Keep Iran's Heart Beating

KEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:
STORIES OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISTS:
BAHAREH ALAVI & HALEH SAHABI
WHO TRAGICALLY PASSED AWAY IN 2011

I
Trinity College Dublin has a long and important tradition of outreach and community engagement
through which the College remains connected with society in manifold and mutually enriching
ways. Volunteering and community service among students and staff is facilitated, encouraged
and supported as a means of contributing to society, broadening horizons, building transferable
skills and personal development.
‘Keeping Iran’s Heart Beating’ is one of three own-initiative projects being run by Trinity students
and supported by the Trinity College Civic Engagement Officer and Community Initiative Funding
made available through the generosity of Trinity Alumni. In each case, the students have dedicated
their summer to these projects while community partners such as Amnesty International Ireland
are supervising the projects, acting in an advisory capacity and facilitating implementation.
To learn more about the Community Initiative Funding and follow the recipient students’ blogs,
visit www.tcd.ie/Community.
STORIES OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISTSKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:
WOMEN IN IRAN ARE OFTEN PORTRAYED AS VICTIMS - HELPLESSLY UNABLE TO STAND UP AND CLAIM
THEIR OWN RIGHTS. THE TRUTH, HOWEVER, IS THAT IRANIAN WOMEN ARE AT THE VERY HEART OF
THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT, AND ARE SOME OF THE MOST COURAGEOUS AND EFFECTIVE HUMAN
RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS IN IRAN.
‘Keeping Iran’s Heart Beating - Stories of Women’s Rights Activists’ is an exhibition which celebrates Iranian women’s
rights defenders. It showcases the women, and the men, who stand up for women’s rights in Iran on a daily basis and seeks
to tell their story.
This exhibition, which is funded by the TCD Community Initiative Fund, has been put together by members of the Amnesty
Iran group in Ireland, with the support of Amnesty International.
This exhibition profiles 19 women’s rights activists from Iran. Many have been imprisoned for their work and some have
been forced into exile, but they continue to fight for women’s rights in Iran.

I
JOIN THE IRAN GROUP
The Amnesty International Ireland Iran Group was established in the
summer of 2009 at the height of post-election protests in Iran, when
many activists and peaceful protesters were arrested and the surge in
executions became alarming. The group is currently focusing on three
areas:
1. Women’s Rights
2. The Death Penalty
3. Prisoners of Conscience
We hold regular events to raise awareness of the above issues faced by
the people of Iran. The group is open to anybody who has an interest in
contributing!
If you would like more information on the work of the Amnesty Iran Group,
or if you would like to get involved, please email irangroup@amnesty.ie or
visit our web page www.amnesty.ie/our-work/iran.
TAKE ACTION
TAKE ACTION
Please take action to support human rights defenders in Iran. You can:
Host this exhibition. Email us at irangroup@amnesty.ie for more
details.
Take action online for those who are still in prison at
www.amnesty.ie
Follow us on facebook.com/keepingiransheartbeating
Sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date on human rights issues in
Iran. Email us at irangroup@amnesty.ie
Use a postcard to write a message to one or all of the people in the
exhibition expressing your support for their work.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
JOIN AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Amnesty International Ireland is the country’s largest
human rights organisation with over 15,000 members and
supporters. We are part of a global movement of more than
3.2 million people working in more than 150 countries
around the world.
We are independent of any political ideology, economic
interest or religion. We do not support or oppose any government or
political system.
Our sole concern is the protection of the fundamental human rights
guaranteed to each one of us by the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
Amnesty International Ireland takes part in three global campaigns;
against torture and terror, to end FGM and to abolish the death penalty.
We also work on four priority countries, Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territories, Iran, Colombia and Zimbabwe.
If you would like more information or if you would like to get involved,
please send an email to info@amnesty.ie.

WOMEN IN IRAN
Women in Iran face widespread discrimination
under the law.
They are excluded from key areas of the•
state – they cannot, for example, be judges
or stand for the presidency.
They do not have equal rights with men•
in marriage, divorce, child custody and
inheritance.
Criminal harm suffered by a woman is less•
severely punished than the same harm
suffered by a man.
Evidence given by women in court is worth•
half that given by a man.
Although the legal age for marriage is•
13, fathers can apply for permission to
arrange that their daughters are married at
a younger age – and to men much older
than their daughters.
Men are allowed to practice polygamy.•
Women are not.
Men have an incontestable right in law to•
divorce their spouse. Women do not.
HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN
The authorities maintained severe•
restrictions on freedom of expression,
association and assembly.
Sweeping controls on domestic and•
international media aimed at reducing
Iranians’ contact with the outside world
are imposed. Individuals and groups
risk arrest, torture and imprisonment if
perceived as co-operating with human
rights and foreign-based Persian language
media organizations.
Torture and other ill treatment of detainees•
are routine and committed with impunity.
DEATH PENALTY
Retentionist•
In 2010, the authorities acknowledged•
252 executions, but there were credible
reports of more than 300 other executions.
The true total could be even higher. At
least one juvenile offender was executed.
Sentences of death by stoning continue to
be passed.
CONSTITUTION
Completed 3 December 1979; revised 1989.
Note: the revision in 1989 expanded powers of
the presidency and eliminated the position of
prime minister.
Iran is a signatory or party to the following
international treaties:
International Covenant on Economic,•
Social and Cultural Rights
InternationalCovenantonCivilandPolitical•
Rights
Convention on the Rights of the Child•
Convention on the Rights of Persons with•
Disabilities
Convention on the Prevention and•
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
InternationalConventionontheElimination•
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
IRAN
GENERAL POLITICAL CONTEXT
Iran is a theocratic republic, with a religious•
legal system based on sharia law
The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei,•
is the most powerful political figure in Iran.
He appoints the head of the judiciary, six of
the 12 members of the powerful Guardian
Council, the commanders of all the armed
forces, Friday prayer leaders and the head
of radio and TV. He also confirms the
president’s election.
President Ahmadinejad is a hard-liner•
both at home - where he does not favour
the development or reform of political
institutions - and abroad. A continuous
crackdown on human rights at home has
been married with a combative attitude in
the international arena.
Formal political parties are a relatively new•
phenomenoninIranandmostconservatives
stillprefertoworkthroughpoliticalpressure
groups rather than parties
The force is estimated to have 125,000•
active troops. It boasts its own ground
forces, navy and air force, and oversees
Iran’s strategic weapons. The Guards
also have a powerful presence in civilian
institutions and are thought to control
around a third of Iran’s economy through a
series of subsidiaries and trusts. They also
control the Basij Militia, a voluntary militia
called out in times of crisis.
Clerics dominate Iranian society and the•
judiciary. In recent years, conservative
hardliners have used the judicial system
to undermine reforms by imprisoning
reformist personalities and journalists and
closing down reformist papers.
Office of the Supreme Leader / AP
IRAN
POPULATION
77,891,220 (estimated 2010)
MAJOR CITIES
Tehran (capital):• 7.19 million
Mashhad:• 2.592 million
Esfahan:• 1.704 million
Karaj:• 1.531 million
Tabriz:• 1.459 million
ETHNIC GROUPS
RELIGIONS
Muslim (official) 98%
(Shia 89%, Sunni 9%)
Other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish,
Christian, and Baha’i) 2%
LANGUAGES
BORDER COUNTRIES:
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq,
Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan
HEAD OF STATE
AyatollahSayedAliKhamenei(Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran)
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (President)
2%1%1%1%2%
9%
26%
58%
Persian and Persian dialects (official)
Turkic and Turkic dialects
Kurdish
Luri
Balochi
Arabic
Turkish
Other
100%
Other
1%2%2%
2%
3%
7%
8%
24%
51%
Persian Azeri Gilaki and Mazandarani
Kurd
Arab Lur Baloch
TurkmenOther
Current flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran
2%1%1%1%2%
9%
26%
58%
Persian and Persian dialects (official)
Turkic and Turkic dialects
Kurdish
Luri
Balochi
Arabic
Turkish
Other
100%
Other
1%2%2%
2%
3%
7%
8%
24%
51%
Persian Azeri Gilaki and Mazandarani
Kurd
Arab Lur Baloch
TurkmenOther

