December, 23 2008, 07:06am EDT
Women's Peace Group Creates Petition to Iranian President
Calls for safe reopening of Iranian human rights centers, commitment to human rights work
WASHINGTON
After
learning of the shutdown of two renowned Iranian human rights
organizations Sunday, CODEPINK Women for Peace have created a letter of
petition to Iranian President Ahmadinejad calling for him to allow
women's rights and human rights activists to continue their work in
Iran safely and freely. It also calls for the re-opening of the two
organizations, the Center for Participation in Clearing Mine Areas and
Defenders of Human Rights Center. (View the online petition here).
CODEPINK will deliver the petition to the U.S. Iranian ambassador in D.C. this
week. (Watch CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin describe the group's response to the shutdown Monday here on GRITtv with Laura Flanders.)
The
centers, founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, were shut
down with no explanation or written justification illegally just hours
before a 60th anniversary of Human Rights Day celebration there. In
August 2006, according to a CNN interview Monday, Ebadi said the
Iranian government informed her that the agency is "illegal" and vowed
to arrest those who continued to work there.
"Shirin Ebadi and her fellow activists inspire us all with their
courage and strength in the face of a kind of suppression that many of
us will never know, and we stand in solidarity with them and support
their work for human rights and a more democratic Iran," said Jodie
Evans, co-founder of CODEPINK. "This illegal raid on Shirin's offices
is only the most recent attempt by the Iranian government to suppress
or erase the face of human-rights activism in Iran."
Ebadi was briefly taken into police
custody following raids of the centers, which are highly respected in
Iran and worldwide for their role in improving human rights conditions.
The Center for Participation in Clearing Mine Areas helps victims of
landmines in Iran, and Defenders of Human Rights Center, reports human
rights violations in Iran, defends political prisoners, and supports
families of those prisoners. If Iran truly champions human rights, the
centers must be allowed to remain safely open.
A petition,
CODEPINK believes, is the best way to support Ebadi without provoking a
reaction from the government that would endanger her or place her under
more intense scrutiny.
"We
must be conscious of and realistic about how our actions in support of
her affect her safety, her ability to do her work, and her life," Evans
said. "But we cannot do so in any way that provokes a reaction from the
government which would endanger them more or place them under increased
scrutiny."
For more information on the petition, please call Jodie Evans at 310-621-5635 or Medea Benjamin at 415-235-6517.
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.
(818) 275-7232LATEST NEWS
'Flawed and Dangerous': US Appeals Panel Upholds Potential TikTok Ban
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First Amendment advocates on Friday criticized a U.S. appellate court for upholding a law that would ban TikTok in the United States if its Chinese parent company does not swiftly sell the social media platform used by an estimated 170 million Americans.
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