On Sat. Nov. 19 the Iranian-Canadians At Parliament Hill and across from Prime Minister's office during their weekly protest stood in Solidarity with the political prisoner Maryam Akbari Monfared mother of three, who is serving her 15 year sentence since 2009. Four of her siblings were executed in 1988 in Iran. She wrote an open letter recently demanding justice for the 1988 massacred political prisoners(30,000) but she ended up in incommunicado. The Iranian-Canadian protesters called for the freedom of Mohammad Ali Taheri, Narges Mohammadi, Arash Sadeghi, Arzhang Davoodi, Esmail Abdi,... Maryam Akbari Monfared, and all political prisoners in Iran.
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The resolution expressed "serious concern at the alarmingly high frequency of the imposition and carrying-out of the death penalty" and called on the Iranian regime "to abolish, in law and in practice, public executions", "to cease enforced disappearances", "address the poor conditions of prisons, to eliminate the denial of access to adequate medical treatment and the consequent risk of death faced by prisoners", and "to end widespread and serious restrictions, in law and in practice, on the right to freedom of expression, opinion, association and peaceful assembly, both online and offline, including by ending the harassment, intimidation and persecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, women’s and minority rights activists…"
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They have been imprisoned for years without any leaves or having access to legal counsel. The five women are:
Farideh Khoshnam, 32, who has a Bachelor's degree in legal studies, Soudabeh Hassankhani, 31, a computer engineer, Hajar Piri, 33, Sohaila Minaii, 27 and Afsaneh Bayazidi, student activist.
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Students have been threatened by security forces for protesting the drowning death of a female student in Khorramabad. Government agents have vowed to deal with the protesters.
Forouzan Moradvand, a biology student from Ilam, fell into the water canal and drowned as she was attempting to ride a car to get away from the rain that was flooding the city on Monday night, November 7. Another female student, Nasrin Mohammadi, from Isfahan, also drowned in the flood and went into coma.Students and residents of Khorramabad staged an extensive demonstration the next day in protest to the city officials' incompetence and the absence of any bridge in the streets to help people pass the streets.
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Kamand Agahi, a psychology student in Isfahan, was expelled once she was identified as being a Bahaii. The President of the university and his secretary had demanded that she writes an open letter announcing that she is a Muslim and no longer believes in the Bahaii faith, something that she refused to do.
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Sadeghi Niyaraki said more people have been summoned. The sealed up complexes included photography and film studios. Their cameras, lab top computers, flash memory disks and light equipment were all confiscated.
Niyaraki said security forces, intelligence police, moral security police, the internet police and the department of public places were involved in this operation.
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Mrs. Taheri said her daughter, Reyhaneh Haj Ebrahim, suffers from Colitis and has a dismal health condition. Prison authorities, however, have denied her the necessary medical services and medical leave.
Reyhaneh Haj Ebrahim Dabbagh has been detained in Evin Prison since December 27, 2009, without any leaves. She was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on the charges of "waging war on God" and "supporting the opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran".
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She was arrested in a birthday party two years ago in Mashhad and temporarily detained.
She said the security forces did not show any warrants and the behavior of the female agents who gave her a body search was very offensive and humiliating. She was released on bail.
Two years later, she received her verdict and subsequently summoned to prison for its implementation. She was photographed, finger printed, shackled and handcuffed before being taken to a small room to be flogged 80 times.
The young woman asks where in the world people get flogged for taking part in a birthday party!
The report did not mention the date of arrest or the flogging.
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"Women Have Wings" was founded to commemorate Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot who flew across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928. The award is aimed at introducing women who like Amelia Earhart fly through difficulties to achieve their goals.
This year's award was granted to women from India, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, and Iran.
Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested on September 4, 2010, for defending her clients. She was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. She was deprived of practicing law and leaving the country for 20 years. Later, her sentenced was reduced to six years in jail and 10 years work deprivation.
She got released after serving three years in prison due to long hunger strikes she staged in protest to the violation of her own and her family's rights. She is still being constantly persecuted and harassed by Iranian regime's security forces.