Despite constant reprisal and harassment, many Iranian women’s rights groups and campaigns continue to thrive. They
highlight issues such as inequality between men and women, the right to freedom of expression and the use of stoning in
execution. Here are a few of the most prominent Iranian women’s rights groups.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS GROUPS IN IRANKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:
MOTHERS FOR PEACE
Mothers for Peace was set up in 2007 when over 500 women signed
a letter to Iranian officials opposing the national nuclear policy.
Mothers for Peace campaigns against possible military intervention
in Iran over its nuclear programme, seeks “viable solutions” to the
region’s instability and campaigns against the arrest, detention and
harassment of ordinary Iranians. Members of the organisation have
been arrested and detained on many occasions.
The Ministry of Intelligence has suggested the Mothers for Peace has
links with left wing groups such as the People’s Fedaiyan Organisation
of Iran. Mothers for Peace strongly denies that is has any political
affiliations.
THE ONE MILLION SIGNATURES CAMPAIGN
The One Million Signatures Campaign, also known as the Campaign for Equality, was launched in
2006. It is a grassroots initiative composed of a network of people committed to ending discrimination
against women in Iranian law. The Campaign gives basic legal training to volunteers, who travel
around the country promoting it’s ideals. They talk with women in their homes, as well as in public
places, telling them about their rights and the need for legal reform. The volunteers are also
aiming to collect one million signatures of Iranian nationals for a petition demanding an end to
discriminatory laws against women in Iran.
The members of the Campaign are careful to conduct their activities in full compliance with the law.
The Iranian Constitution permits peaceful gatherings and that it is entirely legal under Iranian law
to hold educational workshops and to collect signatures for a petition calling for legislative change.
However, dozens of the Campaign’s activists have been arrested or harassed for their activities,
some while collecting signatures for the petition.
Frequently denied official permission to hold public meetings, Campaign activists usually hold their
workshops in the homes of sympathizers, some of whom have then received threatening phone
calls, allegedly from security officials or been summoned for interrogation. Campaign for Equality
activists have also been prevented from travelling abroad.
MOURNING MOTHERS/ MOTHERS OF LALEH
The Mourning Mothers are women whose children have been
killed, disappeared or detained in post-election violence in Iran
since June 2009. Members of the group include the mothers of
Neda Agha-Soltan and Sohrab Arabi, both of whom lost thier lives
as a result of 2009 post-election protests.
The Mourning Mothers meet in silence for an hour each Saturday,
near the place and time of the killing of protester Neda Agha-
Soltan, to commemorate their sons and daughters who died during
the protests following the disputed 2009 presidential elections.
In January 2010, the Mourning Mothers held a peaceful vigil at
Laleh Park, Tehran. The 33 women were seized, several of the
women were beaten and 10 were taken to hospital. All 33 women
were held in Vozara Detention Centre, Tehran. Members of the
group were also arrested and detained in December 2009.
COMMITTEE OF HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTERS (CHRR)
The CHRR was founded in 2006 and campaigns against a wide range of human
rights violations, including those affecting women, children, prisoners and
workers. It has come under particular attack since the June 2009 election. In
January 2010, the Tehran Prosecutor accused the group of having links to the
People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a banned group, and said that “any
collaboration with the [CHRR] is a crime”. The CHRR vehemently denies having
such links.
CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS (CHRD)
The CHRD was co-founded by the Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, along with four other prominent
human rights lawyers, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Mohammad Seyfzadeh, Mohammad Sharif and
Abdolfattah Soltani. The CHRD reported on human rights violations in Iran, provided free legal help
for political prisoners and supported their families.
The CHRD in Iran unsuccessfully sought legal registration since its formation in 2001. As a result,
Shirin Ebadi and her colleagues had to work in a legal limbo and under constant threat of closure
and reprisals. They also faced repeated harassment, intimidation, arrest and imprisonment.
The office of the CHRD was forcibly closed in December 2008. Several of its members have been
detained since the 2009 presidential election. Mohammad Seyfzadeh, a lawyer, was sentenced to
nine years in prison in connection with his co-founding of the CHRD. Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin
Ebadi, has not returned to Iran since the presidential election. She has received many death threats,
and her bank account in Iran containing her Nobel Prize money has been frozen, in contravention
of Iranian law.
STOP STONING FOREVER CAMPAIGN
A group of Iranian human rights defenders, lawyers and
journalists,ledbylawyerShadiSadrandjournalistsMahboubeh
Abbasgholizadeh and Asieh Amini, along with other activists
outside Iran launched the Stop Stoning Forever campaign in
2006, to abolish stoning in law and practice. According to
the Iranian Penal Code, stoning is mandated for most forms
of adultery. The campaign aims to save the life of anyone
under sentence of stoning in Iran. Their courageous efforts
have been supported by international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International,
and many individuals around the world.
Since 2006, at least 13 women and two men have been saved from stoning. Others have been
granted stays of execution, and some cases are being reviewed or retried. However, the campaign
has faced repression in Iran and its supporters have been intimidated and harassed. Some have
been forced to leave the country for their own safety and now live in exile.

