Human Rights Foundation Files Complaint with UN Against Iran for Arrest and Pressure on Shaparak Shajarizada

The Human Rights Foundation in New York submitted a complaint letter against the arrest of Shaparak Shajarizada, an Iranian women’s rights activist, to the United Nations.

The foundation stated in a statement released on Thursday that it has submitted its complaint to the “Working Group” on arbitrary detention and has called for a formal investigation into the arrest and conviction of this women’s rights activist.

Ms. Shajarizada was arrested in Tehran on February 20 of this year and was subsequently transferred to “Vozara Detention Center.” The Human Rights Foundation states that Ms. Shajarizada’s arrest violates several articles of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” and the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Previously, a court in Tehran sentenced Ms. Shajarizada, 43, to two years in prison and 18 years of suspended imprisonment for removing her hijab in public. She has since left Iran.

The Human Rights Foundation states that during her detention, she was subjected to severe beatings and interrogation because she refused the accusation of being a “Western spy,” and that authorities forcibly injected her with an unknown substance while in Vozara Detention Center.

The legal advisor of the Human Rights Foundation stated that Ms. Shajarizada’s deprivation of liberty resulted from her peaceful activities against mandatory hijab in Iran, and consequently this conviction is in violation of international law.

The foundation’s complaints in the past regarding other countries have resulted in the foundation’s position being upheld and the issuance of a request for compensation under international law.

Source: Voice of America