نامه به آقای بان کیمون

در حمایت از مادران پارک لاله (عزادار) ایران، لطفن پتیشن زیر راامضا کنید http://www.petitiononline.com/Iran2009/petition.html

February 25^th

Mr. Ban Ki-moon

Secretary-General

United Nations, New York, NY 10017

Dear Secretary-General, 

On the 55^th session of the UN CSW - Commission on the Status of Women, Iran sits today as one of the forty-five Member States on the Commission. The recent April 2010 process by the ECOSOC to fill eleven vacancies for the CSW, brought Iran into the CSW. At the time, only two Member States stepped forward to be nominated by the Group of Asian States. This need matched exactly the number of empty designated seats available for the Asia Group region. In standard ECOSOC practice, when the number of interested candidates is exactly the same number as available seats, the slate for candidacy is automatically endorsed. As you know, this process of endorsement lead to a guaranteed nomination of the Member States of Iran and Thailand into the CSW beginning January 1, 2011.

 

It is known that Iran  is not the only Member State of the UN Commission on the Status
of Women with  heavy records in violations against women’s human rights. It is not the first Member State of the CSW to have state and non-state actors with a history in actions of discrimination and violence against women in the public and private sphere.

Today Iran continues to hold discriminatory legislation against women and girls through a  process of law that has reached and created a critical point of danger for women. Court decisions and out of court actions resulting in the stoning of women until death has been in existence in the country since 1980. Instances in the stoning deaths of girls as young as the age of 13 have been reported. Recent Iran court decisions on the sentence of death by stoning is a reality.

Since 2011, the expanded use of the death penalty in Iran has also reached a stark per capita extreme. In one month alone, almost 70 people have been executed within a 30 day span in January 2010. According to the organizations Reporters Without Borders, the International Campaign for Human Rights Iran, Human Rights Watch, the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights, along with Amnesty International, “at least 86 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2011.” Those executed have included women as well as men.

Iran policy in the imprisonment of women rights defenders has caused women to be incarcerated temporarily and for a prolonged periods of time without due court process. Often as the result, in part, of legal processes and sentencing that lead to vague interpretations of the law. The Iran court process of jurisprudence has also blocked a woman’s access to legal representation, as in the recent case of Ms. Zahra Bahrami, a prisoner who was executed January 28, 2011, without being given proper access to her legal counsel in the Netherlands.

Arbitrary arrests of women human rights defenders, forced confessions and torture under extreme stress inside an enclosed environment of fear and intimidation have also been reported by women and their families. These and other examples of human rights violations inside the State of Iran are a clear example of the current discriminatory practices Iran is placing against women and girls. It is a practice that continues to provide little to no protection in the rights of women to receive fair, legal and equal process of treatment under the law.

Psychological  harm cause by specific conditions of hardship under arrest are leading incarcerated women rights defenders to currently face increased harm under imprisonment. Recent hunger strikes by women, who have become ‘prisoners of conscience,’ have also been reported. The unmet responsibility for Iran agency actions to adequately and openly investigate all claims of torture in state operated facilities is a direct violation of human rights law as stated in Article 14 of the 1984 United Nations Treaty, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Torture, undue hardship, and denial of rights for women is a profound concern of our world community today. We have this concern. We know we share this concern with the institution of the CSW, especially as it now enters an era of expansion for women in the new formation of UN Women. We feel confident that these concerns should also be shared by all CSW Member States.

“The striking disparity between the absolute prohibition of torture and its prevalence in the world today demonstrates the need for States to identify and implement effective measures to protect individuals from torture and ill-treatment,” said the UN Istanbul Protocol in 1999.

Despite the mixed records for some CSW Member States to fully and completely promote women’s rights, the CSW has arrived at moments of important consensus with documents covering women and girls rights to be free from violence. They also provide for the empowerment of women through leadership and economic opportunity as well as the protection of women and girls under conflict and refugee situations.

We agree, the goal of consensus among the CSW is a vital one in the pursuit of empowering and assisting global women. We agree that the pursuit of the CSW to end gender violence is integral to its primary existence and goals. We agree that the Commission's mandate was expanded in 1987 by ECOSOC Resolution 1987/22 to include the functions of promoting the objectives of equality, development, and peace by monitoring the implementation of measures for the advancement of women, and reviewing and appraising progress made at the national, subregional, regional, and global levels. We agree that transparency and accountability of Member States is essential to the process in protecting women from suffering under the spectre of violence.

Following the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, the UN General Assembly mandated the Commission to integrate into its programme a follow-up process to the Conference, to regularly review the critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action and to develop a catalytic role in mainstreaming a gender perspective in United Nations activities.

While ratifying international conventions and treaties is by no means an indication of implementing the articles of International treaties, it is a step forward for gender equality. Gender activists must now hold states accountable and demand implementation of the international treaties at a national state level. 

In keeping with the mandates and original and amended purpose of the creation of the CSW, we, the Iranian gender equality activists and feminists, strongly object to the inclusion and presence of Iran as a Member State to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. In holding close to the original principles in the CSW, and in reaffirming the importance of CEDAW, we ask that proper legitimacy and true alignment of the original purpose of the CSW be brought to the forefront with all Member States. We also ask that future work accomplished by the CSW reflects this fact. We ask that all future knowledge, acts, decisions and consensus documents made by the CSW be in true alignment with its original goals.

