts issued a joint statement expressing deep concern. Special rapporteurs Margaret Sekaggya and Yakin Erturk noted that the women and men active in the One Million Signatures Campaign, a grassroots movement aimed at promoting equality of men and women in Iranian law, have been particularly targeted.
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Learn more about our support of Iranian rights activists at our Iran Issue Page.
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Join Human Rights First in calling on the Iranian authorities to end their harassment of Nasrin Sotoudeh and other women’s rights activists and to respect the right of human rights defenders to travel. Take action here.
