Amnesty International to Islamic Republic Officials: Protesting the Hijab is Not a Crime
Amnesty International issued a statement calling on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to end the harassment, arrest, and imprisonment of protesters against compulsory hijab and to immediately release the women they have imprisoned or sentenced for this reason.
Amnesty International has issued a statement, citing the arrest and sentencing of three activists protesting against the mandatory hijab, calling for the release of women who are either imprisoned or will soon be imprisoned for opposing the mandatory hijab.
Amnesty International writes that Iranian security services and intelligence agencies have threatened many women's rights defenders by phone, warning them that they will be arrested if they protest against the hijab. Some of these activists have also been summoned and questioned.
Magdalena Maghrebi, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department at Amnesty International, says: "The behavior of the Islamic Republic authorities is a response to the growing resistance among Iranian women who are working through civil movements to change discriminatory laws."
Ms. Maghrebi reminds us that criminalizing protesting against compulsory hijab as a manifestation of gender discrimination is cruel, inhumane, and a denial of women's dignity: "Instead of prosecuting and detaining activists who have made civil protests, the authorities of the Islamic Republic should immediately release them."
Giving flowers in the subway
It has been a week since the arrest of Yasman Ariani and her mother, Munireh Arabshahi. Yasman Ariani's lawyer says that the young girl was arrested at home on April 11 and it is not known where she is being held. Munireh Arabshahi was also arrested a day later when she went to the Vazra detention center to follow up on her daughter's condition.
This mother and daughter distributed flowers to subway passengers on International Women's Day and spoke about women's rights. The video of this action on social media was cited as the basis for their arrest. In the video, Munireh Arabshahi dreams of a day when no woman has to fight for her rights. Yasman Ariani also gives flowers to passengers and expresses her hope that one day all women, with or without a hijab, will be together on the streets.
Amnesty International writes that Yasman Ariani and her mother have been sued for "propaganda against the system" and "spreading corruption and prostitution."
Yasman Aryani has only been allowed to call her family once. In that conversation, she said that her accuser is the Islamic Guidance Prosecutor's Office. She is a theater actress and is publicly active in the "White Wednesdays" campaign against the compulsory hijab.
Munireh Arabshahi has also been transferred to Qarchak Prison (Shahr-e Ray Prison), which houses hundreds of other women in unsanitary conditions and is known for its contaminated water, unhealthy food, and shortages of medicine and medicine.
Conviction of Vida Movahedi
Amnesty International has called for the prison sentence of Vida Movahedi to be overturned in its statement. Vida Movahedi's lawyer announced on April 15 that she had been sentenced to one year in prison.
During the protests of January 2016, Ms. Movahedi was the first woman to put her headscarf on a pole and stand on a platform on Enghelab Street. For this reason, she is known as the “Girl of Enghelab Street.” Her action was repeated many times by other protesters.
She was arrested and released once in 2017, but according to her lawyer, the recent one-year sentence is due to a repeat of this act in the fall of 2018. This time, Vida Movahedi went to the top of the turquoise dome of Enghelab Square with several colored balloons.
Source: DW
