Amnesty International: Iran has intensified judicial actions against women's rights activists

Amnesty International states that Iranian authorities have arbitrarily detained at least five women's rights activists since International Women's Day, and have intensified the repression of these activists, journalists, and other equality advocates. In a statement released on March 18, it was noted that in less than ten days, arbitrary detentions, unfair trials, flogging, and even death sentences have increased to silence the women's movement in Iran. According to the organization, during this period, Iranian authorities have escalated the crackdown on women's rights activists, journalists, singers, and other activists who demand equality or challenge mandatory hijab laws. Diana Tahawi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, stated that instead of addressing systemic discrimination and violence against women and girls, especially following the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests, Iranian officials are attempting to suppress the women's rights movement in Iran. She noted that since then, any widespread disobedience by women and girls demanding their rights is considered a threat to the survival of the political and security system. Diana Tahawi emphasized that the international community must take a stand against the impunity of Iranian officials and in support of the rights of women and girls in Iran, especially during the UN Human Rights Council meeting to review the human rights situation in Iran. She stated that governments should use their influence to pressure Iranian officials to stop the harassment of women's rights activists and to immediately release those who have been arbitrarily detained. Tahawi also called on the international community to pursue legal avenues to hold Iranian officials accountable for widespread and systematic violations of the rights of women and girls, including regarding mandatory hijab laws. The 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, which will be held from February 25 to April 4 in Geneva, is set to extend the mandates of the fact-finding mission and the special rapporteur on Iran. The Human Rights Council will hold a joint meeting on March 19 to review these two mandates. Iranian officials increase pressure on women and women's rights activists every year leading up to International Women's Day. This year, the Iran Human Rights Campaign stated in a statement on the occasion of 'March 8, International Women's Day' that the Islamic Republic has increased security and judicial pressures on women activists in Iran ahead of this day. Despite warnings, numerous reports of the arrest of women's rights activists in various cities have been published. Amnesty International's statement also referred to the arrests of women's rights activists due to their participation in the International Women's Day celebrations on March 8, noting that Iranian officials threatened women to prevent them from gathering and demanding their rights. The statement mentioned that in just the past week, intelligence agents arrested four Kurdish women's rights activists named Leila Pashayi, Baran Saadi, Soheila Motai, and Souma Mohammadi after they participated in the International Women's Day commemoration in Kurdistan province. These individuals are imprisoned in solitary confinement in a detention center in Sanandaj and have been interrogated without access to a lawyer. Amnesty International emphasized that the mandatory hijab laws in Iran, which are enforced against girls as young as seven, violate equal rights, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and belief, privacy, individual autonomy, and human dignity. The fact-finding mission reported in March 2024 that Iranian authorities have carried out a series of widespread, ongoing, and systematic actions, each of which constitutes a violation of human rights against women and girls, and collectively, these actions are assessed as organized repression.