2009 - 2011 ELECTION PERIOD & AFTERMATH
2011
June 4 Iran’s national women’s soccer
team was withdrawn from a
qualifying game for the 2012
Olympics for failing to abide
by FIFAs dress requirements.
FIFA requests that no player
shall cover her ears and neck,
a requirement of Iran’s Islamic
dress code.
July Human rights defender and filmmaker Mahnaz
Mohammadi and famous actress, blogger, and
documentary filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani are
arrested and detained. Mahnaz Mohammadi
is refused access to her family or legal
representation.
July 17 Actress Marzieh Vafamehr is
arrested for her role in the film
My Tehran for Sale, due to
appearing in the movie without
a hijab.
2010
March 11 Change for Equality (website
of the One Million Signatures
Campaign) is awarded the
Netizen prize by Reporters
Without Borders. Iranian
authorities shut down the
website the following day
(World Day against Cyber-
Censorship) for the 23rd time
since its creation in 2006.
May 9 Five political prisoners including a 28 year-old
Kurdish woman Shirin Alam Holi are executed in
secret.
June 8 Shirin Ebadi, a founder of the One Million
Signatures Campaign, declares, “The brutal
crackdowns only make Iran’s women stronger”.
2009
June 12 Presidential elections held.
June 13 Authorities declare the incumbent President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner with nearly
63 per cent of vote. Mir Hossein Mousavi comes
second with 34 per cent and claims election fraud.
Thousands of protesters clash with police.
June 17 Up to half a million people protest in Tehran’s 7
Tir Square, many of them women.
The Feminist Majority Foundation awarded the
Global Women’s Rights Award to the One Million
Signatures Campaign.
June 27 Activist group Mourning
Mothers gathers for the first
time in Laleh Park, Tehran.
They face constant harassment
from the authorities. A number
of the Mothers are detained.
2008
Prominent activists from
the One Million Signatures
Campaign, Nasrin Sotoudeh,
Parvin Ardalan, Sussan
Tahmasebi & Esha Momeni
are prohibited from leaving the
country.
February 14 Raheleh Asgarizadeh and Nasim Khosravi are
arrested for collecting signatures in Tehran for the
One Million Signatures Campaign.
2007
April Anousheh Ansari becomes the
first Iranian to enter space.
The First IPA Publishers
Freedom Prize goes to
courageous female Iranian
publisher, Shala Lahiji.
2006
January 10 Nasim Sarabandi and Fatemeh Dehdashti,
members of the One Million Signatures Campaign
are arrested and detained for collecting signatures
in the subway.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
is found guilty of adultery
by a court in Tabriz and
sentenced to 99 lashes,
carried out in front of her 17
year-old son. Her case is later
reopened when a Tabriz court
suspects her involvement in
her husband’s death. She is
later acquitted but the judge
reviews her earlier charge of
adultery and sentences her to
death by stoning.
2005
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad elected
President of Iran
March 8 Female activists gather in the
Students Park (Park-e Daneshjoo)
in Tehran and are greeted by a
fierce opposition force. In June,
6,000 female activists gather in
front of Tehran University.
2004
The Women’s Culture Centre
opens the first women’s library,
Sedigheh Dolat- Abadi and
Mehrangiz Kar receive the
annual Human Rights First
award.
64 per cent of the students
entering universities are female and the worsening
economic situation forces millions of women to
enter the workforce.
2003
October 9 Shirin Ebadi is awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize for her focus
on Human Rights.
2002
March 8 For the first time International Women’s Day is
commemorated in the open in one of the main
parks in Tehran, Laleh Park.
December The Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi,
orders a ban on the practice of stoning. However,
the courts continute to issue sentences of death by
stoning.
2000
March 8 International Women’s Day celebrations are held
for the first time since the revolution.
Women also discuss issues of sexuality and
criticize the patriarchal structure far more openly
in their weblogs, which are considered the only
uncensored media outlets in Iran.
1999
Female students outpace male students in
undergraduate university admissions in the
National University Entrance Examinations.
1998
Inauguration of the first woman’s police academy
since the 1979 revolution.
October 11 The first women’s journalist union since the 1979
revolution is formed.
1997
Despite the female vote for
President Khatami reaching as
high as 80 per cent in 1997,
few changes occur in the
situation for women.
1993
Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of
then President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani, is attacked by
the hardliners for being
outspoken, wearing blue
jeans and riding bicycles. In a
landslide victory she is elected
in the 5th Majlis with the
highest number of votes in Tehran.
1980-1988 IRAN AND IRAQ WAR
1980
March 15 Azam Taleghani, Ateghe Sedighi, Maryam Behruzi
and Ghoharosharye Dastqeib become the first
four women to enter the first post-revolution
parliament.
Women militias are trained for homeland defence.
Thousands of female political activists are arrested
and many of them are executed in prisons along
with men. Amnesty International files reports of
pre-execution rapes by prison guards.
TIMELINE OF THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT IN IRANKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:
Iranian women’s activism dates back to the late nineteenth century. The following is a brief
history of the courageous struggle by Iranian women to claim their rights and some of the
challenges that they still face in doing so.

