20th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration: Bahareh Hedayat Listed Among 20 Female Political Prisoners

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration for women's equal rights, the United States is highlighting the cases of twenty female political and ideological prisoners worldwide, including Bahareh Hedayat, a student activist from Iran. The Persian Facebook page of the U.S. State Department published the names of these twenty women on Tuesday, September 10, emphasizing that besides them, thousands of other women are also being documented, with more information to be released in the future. The list includes Wang Yu (China), Khadijeh Ismailova (Azerbaijan), Bahareh Hedayat (Iran), Belm Mesfin (Ethiopia), Meron Almayehu (Ethiopia), Nigisht Wondifraw (Ethiopia), Gao Yu (China), Aster Yohannes (Eritrea), Matliluba Kamillova (Uzbekistan), Leila Yunus (Azerbaijan), Phyo Phyo Aung (Myanmar), Ta Phong Tan (Vietnam), Liu Xia (China), Sanaa Seif (Egypt), Jaj Maria Luders Afioni Mara (Venezuela), Naw Ohn Hla (Myanmar), Nadezhda Sutchunov (Ukraine/Russia), Bui Thi Minh Hang (Vietnam), and Rasha Chorbaji (Russia). The list also generally mentions North Korean women to reach a total of 20 names. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted in September 1995 with the aim of promoting gender equality and enabling women to achieve their rights, endorsed by 189 countries. Bahareh Hedayat was arrested following the 2009 presidential elections in Iran and sentenced to six years in prison, but she has recently been sentenced to serve an additional two years. In this context, her imprisonment has become a focal point for a campaign supporting her, which is described as 'a campaign for the convergence of civil activists' and has led the European Students' Union to call for her release. Bahareh recently celebrated her 30th birthday in Evin prison.