Iranian Womens Rights Activist Sentenced To Flogging & Prison

international | gender and sexuality | other press

Tuesday November 13, 2007 15:06

by Dorothy Gale

Delaram Ali, a Womens rights activist has been sentenced to be flogged and to serve 34 months in prison. Her "crime: demonstrating for womens Rights.

Delaram Ali has been told to present herself to court in order to start serving a prison sentence which has not formally been conveyed to her. She has been told that if she does not attend court by 10 November, she will be arrested.

There is also a risk that she will be flogged. If she is detained, Amnesty International would consider her to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and association for her activities promoting women’s rights in Iran. The Head of the Judiciary has the power to suspend Delaram Ali’s sentence and to order a reinvestigation of the case.

Delaram Ali

Delaram Ali, a social worker, was arrested on 12 June 2006 during a peaceful demonstration in the capital, Tehran, which called for an end to discriminatory legislation against women. She and other demonstrators were beaten by police, and her left hand was broken as a result. She was released shortly afterwards, but was tried in June 2007 by Branch 16 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, which found her guilty of "participation in an illegal gathering", "propaganda against the system" and "disrupting public order and peace". In July 2007, the court sentenced her to 34 months’ imprisonment and 10 lashes. Delaram Ali has said that her defence lawyer was not allowed to speak during her trial.

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Comments (3 of 3)

Women and Community rights

by C Murray

Wed Nov 14, 2007 13:20

its amazing that we let things get to a pass wherin women must radiclaise and take to the streets in order
that basic human and community rights are adhered to, its put on an open newswire and the author is
attacked because he is - giving fodder to the US- to attack Iran.

-What utter bullshit-

Women are not chattels and there are, like it or no, gender specific issues that are ignored in all socieities.
5 women activists are currently imprisoned in Iran. They are accused of acting against the security of the
state because they were signatories of the 'Million signature campaign', they used web to advocate on
community rights. it was reported here and on http://www.isiswomen.org [a manila based community media
group, which works with both the European Feminist Forum and AMARC, community media action in radio
group].

One of the most idiotic pronouncements by Bush in the run up to the Iraq war was that he wanted to make it
better for women in Iraq (!) YeP! - millions of orphans, one parent families, rape as a tool of war, warlords,
black marketting and no hospitals is making it better for women alrighty. One of the worst democracies in
the world which cannot help its own people in New Orleans and where ye need a degree to be a feminist
is not- fit to pronounce on women's rights-it does not a barometer make. One of the off-shoots of corporate
globalism is the issue of 'Gender Neutrality' for the masses and 'Feminism' for the educated, whilst the
mainstream completly ignores the Central and South american movements for change which are led by
women and have brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets in protest at free trade agreements
and fighting for basic health care and education rights. what we see in media is one of two things;

1. a sidelining of women's issues to accomplish a prop to the status quo- whilst ignoring +down-grading
of essential services.
2. or a male dominated media who paternalistically believe that we may not exist unless we sell
our patents and trade down through the FTA's and thus the issues women are bringing to the table
are not even making the radar- I would point to the issue of gender neutrality in this country as a case
in point and how incompetence is protected by hierarchy.

Of course we have not reached a level of degradation here, where one woman's human rights are so debased
that trolling and abuse of the author is acceptable because of fear of what fucking uncle sam will do unless
we import that particular brand of corporatism wholescale into this country. I expect that women will continue to
radicalise no matter what shit is spun at them through corporate media-

State terror

by S B Khan - Progressive Youth Front

Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:02

sherbaz_feminist at yahoo dot com

We condemned this act against ,Iranian Women's Delaram Ali . Rights Activist Sentenced To Flogging & Prison. So we have to solidarity from Pakistani Left Organization,,Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) and progressive Youth front (PYF). This is State terrorism to social activist,, so in Pakistan also same situation ,so all over world the Imperialistic ways curbing for the left and progressive elements

S B Khan
Progressive Youth Front (PYF)
Sindh Chapter.Pakistan
www.geocities.com/pyfpk
www.jeddojuhd.com
www.laborpakistan.org

Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi: The Charge of Actions against National Security is Political

Tue Nov 13, 2007 16:13

An Islamic Scholar, Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi has condemned the action taken against Delaram Ali.

In an interview with the site of the Campaign, Change for Equality, Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi claimed that the protest on 12th of June, 2006 in Hafte Tir Square was legal and emphasized that "according to the law, protests are legal as long as no one is armed and that their aim is not in contradiction to Sharia. As such, the protest organized by women’s rights activists which has been used as a justification for the issuing of prison and lashing sentences was not illegal."

Ayatollah Tabrizi went further to claim that the charge of "actions against national security" is a political strategy intended to discredit and explained that: "governments cannot charge citizens with this crime for the simple act of political and social activism. The charge of "actions against national security" has a specific definition and it is not right to accuse just anyone of these kinds of activities."

Ayatollah Tabrizi is the General Secretary of the Organization of Researchers and Scholars of Qom Seminary.

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Iranian Womens Rights Activist Sentenced To Flogging & Prison

Comments (3 of 3)