TIMELINE OF THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT IN IRANKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:
1979 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ISLAMIC
REPUBLIC OF IRAN
The Family Protection Act is abrogated and women
are barred from becoming judges and from some
other fields such as horticulture.
The veil is made compulsory,
first for governmental offices,
and then for the entire
country. Leftist demonstrations
against the veil are met with
violence.
In the first Majlis, among 217
elected members, only three
are women.
1925-1979 PAHLAVI DYNASTY
1978
33 per cent of university students are now female
with two million in the workforce. 190,000 are
professionals with university degrees. There are
333 women in the local councils, 22 in Majlis and
two in the Senate.
1975
Women gain the right of guardianship of their
children after their husbands’ death.
1971
January 3 The first women’s soccer match is held in Tehran.
1969
June 4 sees the appointment
of Shirin Ebadi, Manijeh
Farzad, Meimanat Chubak,
Adineh Banimehr, Zahra
Khavaran, Azamush Malek,
and Homayundokht Homayuni
as Iran’s first 7 female judges.
1967
The Family Protection Act is
ratified. Gains are made with
respect to divorce laws, as
divorce has to be referred to
family courts. Polygamy is
limited and the first wife’s
written consent is now
required. Age of marriage
for girls is set to 18 years.
Farokhroo Parsa becomes the
first woman minister in Iran.
1962
In Bahman, finally women are
given the right to vote and to
be elected. Fatwas by known
figures including Ayatollah
Khomeini declare the move
as heretical; demonstrations
follow but are quashed.
1961
The first female lawyers union announces its
existence in Tehran demanding the right to vote,
the right to be voted into parliament and equal
rights in all professions.
1958
Sattareh Farmanfarmanian
creates the first classes for the
training of social workers and
social services.
1956
Maryam Savoji writer and jurist poet is the first
woman to discuss legal issues on the radio.
1953
Shortly after the 1953 coup,
the Higher Council of Women
is formed and headed by
Ashraf Pahlavi.
1952
Publication of Ebtehaj Mostahagh’s journal
Hoghugh-e Zan (Journal of Women’s Rights).
1951
Mehrangiz Dawlatshahi, the first female
Ambassador, forms human rights organisation,
Rah Naw with Safeyeh Firouz. The two meet with
the young Shah and demand electoral rights.
Opposition by religious authorities ends the
debate.
1949
Yekatrina Saidkhanian is appointed as Iran’s first
female lawyer.
Dr Mehrangiz Manuchehrian
publishes a paper entitled
“Criticism of the Constitution
of Iran from the viewpoint of
Women’s Rights”.
1947
February 5 Raziyeh Sha’bani, prominent
activist, is arrested.
1946
Fatemeh Sayah and Simin Daneshvar, along with
other prominent activists, found the party Hezb-e
Zanan-e Iran (Women’s Party of Iran).
1940
Mehrangiz Afzal and Zia Javid are Iran’s first
female graduates in the natural sciences.
The first female Iranian pilot,
Efat Tejaratchi, completes her
first solo flight.
1936
Reza Shah, his wife and
daughters attend the
graduation ceremony at the
Women’s Teacher Training
College in Tehran. All women
were advised to come
unveiled. Unveiling is made
compulsory and women are
barred from wearing chador
and scarf in public.
1936
The first females enter Tehran University. Amineh
Pakravan becomes the first female lecturer and Dr.
Fatemah Sayah the first woman to be appointed a
full professor in 1938.
1935
The Iranian government passes legislation allowing
women to attend state universities.
1934
Ruhangiz Samineijad becomes
the first female Iranian actress
in a feature length production.
1931
The first official Women’s Conference is held in
Tehran and the age of marriage is raised to 15 for
girls and 18 for boys.
The first group of Iranian girls travel to Europe to
pursue their education.
1926
Banu Namus founds the first girl’s school in
Shiraz. An angry mob reacts by pouring hot ashes
on her head and holding a torch to her skin.
1785-1925 QAJAR DYNESTY
1923
January 31 The creation of the Jamiyate
Nesvan-e (Patriotic Women’s
Society).
1922
Sedigheh Dolatabadi becomes
the first Iranian woman to
participate in the International
Women’s Conference.
1919
Sedigheh Dolatabadi founds
the first Iranian women’s
publication openly registered
under a woman’s name, called
Zaban-e Zanan (The Voice of
Women).
1910
Despite the fact that 97 per cent of Iranian women
are illiterate and writing by women is seen as
taboo, Dr. Kahali Jadid al-Islam Hamedani starts
the first Iranian Women’s publication, Danesh.
1904-1905
Women, particularly in Tehran and Tabriz, become
active in the constitutional struggle, boycotting
foreign goods, joining underground activities
against foreign forces, organising street riots and
selling jewellery to support constitutionalist forces.

Amini
ALIEH AGHDAM-DOUST
TEACHER AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Alieh Aghdam-Doust, 58, is a member of the
Campaign for Equality. Alieh Aghdam-Doust was a
teacher at the time of the Islamic Revolution and
was later forced out of her job by the Ministry of
Education.
Alieh Aghdam-Doust, prisoner of conscience, has
been serving a three-year prison sentence since
January 2009 in Evin Prison, Tehran for having
protested against unequal laws following the Islamic
Revoluntion of 1979. She was convicted of having
“acted against national security by participating in
anillegalgathering”inJanuary2007.Herconviction
relates to a peaceful demonstration calling for an
end to discrimination against women in which she
participated in June 2006. It was violently broken
up by security forces and 70 people were arrested.
Alieh Aghdam-Doust was placed in solitary
conﬁnement in March 2010 after a speech she gave
to other women prisoners on International Women’s
Day, 8 March 2010. She was later brought to court
without the presence of her lawyer, and charged with
new offences relating to the speech. She has not yet
been tried. In November 2010, she spent a week in
solitary conﬁnement after protesting the transfer of
women political prisoners to the “methadone ward”,
where female drug addicts are held.
ALIEH AGHDAM-DOUST
Objection is part of our civil life as
humans and my presence in the
women’s protest was part of how I
chose to live my life.

ASIEH AMINI
JOURNALIST, POET AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Asieh Amini is a journalist, poet, and women’s and
human rights activist. For many years she has fought
against the death penalty in Iran, specifically in
relation to the executions of minors and the stoning
of women. She is one of the founders of the Stop
Stoning Forever Campaign, which has saved many
from execution by stoning, and is a founding member
and Director of the Iranian Women’s Association
(Kanoon Zanan Iran). Asieh Amini now lives in exile
in Norway, with her husband Javad Montazeri.
Asieh Amini has published more than 60 articles,
reports and interviews in the last two years in Farsi,
English and Norwegian. These have concerned
social issues in Iran such as human rights, women’s
rights, juvenile execution and stoning. She has also
presented on these issues at various international
conferences. Asieh Amini is the editor of online
magazines, Women in Iran and Koneshgaran and of
newspapers Sobhe Emrooz Daily, Etemaad and Iran
Javan Daily. She is also a reporter for Azad Daily
and has published articles on Roozonline.
In 2009, Human Rights Watch awarded Asieh
Amini the Hellman/Hammett Award. According to
the organisation, “she is credited with saving the
lives of several juveniles and women on death row
by publicising their cases, campaigning with the
authorities, and persuading families of victims to
forgo their right to retribution”.
In March 2007, Asieh Amini was among 33 women
arrested while protesting the trial of five women’s
rights activists in Tehran. She was released a few
days later and acquitted of the charges against
her.
ASIEH AMINI
Laws do not reflect the wishes of a few
hundred people who throw stones at others.
Laws must protect the society as well as
the safety of individuals. Laws must be in
step with civilized norms of our times. Laws
must lead societies away from violence and
criminality.

