WUNRN
IRAN - WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
SUSSAN TAHMASEBI
RECEIVES HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH RIGHTS
& COURAGE AWARD
October 8, 2010
Sussan Tahmasebi
"In
Human Rights Watch's Alison Des Forges Award
celebrates the valor of individuals who put their lives on the line to protect
the dignity and rights of others. Human Rights Watch collaborates with these
courageous activists to create a world in which people live free of violence,
discrimination, and oppression.
Sussan Tahmasebi has been a women's rights and civil society activist for
nearly 2 decades. For eleven years she has worked in
Tahmasebi was charged with spreading propaganda against the state and being
a threat to national security for organizing a protest in support of women's
rights in June 2006. She was tried on March 4, 2007, and sentenced to 2 years
in prison, 18 months of which was suspended for 2 years. Tahmasebi appealed the
ruling and was freed on bail pending the appeal, which is still ongoing. On the
day of her trial, women's rights activists held a protest outside of the
Revolutionary Courts objecting to increasing pressure on women activists. When
security forces began to arrest the protesters, Tahmasebi left the court and
was also arrested, along with 32 others, and charged with being a threat to
national security, collusion, and disobeying the orders of police. She was
later acquitted of these charges but continues to endure harassment by security
forces who have performed a home search and subjected her to numerous
interrogations. She was banned from traveling on several occasions between
December 2006 and January 2009.
By conducting training sessions in leadership and peace-building, and coordinating
the development of training materials on women's and children's rights,
Tahmasebi has worked to strengthen the capacity of Iranian civil society to
effect positive change. She has also played a key role in informing the
international community about positive developments in the Iranian civil
society sector and in promoting collaboration between Iranian NGOs and their
counterparts internationally. The organization she co-founded, the Iran Civil
Society Training and Research Center (ICTRC), which focused on strengthening
the capacity of civil society, was shut down by security forces on March 15,
2007, a few days after she was released from prison. Prior to her work in Iran,
Tahmasebi worked for NGOs based in the United States focusing on reproductive
and health issues as they affect underserved communities, including immigrants,
refugees, and communities of color. She is currently an editor of the English
section of Change for Equality, the One Million Signatures Campaign's website.
Human Rights Watch honors Sussan Tahmasebi for her dedication to promoting
civil society and making women's rights a national priority in Iran.