Iran Civil Society: From International Awards to Economic Suffering
October 30, 2012
Iran Civil Society: Hunger Strikes and Unheard Stories
November 6, 2012
Arseh Sevom — Prominent lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been in prison in Iran since September 2010. Her defense of minors on death row as well as victims of human rights violations in Iran was repaid with loss of freedom and solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. Her charges included “activities against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.” Sotoudeh’s arrest was widely condemned by human rights organizations and activists.
Sotoudeh went on her first hunger strike after her arrest in September 2010 when she was denied access to her lawyer and was not permitted to talk to her family on the phone. She called off her month-long hunger strike after a visit from her sister. Her current hunger strike, beginning on Wednesday, October 17, is in response to continuous harassment, including the denial of her right to have contact with face-to-face visitations with her 12-year-old daughter Mehraveh, her 4-year-old son Nima, and other family members. Her husband, Reza Khandan, voiced his concerns over her wife’s poor health, holding the Iranian Judiciary accountable. He wrote on his Facebook page [fa] that “in addition to asking for a call off the hunger strike, let’s defy the prison officials who force prisoners to give up their lives seeking their most basic rights.”
Nasrin Sotoudeh courtesy of the /Feminist School
Sotoudeh’s work was first recognized internationally in 2008 when she got the first annual Human Rights Prize awarded by the Italy-based Human Rights International. The reaction of Iranian authorities at the time was to ban her from traveling abroad to receive the award. In April 2011, the PEN American Center named Nasrin Sotoudeh, a writer, lawyer, and leader of the women’s and children’s rights movement in Iran, as the recipient of its 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. She was praised for her unyielding spirit in the fight for justice, equality, and the rule of law in Iran. Yet again she could not attend the ceremony as she in prison awaiting an appeals court verdict.
On Friday, she and filmmaker Jafar Panahi were jointly awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for expression and defense of human rights. This latest international recognition has led to even more harassment of Sotoudeh. Kalame [fa] reports that she has received a three-week visitation ban. The powerful Larijani brothers have called the prize “political” and criticized the “West” for interfering in Iran’s domestic affairs.
The Young Journalist Club (YJC) [fa] affiliated with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting [IRIB], a state owned news outlet, created a fictional scenario in which Sotoudeh is accused of supporting terrorist groups. The reporter framed Sotoudeh as an “agent who defended American and European plots and actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran” and believes that “Hillary Clinton’s statement on the Sakharov prize and immediate release of Sotoudeh” is yet more evidence of this plot. This report calls even her hunger strike part of the plot against Iran. The report is so outrageous that another state-run news outlet, Baztab Emrooz [fa], refuted it, holding the, head of the IRIB, Ezzatollah Zarghami, accountable for the false and baseless accusations. Baztab wrote of Zarghami:
“If I were you, I would be ashamed to death of the YJC report!”
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI), joined by Shirin Ebadi, renewed their calls to authorities to quash Nasrin Sotoudeh’s convictions and release her and other prisoners of conscience unconditionally.
Activists all over the world have reacted to the unjust treatment of Sotoudeh’s case and have urged the Iranian government to free her immediately and unconditionally. They have also called on the lawyer to stop her hunger strike due to her deteriorating health. Many have shown support on Nasrin Sotoudeh’s Facebook page and created Twitter Campaigns to show support and solidarity.
The site Free Nasrin Sotoudeh is urging people to replace their profile image with that of a flower, which they call “Nasrin’s flower,” in order to show solidarity with her during her hunger strike:
“Change you profile picture until Nasrin Sotoudeh’s hunger strike ends and there is a resolution of her demands.”
Shookh o Shang [fa] blog marks the first day of Sotoudeh’s hunger strike by re-publishing Reza Khnadan’s Facebook status:
“She is denied a mother’s basic right to visit her children after months of efforts. She is denied a two-minute telephone call after spending 17 months in a public ward. She is denied visitation by her brother and mother after a year. Her 12-year-old daughter is banned from traveling abroad and is summoned to the court together with her dad and she [Nasrin] hears about it…She finds no choice but to go on a hunger strike…”
Morteza reflects parts of the congratulatory letter by 36 activists to Sotoudeh on her Sakharov prize in his blog [fa]. He highlighted:
“The world is witnessing her seek for justice and has praised her for that… Winter will be over and figures like Panahi and Sotoudeh will always be remembered with honor in our country’s history.”
Mahsa Vahdat and Mighty Sam McClain have dedicated the song “Sun of Iran” to Nasrin.
In an online petition, a group of defenders of women’s rights have called upon the Iranian judiciary, security apparatus, and prison officials to end the harassment of female prisoners of conscience and their families, including the lifting of the travel ban imposed on Nasrin Sotoudeh’s daughter. They also call on them to ensure the health and rights of Nasrin Sotoudeh and nine female prisoners of conscience on hunger strike.
A Good Day [fa] blog republished Touka Neyestani’s cartoon for Nasrin Sotoudeh and titled it “Praiseworthy Nasrin.”
Akbar, in his blog called the Pen Movement [fa] praised Sotoudeh’s resistance:
“It is a simple word but very difficult to understand. A word we all heard it since we were born. ‘Mother’ is the word. But you should only be a mother to understand what that means. She is a mother regardless of being a political activist. Maybe it is difficult for us to understand why she is on hunger strike, but if you are a mother yourself, then you understand the importance of her hunger strike. You should only be a mother to realize what it takes to be separated from your beloved children.”
He continues by addressing the judicial system:
“So where is this ‘Islamic Compassion’ that you keep talking about? Although Nasrin is innocent and is serving a term for which she does not even deserve. Dear Nasrin, I am ashamed of what they do to you under the name of religion.”
In the end he requests that she end her hunger strike:
“Your resistance is already proven to us all. So stay with us please. We need you and people like you. Everybody will be happy to hear about you breaking the hunger strike. We will need you and people like you for the Judgment Day when we call on your help to restore our rights by holding the officials accountable in the court of justice.”
The last word goes to Nasrin Sotoudeh herself. In a letter [en] to her children, she wrote:
“I know that you require water, food, housing, a family, parents, love, and visits with your mother, but just as much, you need freedom, social security, the rule of law, and justice.”
