Paris, Dec. 16 – In a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Sarvnaz Chitsaz, Chair of the Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, called on the international body to condemn Iranian regimes’ crimes against women and refer the dossier on the Tehran regime's human rights abuses to the UN Security Council for the adoption of urgent and mandatory measures.
Ms. Chitsaz stated in the letter that “based on reports, 18 imprisoned women died in Iran’s Kahrizak prison (located in the southern suburbs of Tehran) due to inhuman and intolerable conditions of the prison. The regime’s officials had reportedly incarcerated the 18 inmates in a metal mobile container during the scorching summer heat in August since there was space to be allotted to women in Kahrizak Prison. As a result of this criminal act and since the prisoners’ problems were not resolved in time, they all died of dehydration and respiratory problems. Other prisoners found out about the tragedy after the stench of the decomposing corpses spread throughout the prison complex. The regime’s henchmen not only made no attempt to take away the corpses, but they decided to leave them in the metal cells to create an atmosphere of terror and fear among the other prisoners. In a cover up, the Kahrizak prison authorities issued false claims and reports that the prisoners died of heart failure or committed suicide.”
“Last month, in a comprehensive report, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, expressed the international community’s worries about the increasing trend of human rights violations in Iran. On July 28, 2008, world media announced the mass execution of 29 people in the mullahs’ Evin prison. The Figaro daily considered it at the time, “A new record of executions in Iran: 29 people in one day”! On the morning of November 26, 2008, a day after the international day of Violence against Women, in a criminal act, the mullahs’ regime hanged 10 prisoners in the notorious Evin prison, including a 37-year-old woman,” she added
She continued: “On January 1, 2008, Raheleh Zamani, 27, a mother of two children aged 3 and 5, was hanged in Iran. Shabnam Setayesh, 34, was hanged on August 28, 2008. And, similarly, on Wednesday, November 26, 2008, Fatemeh Haghighat Pajouh, a mother of a 14-year-old daughter, also fell victim to the noose along with 9 other prisoners.”
“In recent months, the mullahs’ regime has dramatically increased its suppression of Iranian women and youth. The suppressive measure announced on April 20, 2008 and referred to as “Social Safety,” targeted various social sectors, and especially women and youth, under the pretexts of “mal-veiling” and “rounding up thugs and hooligans.” In accordance with the regime’s declared statistics, in the course of the implementation of various stages of this measure, well over 1,200,000 dignified and noble Iranian women faced street interrogations, thousands were detained, and a number of youth were hanged.
“The state-affiliated Fars News Agency reported that during the first three months of the current Persian calendar year, more than 200,000 people in the Isfahan and Eastern Azerbaijan provinces were arrested in streets and public places under the pretext of ‘mal-veiling’ (Fars, May 28, 2008).
“In the course of the implementation of the suppressive ‘Social Safety’ measure, the mullahs’ regime also set up street trials and issued verdicts in public places. The state-affiliated Fars News Agency wrote in this regard, ‘A judge from the court and judiciary, along with his officers, address cases and issue verdicts in walkways’ (Fars, July 6, 2008).
“On behalf of the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, I bring to your attention the terrifying human rights situation in Iran, and especially the deteriorating conditions for Iranian women, and respectfully request you to adopt urgent measures and vehemently condemn these crimes. I also request that the human rights abuses dossier of the mullahs’ religious dictatorship be referred to the UN Security Council for the adoption of urgent and mandatory measures,” she said.
