WUNRN
WUNRN Release Has 3
Parts
Iran - Women's Rights Activists - Ms.Nashrin Afzali,
Ms. Nahid Jafari and Ms. Zeynab Peyghambarzadeh, three members of the One Million Signatures
Petition Campaign
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Iran
Women Activists Get Suspended Lashing Sentences |
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22
April 2008 |
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By Fredrik Dahl TEHRAN (Reuters) - Three Iranian women's rights campaigners have received suspended lashing and jail sentences for taking part in a rally, a fellow activist said on Tuesday. It was the latest sign of the authorities clamping down on activists demanding greater women's rights in the conservative Islamic Republic, which rejects Western accusations it is discriminating against women. "Women's rights activists particularly object to sentences that include lashing," said Sussan Tahmasebi, who herself is appealing a partly suspended two-year prison sentence for involvement in a banned demonstration in the capital in 2006. "These sentences are intended to embarrass and humiliate human rights activists," she told Reuters. She said Minou Mortazi, Nasrin Afzali and Nahid Jafari were sentenced to six months in jail and 10 lashes for attending a gathering outside a Tehran court in March last year where Tahmasebi and three other activists were standing trial. The sentences were suspended so they will only be carried out if they are found guilty of another crime within two years. A fourth activist who attended the March event, Zeinab Payghambarzadeh, was handed a two-year suspended jail term. The court issued its ruling on the cases of Afzali, Jafari and Payghambarzadeh a few days ago while Mortazi received her sentence about two months ago. They were all charged with taking part in an illegal gathering and collusion with the intent to disrupt national security, disruption of public order and refusal to follow police orders, Tahmasebi added. "They are going to appeal their sentences," Tahmasebi said. "I think they are unjust. It was a peaceful demonstration." A judiciary spokesman had no immediate comment on the cases. Women are legally entitled to hold most jobs in Iran, but it remains dominated by men. Activists, backed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, say women face institutionalized discrimination that makes them "second-class citizens" when it comes to divorce, inheritance, child custody and other aspects of life. Iranian officials reject allegations of discrimination against women. Clerics say women in Iran are protected from the sex-symbol status they have in the West and insist the Islamic state is implementing God's divine law. Western diplomats see the detention of women activists as part of a wider crackdown on dissent, which they say may be in response to international pressure over Iran's nuclear work. Tehran rejects Western accusations it is seeking to build bombs. _____________________________________________________________ OBSERVATORY APPEAL April 23, 2008 The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT. Brief description of the situation: The Observatory has been informed by reliable
sources of the sentencing of Ms. Nashrin
Afzali, Ms. Nahid Jafari and
Ms. Zeynab Peyghambarzadeh, three
members of the One Million Signatures Petition Campaign, which seeks to put
pressure on the Iranian legislators in order to withdraw provisions that have
adverse effects on women’s human rights. According to the information received, on April 19,
2008, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Ms. Afzali to six months’
suspended imprisonment and ten lashes for “acting against national security”.
On April 21, 2008, Ms. Jafari received the same sentence, on the basis of the
same charges. Similarly, on March 29, 2008, Ms. Peyghambarzadeh
was sentenced to two years’ suspended imprisonment. The Observatory expresses its deep concern about the
harsh sentences against Ms. Afzali, Ms. Jafari and Ms. Peyghambarzadeh, and
about the ongoing harsh repression of the Iranian authorities against human
rights defenders, in particular women’s rights activists involved in the One
Million Signatures Campaign. The Observatory also recalls that more than a
hundred of women’s rights activists have been arrested, interrogated, or
sentenced in the past two years and that the Government has raised over one
million Euros by imprisoning the activists and releasing them on high bail. The Observatory further wishes to insist on the fact
that Iran had committed to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and
protection of human rights” by presenting its candidacy to the Human Rights
Council 2006 election and had insisted in this regard on the fact that the
country had “continuously put great efforts into safeguarding the status and
inherent dignity of the human person as well as the promotion and protection
of human rights and fundamental freedoms”. In order to ensure the
continuation of these efforts, the Observatory urges the Islamic Republic of
Iran to conform with international human rights standards. ______________________________________________________________________ |
IRAN: FLOGGING - LASHING
Translated
by: Dr. Soheila Vahdati
Compared with the original text by: Nazanin Kiani Fard, Attorney at Law
Islamic
Penal Code of Iran
Chapter
Three
Implementation
of Flogging Punishment
Article
27 –
Flogging is implemented using a thread leather strap of the approximate length
of one meter and the approximate width of 1/5 centimeter.
Article
28 – The
hands and feet of the condemned shall be bound to the place of the sentence
execution as far as possible in order to prevent needless movements of the
condemned that may cause infliction of lashes to the prohibited areas.
Note – The prohibited areas refer
to head, face and genitals.
Article
29 – When
flogging punishment is performed in a closed area, the temperature must be mild
and if performed in an open area, the temperature shall not be too cold or too
hot. The flogging should be performed during the warmer hours of the day in
cold regions and in cooler hours of the day in warm regions.
Article
30 –
Implementation of flogging punishment in terms of vigorousness and weakness of
lashes is as the following:
Flogging punishment for adultery (zena***) and sexual contact without
penetration (tafkheez***) is more vigorous than that for alcohol consumption
(shorbe khamr)*** and punishment for alcohol consumption is more vigorous than
that of false accusation (qazf***) and pimping (qavvadi***).
Article
31 –
Execution of flogging punishment shall be with respect to Article 300 of the
Directive of General and Revolutionary Court Hearing Procedures in Penal
Matters according to the regulations set by the Islamic Penal Code [of Iran].
Article
32 –
Flogging of condemned females shall be performed as they are seated and have
their clothes bound to their bodies.
Article
33 –
Flogging of condemned males shall be carried out as they are standing, and in
the cases of adultery, sexual contact without penetration (tafkheez***) and
alcohol consumption, have no clothing but to cover the genitals, and in the
cases of pimping (Qavvadi***) and false testimony(qazf***), flogging is
performed over regular clothing.
Article
34 –
Flogging by Tazeer*** [rather than Hadd] shall be performed according to
article 288 of the Directive of General and Revolutionary Court Hearing Procedures
in Penal Matters as follows:
a. Flogging
is implemented as the condemned is lied flat on stomach and wears regular
clothing and lashes are inflicted on the back of the body except for the head,
face and genitals.
b. The
flogging is implemented consistently and with medium severity.
Article
35 – This
Directive has been approved by the Head of Judiciary in 35 articles and 7 notes
in implementation of article 293 of the Directive of General and Revolutionary
Court Hearing Procedures in Penal Matters ratified by the Legal and Judiciary
Affairs Commission of the Islamic Parliament on September 19, 1997.
Head
of Judiciary – Seyed Mamoud Shahroudi
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