WUNRN
Two Women Labor Activists Flogged
(20 February
2009) Two Iranian women labor activists, convicted for participating in May Day
celebrations, have been punished by flogging, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
reported today.
According to local sources, on 18 February, Sussan Razani and Shiva Kheirabadi
were flogged inside the central prison in Sanandaj, capital of the Iranian
Kurdistan province. Razani was flogged 70 lashes and Kheirabadi received 15
lashes.
“These inhumane and barbaric floggings demonstrate an utter disregard for the
rights of Iranian citizens by a hardliner clique inside the Judiciary, who are
determined to drag Iran’s human rights record to new lows,” said Hadi Ghaemi,
the Campaign’s
spokesperson.
Branch 101 of
The appeals court reinstated the lower court’s sentence for Razani but reduced
Kheirabadi’s sentence from 40 lashes to 15 lashes. The two women were informed
of the appeals court’s decision on 15 February. Both women were prosecuted
because of their participation in a May Day celebration in Sanandaj on 1 May
2008.
The court also sentenced two other labor activists, Abdullah Khani and Syed
Ghalib Husseini, for participating in the same event to prison terms and
flogging.
Last year the Judiciary also flogged workers who had participated in May Day
celebrations. On 16 February 2008, Sanandaj’s
Iranian workers are struggling to form independent labor unions but face
continuous state repression. The government and the Judiciary have regularly
abused the justice system to imprison and silence labor activists.
The Campaign
called on the Iranian authorities to honor their international legal obligation
to recognize workers’ fundamental rights to freedom of association and to form
unions to protect their interests. These rights are guaranteed by Article 22 of
the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of which
“Iranian workers are suffering great hardship under the current dismal economic
situation. There is an urgent need for them to be able to negotiate
collectively and defend their rights and interests,” Ghaemi said.
The Campaign
also called on the Iranian Judiciary and the parliament to abolish the inhumane
punishment of flogging from its penal code.
“The parliament is currently considering a new draft of the Islamic Penal Code
and it is time to remove flogging as a punishment through legislative action,”
Ghaemi added.
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