BAHAREH ALAVI
JOURNALIST, BLOGGER, WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND
KURDISH RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Bahareh Alavi, human rights activist and member of
the One Million Signatures Campaign, was one of the
youngest members of the women’s movement. She
started her human rights and journalistic activities
at age 16 and joined the One Million Signatures
Campaign in 2007. On 26 April 2011, Bahareh
Alavi died at the age of 20, as a result of a car
crash.
Bahareh Alavi joined the 2009 protests following
the disputed presidential elections. She described
them in detail in her blog. In the days that followed
the protests, when many political and social activists
were arrested, many of her friends were among them.
Bahareh Alavi publicised their situation with the
media.
Bahareh Alavi wrote a regular weblog, The Daughter
of the Sun, about limitations she experienced as an
Iranian woman and the anger and sadness that she
experienced about each execution. In April 2010,
she wrote an article for the Human Rights House of
Iran about the life of Farangis Khanum Davoudifar,
motherofKavehKermanshahi,Kurdishhumanrights
activist and member of the One Million Signatures
Campaign.
Her last projects before Bahareh Alavi’s untimely
death included an investigation into female genital
mutilation and the translation of a book about the
experience of being a lesbian in Iran. In an interview
with the BBC, she spoke about women’s rights in
marriage and equality for women in Iran.
BAHAREH ALAVI

BAHAREH HEDAYAT
STUDENT AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Bahareh Hedayat, 30, is a student and women’s
rights activist and a member of the Campaign for
Equality. She is currently serving a 10-year prison
sentence after her arrest on 31 December 2009,
in the midst of the unrest following the disputed
presidential elections. She spent 81 days in solitary
confinement and endured a gruelling interrogation
process before being transferred to Evin Prison. On
16 July 2011, she was given temporary leave to
observe a religious holiday on US$700,000 bail.
Bahareh Hedayat is a member of the Office of
the Consolidation of Unity (OCU) and Chair of the
OCU’s Women’s Committee, as well as a member
of the One Million Signatures Campaign to stop
discriminatory laws. As a result of her activism,
Bahareh Hedayat had been arrested on numerous
occasions and imprisoned several times prior to her
arrest in December 2009.She was nominated for
the Student Peace Prize in 2010.
She is married to Amin Ahmadian, political activist
and member of the Islamic Alumni Association. On
24 May 2011, Behareh Hedayat was allowed a half-
hour meeting with her relatives in person. This was
her first in-person visit with her mother and father
for 13 months.
Some of the charges Bahareh Hedayat are currently
facing are in relation to a letter published on the
occasion of Student Day, 7 December 2010. This
letter was written with Majid Tavakoli, prominent
student leader and political prisoner, and it praised
the efforts of Iranian students abroad. The letter
was published widely inside and outside of Iran and
received a great degree of media attention.
BAHAREH HEDAYAT
We are worn out but have neither bent
nor broken. We continue to stand erect,
although with wounded and restless
hearts. We bear witness to the efforts of
dictators looting a fertile land nurtured
by the selfless sacrifices of past and
present generations.

HALEH SAHABI
POLITICAL AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST, RELIGIOUS
SCHOLAR
Haleh Sahabi, 54, was a political activist, women’s
rights activist and religious scholar. She was a
member of the Mothers for Peace group and
campaigned for women’s rights. Haleh Sahabi was
one of the few Iranian woman Koranic scholars. She
spent good portion of her life studying Quran in
search of equality for men and women in Islam. Her
main concern was to prove that men and women
were equal and to ﬁnd a way to convey the ﬁndings
to the Religious-Nationalist public.
Haleh Sahabi, an Amnesty International prisoner of
consicence, was serving a two-year prison sentence
imposed after she was arrested in relation to her
peaceful participation in a demonstration protesting
theinaugurationofPresidentAhmadinejadinAugust
2009. She was released on bail in mid-August 2009,
but was later sentenced to two years’ imprisonment
after conviction of “propaganda against the system
by repeated presence at illegal gatherings and
disturbing public order.”
Haleh Sahabi died, apparently after being struck
by a member of the security forces, on the morning
of 1 June 2011 during the funeral of her father,
Ezzatollah Sahabi, a former parliamentarian and
the leader of the Nationalist Religious Alliance.
Amnesty International received an eyewitness
account stating that a member or members of the
security forces manhandled Haleh Sahabi and hit
her after she refused to relinquish a photograph of
her father she was holding.
Haleh Sahabi’s own funeral, organised by security
forces, was held at 10 pm on the same day as her
death. No autopsy was performed beforehand.
Several mourners were reportedly arrested during
her funeral. In response to her death, 18 prisoners
of conscience went on hunger strike.
HALEH SAHABI

JILA BANIYAGHOUB
JOURNALIST AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Jila Baniyaghoub, 41, is a freelance reporter and
editor-in-chief of the website Kanoon Zanan Irani
(Iranian Women’s Center), a news site covering
women’sissues.The siteisunderregularsurveillance
by the Iranian authorities who have tried to shut it
down repeatedly. She is also a founding member of
the One Million Signatures Campaign.
Jila Baniyaghoub began her journalism career at the
daily newspaper Hamshahri while still a journalism
student at the University of Allameh Tabatabayi.
She has worked for various newspapers since then,
including Sarmayeh, and has been threatened or
ﬁred many times for her reporting on government
and social oppression.
In 2001, Jila Baniyaghoub travelled throughout the
Middle East. There, she wrote accounts of refugees
and women she met, covering topics such as social
and legal discrimination. She has recently published
a book, Journalists in Iran, which documents the
experiences of Iranian journalists, including some
of her own experiences. At the time of printing she
is writing a book Women in Unit 209 of Evin.
In 2009, Jila Baniyaghoub won the Courage in
Journalism Award from the International Women’s
Media Foundation. In recent years, she has also
won other international journalism awards including
the International Freedom of Expression award from
the Canadian Journalists for Free Expressionand the
Best Weblog award from Reporters Without
Borders.
Jila Baniyaghoub has been imprisoned on 4 different
occasions. She was arrested most recently in June
2009 while covering the post-election protests in
Iran.JilaBaniyaghoub’shusband,journalistBahman
Ahmadi Amou’i, was also arrested at that time. She
was released in August, but at the time of printing,
her husband remains in prison.
JILA BANIYAGHOUBKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:
Unlike you, I have not studied law, but
I do know the law at the general level
that any citizen should know, and I know
that prosecutors are not there only to
prosecute journalists or other citizens,
but also to prosecute the government
when it violates citizens’ rights.

