Iranian women jailed for saying “NO” to stoning

Dear friend of Amnesty,

Do you believe that stoning to death can EVER be acceptable?

Do you believe that you should be thrown in jail for saying “No” to stoning?

This is exactly what happened just a few days ago in Iran to a group of women human rights activists who dared to speak out against stoning to mark International Women’s Day. Right now Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh and Shadi Sadr are being held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison in Tehran, awaiting word of their fate.

Amnesty fears they will be tortured, and is calling for their immediate release.

If you believe, as I do, that stoning to death is NEVER acceptable, then I hope you will support our work to put an end to this practice, and to defend those who campaign publicly for its abolition.

Click here to join Amnesty now, and help put an end to stoning.

On March 8th the world celebrated the 98th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The government of Iran marked the coming of this day by arresting 33 women activists. A demonstration for women’s rights held in front of Iran’s parliament on 8 March was forcibly broken up by security forces who are said to have injured several women.
Two of the arrested women are still being held:

Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh (left) is the editor of Zanan, a quarterly journal and is a key member of the “Stop Stoning Forever” Campaign, launched in September 2006 to end the practice of stoning to death in Iran.

Shadi Sadr (right), a lawyer and journalist, is the director of Raahi, a legal advice centre for women. She founded the first website dedicated to the work of Iranian women's rights activists and she has written extensively about Iranian women and their legal rights.

Amnesty International believes that the arrest of these women may have been an attempt to prevent calls for women’s equality on Women’s Day.

Don’t let Iran silence these women. Act now.

Amnesty International believes that:

• stoning is completely and always unacceptable
• courageous women who speak out for the rights of women need to be protected

We believe that change can happen, if we continue to speak out against these injustices.

Please help Amnesty International secure the release of Mahboudeh and Sadr, and continue to support their peaceful campaigning to protect women in Iran. Join us and be a part of the solution.

Send an email to Canada's Embassy for the Islamic Republic of Iran and make a financial contribution to Amnesty International today

Thank you for your concern for these courageous women.

Sincerely,

Alex Neve, Secretary General
Amnesty International Canada