In asking for this, we bring hope that the new entity now known as UN Women, will expand to fully accomplish the goal of gender equality by promoting a gender sensitive lens in policy making throughout UN regional commissions, specialized agencies and funds.

 Supporters:

  1-Nawal ElSaadawi , 2-Partwo Nooriala 3-، Elahe Amani,4- Shahin Nawai  , 5-Negeen Mossaed, 6-Shadie Shahin, 7-Esmail Khoi,  8-Seba Khoi , 9-Shahla Abghari -10-Siavash Abghari  11-Kourosh Parsa, 12-Jaleh Behruzi, 13-Elahe Machouf, 14--Mahshid Pegahi, 15-Golrokhe Jahangiri, 16-Samar Samremi, 17-Nastran Sameei, 18-Kathy Soltani, 19-Manij Marashi, , 20- Panta Bahrami, 21-B. Kordi, 22-  Sorya Fallah, 23-Zohreh Sadeghi, 24--Sima Hafez,  25-F. Noori,  ,26- Sudi Zadeh , 27-Farzaneh Azimi, 28-Farid Ashkan, 29-Behrooz Setoodeh,30- Parviz Showkat, 31-Bijan Karimi, 32-Nassrin Almassi,33- Reza Goharzad, 34-shahnaz  shayni, 35-hosain  mahjoob,36- farah   saniefar, 37-reza  saniefar, 38-khosrow Bandari,39- mehdi saeidpour,  40-Mo Kamali, 41-A. Mohabbatzadeh, 42-Homayoun Mobasseri, 43-Arjang borhan,  44-Pouran R. Falae,  45-Reza Brahani,  46-Masoud Fathi, 47-Misagh Parsa, 48-Akbar Moarefy,49-Niloofar Beizayee, 50-ShahlA BaharDoost, 51-Ayandeh Azad, 52- Roya Kashefi, 53-Mohammad Amini, 54-Parviz Dastmalchi, 55- Hamid Kowsari, 56- Maliheh Mahamadi,57- Reza Safari, 58- Amir Mombiani, 59-Esmail Khataei, 60-Mazdek Limakashi,61- Torab Mostofi, 62-Manijeh Shokohi, 63-Arjang borhan Azad, 64-Maliheh Zehtab, 65-Vida Meshayekhi, 66- Amir Hosein Tavasoti 67- Hasan Nayab Hashem, 68-Faranak Aeini, 69- Mohammad Barzanje, 70-Aria khosravi, 71- Shahin  Anzali, 72- Ahmad Pourmandi, 73- Abar Doustdar, 74- Mehdi Fetapour, 75- Maryam Setat, 76- Ahmad Farhadi, 77-Behruz Beyat, 78. Reza Alavi, 79, Mohammad Taghdiri, 80. Ahmad Taghvaie, 81- Fariba Dawoudi, 82-Bijan Sina 

 

  

 

 

North America:

 

1. Union for Advancement of Secular Democracy in Iran [North America]

2. Association des femmes Iranienne de Montreal  [Montreal]

3. Supporters of Mothers of Laleh Valley- Los Angeles

4. Esmail Khoi Foundation [Atlanta]

5. Iranian National Solidarity Network [Fresno]

6. Florida for Human Rights in Iran [Florida]

7. UASDI [Washington DC] 

8. Persian Cultural Association [Ottawa]

9. Progressive American Iranian Committee [North America]

10. Committee in Solidarity with Iranian people [Dallas]

11. Radio Hamseda, Ottawa

12. Iran Modern Committee (Anjoman Araye Iran) : [Dallas]

13. Democracy and Freedom for Iran [Arizona]

 

Global groups

 

14.  Global Solidarity for Secular Society (Global)

15. World Women for Life

16. Neda for Free Iran (Global)

 

Europe

 

Belgium

 

17. Federation Europerse, Belgium

18. United for Iran in Belgium

 

Germany

 

19. Foundation to support democracy and freedom in Iran- Iran Voice

20. Supporters of Mothers of Laleh Valley- Dortmund

21.  Solidarity with the people of Iran

22.  Iranian Women Association of Parto

 

Austria

 

23. Austria:  Supporters of Mothers of Laleh Valley- Viena

24. Austria: Committee in defense of Iranian people's Rights

25. Austria: Committee in defense of Human Rights in Iran

26. Austria: Generation of Iranian freedom lovers

 

If you wish to add your name or organization's name to this list, contact one of the numbers/emails

below:

 

Contact numbers and e- mails:

North America:

1. Atlanta:          404-483-0256
2. Chicago:         224-766-0216
3. Dallas:                         972-400-5272 
4. DC:                 703-340-7726
5. Florida            Florida for human rights in Iran: info@floridaforfreeiran.org
6. Fresno:           559-908-1979:
7. Los Ángeles: 818-472-9996
8. Montreal:       514-624-4648
9. New York       203-570-6964
10. Orange County:  714 469 6126
11. San Francisco:   0248-397862
12. San Jose:        0248-397-862

                                               

Europe:

13-Brussels           europerse@gmail.com  Federation Europerse – Belgique

     14- Germany( Essen) 49-2330-74959

     15- Austeria          (http://www.ilga.at)

 

www.iranma.org

uasdi.action@gmail.com