Post-election Iran violations among worst in 20 years

by Mina Tue Dec 15, 2009 15:55

Maryam Hosseinkhah who was imprisoned in Iran for defending Womens rights is now studying at nUI Galway. She spoke at the recent NGO Front Line Conference. in Dublin.

Maryam Hosseinkhah, a journalist and women’s rights campaigner who has found temporary refuge in Ireland, said yesterday that the credibility of the regime was now questioned at home and abroad. “Before the elections, there were people who wouldn’t even sign up to our gender rights campaign but who are now taking to the streets to protest.

“A regime is never strong if it has to resort to violence,” she said at a lecture organised by NGO Front Line at Trinity College Dublin to mark UN human rights day.

Ms Hosseinkhah described how she was arrested in 2007 for campaigning on behalf of the One Million Signatures Campaign in Iran, which aims to repeal a host of discriminatory laws against women.

“I was placed in a cell for 45 days, which I shared with another 20 women – some of whom had been convicted for murder. I was really afraid at first but when they told me their life stories I realised they were victims. They were the most vulnerable people, who often didn’t have money, education or families for protection,” she said.

Two fellow prisoners were executed when she was in prison and there were about 40 women on death row, said Ms Hosseinkhah, who describes her time in jail as a “human rights training course”.

Women in Iran face discriminatory laws in the fields of divorce, marriage, inheritance and many other areas, which make their position in society precarious, said Ms Hosseinkhah.