KAVEH KERMANSHAHI
JOURNALIST AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
KavehKermanshahi,27,journalistandhumanrights
activist, began working in the area of civil society and
human rights in 2005 when he became a member of
the central council of the Zhiar Non-Governmental
Organization (NGO), in Kermanshah. Three years
later, the Iranian Interior Ministry dissolved the
organisation. In 2006, he began working with the
One Million Signatures Campaign.
In 2007, Kaveh Kermanshahi became a member of
theCentralCounciloftheHumanRightsOrganization
of Kurdistan. He helped set up the Kermanshah
branch of the Ofﬁce for the Consolidation of Unity
in 2008 and became responsible for the Human
Rights Committee. Kaveh Kermanshahi has a
bachelor’s degree in law from Kermanshah
University.
Kaveh Kermanshahi writes the blog Zhiar which has
been blocked many times in the past by the Iranian
authorities. He has written reports for Kurdistan
Human Rights Watch news agency, Radio Zamaneh,
Roozonline, Change for Equality, and other Kurdish
and Farsi websites.
Kaveh Kermanshahi was arrested and detained in
February 2010 by Iranian Security and Intelligence
Services. He was held in solitary conﬁnement for four
months and was subjected to harsh conditions and
interrogation. In May 2010, he was released on bail
without being formally charged. He was eventually
sentenced to 4 years in prison, on appeal.
However, Kaveh Kermanshahi decided against
reporting to prison to serve his sentence. He now
resides outside of Iran.
KAVEH KERMANSHAHI

KHADIJEH MOGHADDAM
WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST
Khadijeh Moghaddam is an active member of the
Campaign for Equality and Mothers for Peace.
Launched in 2006, the Campaign for Equality,
an Iranian women’s rights initiative composed of
a network of women and men, is committed to
ending discrimination against women in Iranian
law. Mothers for Peace was launched in 2007 by
a group of Iranian women to campaign against
possible military intervention in Iran over its nuclear
programme, and to seek “viable solutions” to the
region’s instability.
KhadijehMoghaddamhasbeensummonedtoappear
in court on a number of occasions due to her work
as a women’s rights and environmental activist. She
has also been arrested for participating in peaceful
protests and banned from travelling abroad.
In 2009, Khadijeh Moghaddam was charged with
“disobeying police orders”, “disrupting public
order”, “propaganda against the system” and in
connection with a demonstration held by Mothers
for Peace on 11 January 2009.
In 2008, Khadijeh Moghaddam was arrested and
interrogatedinrelationtogatheringsinherhomethat
she hosted for members of the Mother’s Committee
of the Campaign and Mothers for Peace.
KHADIJEH MOGHADAMKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:

MAHBOUBEH KARAMI
JOURNALIST AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Mahboubeh Karami, journalist and women’s rights
activist, is a member of the One Million Signatures
Campaign. She is also a former director of the
Women’s Unit of the independent human rights
organisation, Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI).
She has written articles for the Campaign for
Equality.
Mahboubeh Karami, 42, was arrested in March
2010 and detained, without charge or trial, in
solitary conﬁnement in Evin Prison, Tehran until 18
August 2010, at which time she was released on
bail equivalent to US$500,000. She began serving
a three-year prison sentence on 15 May 2011,
imposed for her peaceful activities in support of
greater rights for women. She was convicted of
“membership of an illegal organization (HRAI)”,
“gathering and colluding with intent to harm state
security and for spreading propaganda against the
system”.
Mahboubeh Karami has health problems that her
family and friends fear will worsen in prison. She
was suffering from depression at the time of her
arrest in March 2010, which became more severe
while she was in detention. She is also said to suffer
from insomnia and respiratory problems. She was in
detention at the time of her mother’s death in 2009
and she was not allowed prison leave to attend the
one year anniversary of her mother’s death. Prior
to her arrest, she was the only carer for her aging
father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
Mahboubeh Karami had been arrested four times
before on similar charges. Each time, she was
detained for several days before being released.
MAHBOUBEH KARAMI
I do not regret the path I have
taken, I believe in my cause
wholeheartedly, and am willing
to pay the price.

MAHBOUBEH ABBASGHOLIDZADEH
JOURNALIST, FILMMAKER AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
ACTIVIST
Mahboubeh Abbasgholidzadeh was one of the
founding members of the Stop Stoning Forever
Campaign to abolish stoning in law and practice.
She is an active member of the Iranian Women’s
Charter movement. She was the director of the
Centre for Training, which was formed to support the
work of the growing NGO community in Iran. The
organisation was closed down by the Revolutionary
Court of Iran during her first arrest in 2004. She
also headed the Association of Women Writers and
Journalists and was the editor-in-chief of Farzaneh,
a women’s periodical.
In March 2007, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh was
arrested along with other women activists during
a peaceful demonstration in front of Tehran’s
Revolutionary Court. She was held in solitary
confinement from 4 to 19 March. Throughout
her detention, she was held in Unit 209 of the
notorious Evin Prison, which is run by the Ministry
of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a
condition of her release on 19 March 2007, her bail
was set at 250 million toman (or US$260,000).
Her Centre for Training office was closed down and
its bank account was frozen.
On December 2009, Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh
was amongst those arrested in Iran while on their way
to attend the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hosseinali
Montazeri, a senior cleric who criticised the Iranian
government’s crackdown on demonstrators in the
aftermath of the contested June 2009 presidential
elections. She was released after 24 hours on the
condition that she would remove her films critical
of the regime from her website. She now lives in
the USA.
MAHBOUBEH ABBASGHOLIZADEHKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:

MANSOUREH SHOJAI
LIBRARIAN, JOURNALIST, TRANSLATOR AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
ACTIVIST
Mansoureh Shojai is an Iranian journalist, translator
and women’s rights activist. She has been a founder
of many signiﬁcant organisations in Iran including
the Women’s Cultural Center, the Banoo Library,
the Sedigheh Dolatabadi Library and the One Million
Signatures Campaign.
Most recently, Mansoureh Shojai was one of the
founders of the Women’s Solidarity Committee
against Social Violence and the Green Coalition
of Women. She has had more than 200 articles
published in various magazines, periodicals and
sites.
Mansoureh Shojai has worked as a librarian in the
Iranian National Library for 22 years. Since 2000
she has been active in organising and founding local
libraries in Tehran and other cities for women and
children, with the help and cooperation of domestic
or international organisations such as the United
Nations.
On December 27, 2009, Mansoureh Shojai was
arrested and sent to prison. It was her third arrest
since 2005. She was set free after one month on
bail with her house as security.
Mansoureh Shojai lives in Germany and has been
supported by the Heinrich Boll foundation. Her
research focuses on the relationship between the
Iranian women’s rights movement and the green
movement. In January 2011, she was awarded
a scholarship by the German international PEN
Association.
MANSOUREH SHOJAIKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:

