Preserving Diplomatic Officials' Hijab in Iran; The Situation of Mahdieh Golroo

These days, Tehran is hosting political and parliamentary delegations from European countries. Among the politicians who have traveled to Iran are Claudia Roth, the Vice President of the German Parliament, and Vesna Pusić, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia. Concurrently with this visit, a letter addressed to these two politicians has been published on the Facebook page 'Women’s Quiet Freedoms in Iran,' requesting them to discuss the mandatory hijab for Iranian women with Iranian officials. On the other hand, two other members of the Norwegian Parliament rejected Iran's invitation due to the diplomatic request for maintaining Islamic hijab during their visit. Masih Ali-Najad, the director of the 'Women’s Quiet Freedoms' page, is our guest today. What prompted you to publish this letter? Masih Ali-Najad: I believe that throughout these seven months of activity on the 'Women’s Quiet Freedoms' Facebook page, the focus has been on Iranian women expressing their requests and the censored writings of all these years regarding the issue of mandatory hijab, and speaking directly to Iranian officials. However, the response we received has only been attacks from Iranian officials in the official media within Iran and silence from figures known as moderates or reformists. Therefore, I thought it might not be a bad idea to raise this issue at a broader level and to ask female political officials who enter Iran to raise our questions that are not allowed to be posed inside Iran or to which Iranian officials are indifferent. And what response have you received so far? For me, it is important that this question is not archived. When this issue was raised on the 'Women’s Quiet Freedoms' page addressed to non-Iranian female politicians, asking why they do not protest when it is free to object to the mandatory hijab photo for visa issuance at the French embassy in Iran, I see that many German media reporters are following up. In Norway, two female politicians announced that they are not willing to comply with the mandatory hijab and meet with Iranian officials. Therefore, I think the result of this type of protest and requests made by non-Iranian female politicians is at least that this voice is heard and not archived like in the past thirty years. Ms. Ali-Najad, a few months ago we discussed the visit of a non-Iranian female politician to Iran who refused to comply with the Islamic hijab and did not exit the plane, and ultimately it was published that diplomatic relations between Iran and Italy take precedence over whether this woman wants to comply with the hijab or not. What is your opinion on this? Don't you think that currently establishing diplomatic relations between Iran and other countries has a more positive impact on the lives of Iranian women than diplomatic representatives wanting to wear hijab or not? For us, who have experienced the bitter isolation in diplomatic arenas, it is valuable for Iran to be able to connect with European countries. However, this connection is made for the purpose of considering human rights and the rights of half of Iran's population, not to remain silent and not raise any requests that might overshadow this connection. You should note that throughout these thirty-some years, many requests have not been made for the same reason that Iran might be pressured. I do not think that asking non-Iranian female politicians to at least not comply with the mandatory hijab out of respect for themselves will lead to the severance of relations between Iran and other countries. Because when Iranian officials enter non-Iranian countries and see that alcoholic beverages are served at the dinner table, they request all Western countries to respect the Islamic values of Iran. We have the same request that non-Iranian politicians, when traveling to Iran, ask Iranian officials to respect human values. The simplest request of Iranian women is to have the right to choose. Many Iranian women have lost the opportunity to have a job due to their type of clothing. Many Iranian women have, at various times, given commitments (meaning they have been arrested and committed, humiliated) because their type of clothing did not comply with the wishes of the morality police in Iran. Therefore, I think we should take advantage of this opportunity now that 750,000 people are present on a page dedicated to the issue of mandatory hijab; they can raise their voices to non-Iranian officials when our own officials have plugged their ears and never hear the voices of Iranian women. The detention of Mahdieh Golroo, a women's rights activist, continues. Raha Bahreini, a researcher in the Iran section of Amnesty International, is with us. Ms. Bahreini, what new updates have been published regarding Mahdieh Golroo's case? Raha Bahreini: The situation of Mahdieh Golroo is very concerning. This 29-year-old women's rights defender has been detained by security forces at her home since October 25, 2014, and is being held in Ward 2-A, which is controlled by the IRGC Intelligence Organization. The first two months of this detention were in solitary confinement, which constitutes psychological torture. Meanwhile, Mahdieh has been deprived of access to a lawyer throughout this time and has not been formally and legally charged with any specific accusation, despite having undergone hours of interrogation. This process of the case is contrary to international laws and Iran's human rights commitments, which stipulate that individuals must be informed of the reasons for their detention upon arrest and that charges must be communicated to them in writing as soon as possible. Amnesty International considers Mahdieh Golroo a prisoner of conscience who should be released immediately and unconditionally because she was arrested for participating in a peaceful protest against acid attacks on women. The arrest was due to participation in peaceful gatherings. Expressing an opinion and exercising the right to freedom of expression constitutes arbitrary detention. Ms. Bahreini, what analysis can be made in this situation where an activist against acid attacks is currently in detention while those who committed the acid attacks continue to roam freely in society, and no clues have been found regarding their arrest? This contradiction in the behavior of Iranian officials is very concerning. It is regrettable that women’s rights defenders are in detention while no serious action has been taken to prosecute and identify the perpetrators of acid attacks and other violence against women by officials. Despite several months passing since these acid attacks, we have not encountered any reports of arrests, while Mahdieh Golroo and several other women’s rights activists have recently been detained by the IRGC Intelligence forces. Therefore, Amnesty International not only demands the immediate and unconditional release of Mahdieh Golroo and other women’s rights defenders but also calls on officials to take urgent actions to pursue the perpetrators of violence against women and to prosecute and punish them in fair and just trials.