ACTION ALERT: Iranian women human rights defender beaten and arrested

Monday, 07. 20. 2009  –  by Janice

From Women Living Under Muslim Laws. Shadi is a member of the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign. She needs all Moral Courage activists to demand her release. Please read and take action now:

Ms. Shadi Sadr

19/07/2009: WLUML is deeply concerned to learn that our colleague and friend, Ms. Shadi Sadr, was beaten and arrested by plainclothes officers in Tehran, Iran on the morning of Friday 17 July 2009.

Online sources, including Iran Emrooz and Twitter, confirm reports that around 11:30 on the morning of Friday 17 July 2009, our colleague and friend, Shadi Sadr, was abducted by a group of unknown men in civilian clothes (possibly security forces) while she was walking to the Friday Prayer sermon. Apparently her friends tried to pull her away from her abductors but they were unable to do so. She was forced into a car and taken away.

Ms. Sadr is a human rights lawyer who especially defends the rights of women in Iran. She is also a Council member of WLUML, as well as part of the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign and Meydaan.

Friends in Iran report "…the regime has become very brutal over the past weeks, and the numbers of activists, journalists and intellectuals who are under arrest and in jail has increased exponentially. More trouble is expected today at the Friday prayer sermon, which Moussavi will also be attending."

Eye-witnesses report that Ms. Sadr was also "hit badly and dragged so badly that her scarf and manteau was removed from her".

Her abductors did not show any identity cards or warrants. Her friends and colleagues who witnessed the kidnapping say they tried to intervene but were met with violent force and Sadr was dragged away. They also report of another car (reported as a Mercedes) acting as back up for the Peugeot. As of yet, it is not clear where she has been taken or who has arrested her.

17 July 2009

Source: WLUML Networkers

An eyewitness account of the abduction is available here: http://meydaan.org/english/showarticle.aspx?arid=848

UPDATE: The security Police have investigated Shadi Sadr's office and home

On the heel of the July 17, 2009 illegal arrest of Shadi Sadr, apprehended on Keshavarz Boulevard by plainclothes government officers en route to the site of Friday Prayers, her spouse Hossein Niachian, sent word that several officers had introduced themselves to him as security forces. An hour beforehand, they had searched throughout their home and office, taking away some papers, documents, and two computer cases that had belonged to their little daughter and him. The inspection took several hours, as they ransacked the house and their ten-year-old daughter was present.

Then the officials demanded from Niachian that he leave for them the key to Sadr’s office, and after he expressed he didn’t know of the key’s whereabouts, they announced that they would go themselves to her law office and would search it.

Before sending news that this had happened, Niachian said Sadr had contacted him after her arrest. She called from the mobile that had originally belonged to her husband and asked for the pin code of the SIM card. Her husband asked her questions. She said that she couldn’t say where she was, but in order to follow up with her file, he had to go to the same place where she was arrested previously. Niachian said that Shadi had meant the Revolutionary Court; he was guessing they had transferred her to Evin Prison. Shadi knew her daughter was growing impatient so she spoke with her for a few moments and said to trust her that she was doing okay and would be freed soon.

Niachian said that Shadi suffers from a serious glandular and bone illness which leaves her in intense pain and for such reasons has to take certain pills. She was in the process of having it remedied and had expected to have surgery for this condition next week. Her husband also said that tomorrow he intended to head to the Revolutionary Court to follow up on her case.

17 July 2009

Source: http://meydaan.org/english/showarticle.aspx?arid=850

WHAT YOU CAN DO

We call upon the women's rights community and all human rights activists and organizations to speak out in defense of Shadi Sadr and all those who are being unjustly persecuted in Iran for their non-violent dissent. You can write in Persian, English, or your own language.

Please write to local and international media, mobilize your networks, and urge your policy makers and embassies as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay to take action to protect the basic human rights of all those who are being abused and arrested in Iran.

Your letter can:

* call on the authorities to release Shadi Sadr immediately and unconditionally, as she is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for her human rights activities and the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression;

* stress that Ms. Sadr's arrest was of a targeted and violent nature, and that no warrant, reason for arrest, or officer identification were provided at the time;

* urge them to disclose her whereabouts immediately, and ensure that she is allowed immediate access to her family, lawyer of her choice and any medical treatment she may require, especially as she has a reported pre-existing medical condition;

* urge the authorities to ensure that Shadi Sadr and all other detainees are protected from all forms of torture or other ill-treatment;

* call on the authorities to remove unlawful restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and assembly in Iran.

The Honorable Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary General
760 United Nations Plaza
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
Web contact: www.un.org/en/contactus/contactform.asp

Ms. Navanethem Pillay
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Email: infodesk@ohchr.org
Tel: +41-22-917-90-00
Fax: +41-22-917-9008 or +1-212-963-4097

Ms. Margaret Sekaggya
Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org. The text of the e-mail should refer to the human rights defenders mandate.
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (Geneva, Switzerland)
Telephone: +41 22 917 1234. This is the number for the United Nations telephone operator in Geneva, Switzerland . Callers should ask to speak with staff at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dealing with the special procedures of the Human Rights, and specifically with staff supporting the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders. Please see here for further details about filing complaints to the Special Rapporteur: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/defenders/complaints.htm

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
c/o. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
CH-1211, Geneva 10
Switzerland
fax: +41-22-917-90-06
See model questionnaire here: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu6/2/fs26.htm#A5

The Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland
Fax: 00 41 22 917 9006
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org

Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English), http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter (Persian)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Iranian Bar Association
No. 3, Zagros St.,
Argentina Sq.,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 8771340
or +98 21 888 6425/ 26
Email: tamas@iranbar.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or mail@iranbar.org

And the Iranian embassy in your country (NB: recommend telephoning and faxing before letter-writing)

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