Human Rights Watch Calls for 'Immediate Release' of Sharifeh Mohammadi

Human Rights Watch has called for the 'immediate release' of Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist sentenced to death. Nahid Naghashbandi, the head of research in the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, described the 'brutal crackdown on protesters and the arrest and mistreatment of women activists' by Iranian authorities as a sign of the 'government's disregard for the rights of minorities and women,' emphasizing that 'they must release Sharifeh Mohammadi without delay.' In statements made on July 19, she stressed, 'If Massoud Pezeshkian, as President, wants to show a sign of real change, he must start by stopping the ongoing repression, including death sentences.' Naghashbandi clarified that Iranian officials 'not only continuously target women activists but also subject women from ethnic and religious minorities to double repression and attacks.' Human Rights Watch has assessed the judicial actions against Varisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi, Kurdish political activists, and Zhina Modarres Gorji, a women's rights activist and journalist from Sanandaj, in this context. Varisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi, Kurdish political prisoners, are imprisoned on charges of 'rebellion.' Zhina Modarres Gorji, an activist from Sanandaj, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison and exile to Hamadan, of which 10 years will be enforceable. According to Human Rights Watch, following the nationwide protests of 'Women, Life, Freedom' in 2022, Iranian authorities have 'intensified the repression of women activists and human rights defenders' and have resorted to 'harsher methods and heavy sentences to silence dissenters and dissidents.' This human rights organization has cited the issuance of over 60 years of prison sentences for 11 women's rights activists in Gilan as an example. Recently, Human Rights Watch criticized the pressure on women in Iran, listing the enforcement of mandatory hijab regulations as a systematic violation of women's rights. This international organization has urged Massoud Pezeshkian to eliminate the extensive legal and social barriers in women's lives and to create conditions for equal access to economic opportunities for them. The Human Rights Campaign in Iran: The death sentence for Sharifeh Mohammadi reflects the dire situation of labor activists. Registration of the appeal for the case of Sharifeh Mohammadi, imprisoned labor activist sentenced to death. The condemnation of the death sentence for Sharifeh Mohammadi; dozens of activists and former political prisoners: the government wants to escape from crises. Hunger strikes in 11 prisons in Iran; members of the 'Black Tuesdays' campaign: No to execution should become a national demand.