MEHRANGIZ KAR
HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER, JOURNALIST AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
ACTIVIST
Mehrangiz Kar, 67, is a journalist, women’s rights
activist and human rights lawyer. Despite the
restrictions on women lawyers, she was active
as a public defender in Iran’s civil and criminal
courts and published regularly in several inﬂuential
and independent Iranian journals such as Zanan.
Mehrangiz Kar has published 14 books and over
100 articles in newspapers and journals in Iran. Her
books cover topics such as women’s rights, law and
politics in Iran. Mehrangiz Kar was named a ‘Human
Rights Hero’ by Amnesty International in 2001.
She is the widow of Siamak Pourzand, journalist
and political dissident, who died on 29 April 2011,
after a long period of torture and imprisonment.
Mehrangiz Kar was arrested and detained in April
2000 due to her participation at a social and cultural
conference in Berlin. Her statements did not incite
violence but the Iranian judiciary considered her
attendance to be “harmful to national security”.
In December 2000, she was tried and sentenced
to four years’ imprisonment for statements that
she made at the conference. She was released on
bail, to undergo treatment for breast cancer in the
US, prior to the appeal court hearing in November
2001. In February 2001 she left Iran for medical
treatmentbuthasnotreturnedsince–shewouldface
immediate imprisonment if she were to return.
Mehrangiz Kar was a 2005/2006 Radcliffe Fellow
at Harvard University and was based at the Carr
Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s John
F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2004, she
received a human rights award from Human Rights
First. She was also a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson
Center, the American University in Washington
DC, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and
Columbia University.
MEHRANGIZ KAR
Sometimes when I’m speaking about
women’s rights, I feel deeply disgusted,
because I have to give a long list of
violations of women’s rights, for which I do
not have any solutions.

NASRIN SOTOUDEH
HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER
Nasrin Sotoudeh, human rights lawyer, is a member
of the Human Rights Defenders Organization, the
One Million Signatures Campaign and the Children’s
Rights Society. She was legal counsel to political
prisoners who were arrested and imprisoned after
the protests disputing the presidential elections in
2009. She has also represented victims of child
abuse and juvenile offenders facing the death
penalty. Her former clients include Nobel Peace
Laureate Shirin Ebadi.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, 47, has a degree in International
Law from Shahid Beheshti University. Since 1991,
she has given interviews and written articles for
media outlets including the Jamee, Toos, and Sobh
e Emorooz newspapers and Aban magazine, among
others. She is married with two young children.
Nasrin Sotoudeh has won several international
awards for her human rights work including the
2008 International Human Rights Committee of
Italy award, the 2010 Golden Poppy Award bestowed
by the city of Florence, Italy and the 2011 PEN/
Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
Arrested on 4 September 2010, Nasrin Sotoudeh
has spent much of her time since then in solitary
conﬁnement in Tehran’s Evin Prison. Her health has
been weakened by three hunger strikes in protest
at her arrest and at the conditions of her detention.
Her hunger strikes included three days in which she
drank no water (a “dry” hunger strike).
On 9 January 2011, Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced
to11yearsimprisonmentfor“actingagainstnational
security’’ and “propaganda against the system”. She
is also banned from practicing law and forbidden
from leaving Iran for 20 years.
NASRIN SOTOUDEH
I thank you for demonstrating to
the world the massive gap between
the decisions taken by the ruling
government and the aspirations
of an entire nation.

SHADI SADR
LAWYER, JOURNALIST AND CIVIL RIGHTS DEFENDER
Shadi Sadr is an Iranian journalist, lawyer and civil
rights defender. She founded the respected website
Zanan-e Iran (Women in Iran), the ﬁrst website to
focus solely on women’s rights activists. She has
represented activists and journalists, including
several women sentenced to execution, whose
convictions were subsequently overturned.
Shadi Sadr was the director of Raahi, a legal advice
centre for women, until its closure in 2007. The
centre provided free legal advice to marginalized
women and women in need of legal representation.
In 2006 she helped establish the Stop Stoning
Forever Campaign, which aims to bring about the
end of stoning as punishment in Iran.
In 2007 Shadi Sadr was arrested for defending
women who were on trial for organising a protest
against the legal discrimination that women face in
Iran. She was held for questioning on her work with
the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign. Prior to this she
had been harassed by the Ministry of Intelligence
and summoned for interrogation many times.
While she was in custody in 2007 the authorities
shut down the Raahi Legal Centre. She was released
on bail but during the postelection unrest in July
2009, two plain-clothed policemen arrested her as
she walked to Friday prayers. She was released after
11 days due to an international outcry and ﬂed to
Germany.
In 2009, Shadi Sadr was awarded the Lech Walesa
prize for her work in promoting human rights,
freedom of expression and democracy in Iran. She
was also awarded the Human Rights Defenders Tulip
2009 from the Dutch government.
SHADI SADR
We have to work to eradicate stoning
wherever it happens in the world: it is a
brutal and inhuman act… through which
the authorities are attempting to control
society [and stop] people enjoying their
right to a private life.

SUSSAN TAHMASEBI
WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVIST
Sussan Tahmasebi, women’s rights and civil society
activist, is a founding member of the Campaign for
Equality. She has worked in several NGOs in Iran at
both a national and grassroots level. Sussan
Tahmasebi was awarded Human Rights Watch’s
Alison Des Forges Award in 2010 for her dedication
to making women’s rights a national priority in
Iran.
Sussan Tahmasebi has played a key role in promoting
collaboration between Iranian NGOs and their
counterparts internationally. She cofounded the
Iran Civil Society Training and Research Centre but
security forces shut it down in March 2007. She is
currently an editor of the English section of Change
for Equality, the One Million Signatures Campaign’s
website.
In June 2006 Tahmasebi was arrested and charged
with spreading propaganda against the state and
with being a threat to national security. She was
tried on 4 March 2007 and was sentenced to two
years in prison, of which 18 months were suspended
and she was freed on bail pending an appeal.
On the day of her trial, women’s rights activists
held a protest outside the Revolutionary Courts.
As Tahmasebi left the courthouse she was arrested
along with 32 other protesters and was charged
with being a threat to national security, collusion
and disobeying orders from police. Though she was
later acquitted of these charges she continues to
face harassment from security forces.
Sussan Tahmasebi now lives in the USA.
SUSSAN TAHMASEBIKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:
Iranian women are extremely strong. They
have made incredible gains and have been
fighting for their legal and social rights for
over 100 years. They are not victims and
they are not out there to be rescued. They
have a difficult fight and presently the odds
are stacked against them.

PARVIN ARDALAN
JOURNALIST, AUTHOR AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Parvin Ardalan, 37, is a journalist and author. She
previously worked for women’s publications such as
Zanestan and The Feminist Tribune of Iran before
Iranian authorities shut down both online magazines
in 2007.
Parvin Ardalan was awarded the Olof Palme Prize in
2007, for her achievements and activism aimed at
achieving equal rights for women in Iran. In March
2008, Parvin Ardalan was banned from travelling to
Sweden where she was due to collect the Olof Palme
Human Rights Award. Her passport was conﬁscated
for 72 hours to stop her from travelling. Her sister
accepted the award in her place.
ParvinArdalanwasamemberoftheWomen’sCultural
Centre, the ﬁrst-ever Iranian nongovernmental
organization to advocate women’s rights. It was
closed down by Iranian authorities in 2007, along
with Zanestan. She was also one of the founding
members of the One Million Signatures Campaign.
Parvin Ardalan was sentenced in September 2008
to six months in jail for her writings for the websites
ChangeforEqualityandZanestan.Shewaspreviously
arrested and charged for her part in organising a
peaceful demonstration calling for greater rights for
women in June 2006. She now lives in Sweden.
PARVIN ARDALAN
I dedicate this award to all the women of
my country, to my mother, to the mothers of
prisoners of conscience, and to all the other
mothers of my land, who while enduring, have
taught us how to resist discrimination, so that
we too can pass on these teachings to our
children and to future generations.

SHIRIN EBADI
HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER AND NOBEL LAUREATE
Shirin Ebadi J.D. was awarded the 2003 Nobel
Peace Prize for her efforts to promote human rights,
and in particular the rights of women, children and
political prisoners in Iran. She was the first Muslim
woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Shirin Ebadi was one of the first female judges in
Iran. She served as president of the city court of
Tehran from 1975 to 1979 and was the first Iranian
woman to achieve Chief Justice status. She, along
with other women judges, was dismissed from that
position after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. She
was made a clerk to the court she had once presided
over, until she petitioned for early retirement. After
obtaining her lawyer’s license in 1992, Shirin Ebadi
set up private practice.
As a lawyer, Shirin Ebadi has taken on many
controversial cases defending political dissidents
and as a result has been arrested on numerous
occasions. She has established many non-
governmental organisations in Iran, including the
One Million Signatures Campaign, and she is a
cofounder of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders
(CHRD), a Tehran based NGO that was forcibly
closed down in December 2008 by the Iranian
authorities.
As a university professor, Shirin Ebadi offers human
rights training courses. She has published over 70
articles and 13 books dedicated to various aspects
of human rights. In 2004, she was named by Forbes
Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women
in the world.
Shirin Ebadi resides outside Iran and has been
advised by friends and colleagues to remain in exile
on grounds that she may well be arrested on her
return.
SHIRIN EBADI
As long as women are denied
human rights, anywhere in the
world, there can be no justice and
no peace.

SHIVA NAZAR AHARI
JOURNALIST, BLOGGER AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Shiva Nazar Ahari, 27, is a journalist, blogger and
founding member of the Committee of Human
Rights Reporters (CHRR). The CHRR was founded
in 2006 and campaigns against a wide range of
human rights violations, including those affecting
women, children, prisoners and workers. She was
also a founding member of the Society of Tara
Women, a civil organisation devoted to the lawful,
non-violent defence of the rights of women.
Shiva Nazar Ahari graduated from Islamic Azad
University with a degree in civil engineering. When
she tried to sign up for the national graduate school
entrance examination she was reportedly prevented
from doing so. She was effectively banned from
continuing her education due to her work as a human
rights activist.
Shiva Nazar Ahari was arrested on 20 December
2009 while on her way to the funeral of Grand
Ayatollah Montazeri, a senior cleric critical of the
authorities. On 9 January 2011, an appeal judgment
sentenced her to four years in prison, exile to a
prison in Karaj and 74 lashings for “enmity against
God” and “propaganda against the system”.
Shiva Nazar Ahari had previously been arrested
and detained on a number of occasions. She spent
some time in a “cagelike” solitary confinement cell
where she could not move her arms or legs. She
had limited access to her family, and no access to
her lawyers.
In March 2011, Shiva Nazar Ahari was awarded the
Theodor Haecker prize for her courageous internet
reporting on human rights violations. The award
aims to recognize individuals or groups who strive
to achieve peace and democracy.
At the time of printing Shiva Nazar Ahari remains
free on bail, awaiting her prison re-call. Nazar-Ahari
is awaiting a court order to serve out her four-year
prison term.
SHIVA NAZAR AHARIKEEPING IRAN’S HEART BEATING:
When your heart trembles for another
prisoner, a woman, a child laborer, that is
when you become the accused. When you
find faith in people and believe in humanity
and nothing else, that is when you commit
your first crime.

ZOHREH ARZANI
FAMILY LAWYER AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Zohreh Arzani is a family lawyer and human rights
activist. She has represented many human rights
and women’s rights activists such as Nahid Jafari,
Somayeh Rashidi and Sussan Tahmasebi.
Zohreh Arzani constantly strives for gender equality
and protests against discriminatory laws such as
those pertaining to women’s right to work, their place
of residence and permission to leave the country.
She also campaigns for the right to divorce and
on raising the minimum age for marriage, which
is currently 13 for girls unless court approval for a
younger age is obtained.
Zohreh Arzani outlines the various international
resolutions and laws that could be used to combat
violenceagainstwomenaswellasthenegativeimpact
of discriminatory laws, which reinforce violence, on
the lives of women. Arzani claims, “if the laws were
more supportive, we would have a better chance of
combating and eliminating violence against women
in Iran”. As a member of the Campaign for Equality
and the training committee, Zohreh Arzani has led
training for Campaign for Equality workshops on
family protection and civil rights. In the past, Zohreh
Arzani has been summoned by the Iranian judiciary
and interrogated in relation to her work.
Zohreh Arzani has witnessed ﬁrst-hand the justice
system in Iran. Meetings with the prosecutors
and clients have proven impossible due to false
information on cases, provided by the Revolutionary
Court, in order to delay progress. Many lawyers
including Zohreh Arzani have protested these unjust
tactics. Zohreh Arzani continues to ﬁght for human
rights in Iran.
ZOHREH ARZANI

Keep Iran's Heart Beating

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