PROTEST IRANIAN GOVERNMENT’S PARTICIPATION IN THE UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
The International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR), the Committee for Humanitarian Assistance to Iranian Refugees (CHAIR), and the International Campaign in Defense of Women's Rights in Iran - U.S. Committee are organizing a protest against the Islamic regime of Iran at the United Nations on March 2, 1998, beginning at 12:00p.m. The Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime which has gained global notoriety for its systematic persecution of women and gross violations of women's human rights, is a member of the Commission on the Status of Women which will meet during March 2-13,1998 at the United Nations headquarters in NY to consider the following areas: violence against women, women's human rights, the status of girls, and women and armed conflict. In commemoration of International Women’s Day, the demonstration will defend the human rights of Iranian women and girls, and condemn the Islamic regime for its system of gender apartheid.
THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT ARRESTS THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES
According to the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR)-Turkey Branch, the government of Turkey, with European approval, has begun an unprecedented offensive against Iraqi-Kurd refugees since January 12, 1998. Over four thousand refugees have been arrested, 500 of whom have been deported to Iraqi-Kurdistan. One refugee has plunged to his death while attempting to escape arrest. Several of those arrested are Turkish Kurds, Afghans and Bangladeshis. 21 Iranian refugees are also in police custody. 11 of the Iranian refugees are former participants of the August 1995 sit-in.
The thousands arrested had not introduced themselves to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the Turkish government. That government's brutal practices and policies of deterrence discourage non-Europeans from enjoying their right to asylum. Because of the perilous situation, many refugees attempt to bypass the refugee determination procedures in Turkey and find refuge in a safer country.
Nearly 2,000 Iraqi and Turkish Kurds have managed to reach Italy by boat. Many have lost their lives in the arduous journey from Turkey. Rather than respect their right to asylum, however, several European countries, headed by Germany, have ordered stepped-up border controls and put intense diplomatic pressure on Turkey and Italy to prevent a new wave of Kurds from entering Europe.
By striving to prevent access to the asylum procedures in Italy and by pressuring the Turkish government to control its borders, the European countries, headed by Germany, are directly responsible for the lives of thousands who are fleeing persecution from the massive human rights violations in Iraqi-Kurdistan and Turkey. IFIR condemns Europe’s racist and restrictive asylum policies and the Turkish government’s brutality against the Kurds and non-European refugees.
IFIR urges groups and individuals to demand the immediate release of those imprisoned; an end to arrests and deportations; and recognition of their right to asylum.
SIX MORE AT RISK OF STONING IN IRAN CONDEMN STONING AND THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
On January 25, 1998, the Islamic Republic of Iran arrested another 3 women and 3 men in Marivan on charges of voluntary sexual relations outside marriage, according to a press release issued by the Worker-communist Party of Iran - Kurdistan Committee. Karim Mazuji and Ahmad Samin are among the 6 who are at risk of being stoned to death. These new arrests follow the August 1997 stoning of Zoleykhah Kadkhoda in Bukan and the October 1997 stonings of Masomeh Aynee, Fataneh Danesh, Marziyeh Fallah, Parviz Hasanzadeh, Kheyrollah Javanmard, and Ali Mokhtarpoor in Khazar Abad, Northern Iran.
Broadened protests in Iran against the government and the regime’s in-fighting have resulted in a renewed assault against the people of Iran, including an increase in the Islamic barbarity of stoning. Stoning to death, an extremely cruel form of punishment, is just one example of gross human rights violations in Iran. The Iranian government, and its "moderate" mercenaries, must be condemned outright.
Only united and collective protest can end the savagery of the Islamic regime in Iran. The Committee for Humanitarian Assistance to Iranian Refugees (CHAIR), the International Campaign in Defense of Women’s Rights in Iran, and the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR) call upon groups and individuals to continue their protests and denunciations of the regime and stoning.
KHATAMI AND WOMEN IN IRAN
Euphoria over Khatami’s election has prompted a barrage of articles praising him and his potential to bring about change in Iran, particularly in the status of women. Economic and political self-interests, rather than women’s rights, however, are at the core of this media misinformation blitz.
Khatami’s advocacy for the "rule of law" is an empty public image maneuver to present the regime and Islamic laws in a more amiable package. Under the new wrappings, however, the same rule of law, safeguarding against deviations from obscene Islamic standards and essentials of the Islamic Republic, is brutally enforced. These futile attempts to salvage the crisis-ridden regime are partially a result of stepped up secular and radical protests within Iran. Those longing for Khatami’s modification of Iran into yet another country where oppression is better packaged to facilitate business as usual, are willfully using cultural relativism to excuse religion’s and the regime’s infringements on women’s rights.
The New York Times is at the forefront of this whitewash. A recent editorial argues that "the ruling clerics would be wise to let Mr. Khatami relax the restrictions," and promotes Khatami as a president who "seems to favor more equality for women." IFIR’s letter to the editor by Maryam Namazie follows:
"Your Dec. 26 editorial "The Courageous Women of Iran" rightly states that Iranian women are a "force impatient for change." However, you erroneously imply that women voted for Khatami because they believed he would deliver real changes if allowed. In fact, a majority voted for Khatami to create a new balance of power that would intensify the regime’s in-fighting and bring the Islamic Republic closer to its demise. Khatami like other "moderate" mullahs, is a personification of the Islamic regime. His faction merely promotes different tactics to ensure the maintenance of a system of state-sponsored violence and gender-apartheid.
"The Iranian people, like people everywhere, want to live in a free and secular society; they know this is impossible under Islam or the Islamic Republic. Under the rule of the Islamic regime, women are stoned to death for voluntary sexual relations, a girl of nine can be married, women need their husbands’ permission to travel or work, and women political prisoners are often tortured and raped. Clearly, settling for "relax[ed] restrictions" and "more equality" denies Iranian women their universal human rights."
ISLAMIC REGIME CONDEMNS GERMAN MAN TO DEATH IRANIAN WOMAN RECEIVES 99 LASHES
Helmut Hofer, a German businessman, has been sentenced to death by an Iranian court for allegedly having sexual relations with an Iranian woman, according to Amnesty International. Information is not available concerning the identity of the Iranian woman allegedly involved. Media reports indicate that she may have been sentenced to 99 lashes.
A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Hofer was arrested in Tehran on September 27, 1997 and sentenced to death on January 26, 1998 for "forbidden relations between a non-Muslim and a Muslim." On February 1 the Iranian Foreign Ministry reportedly declined to specify the charges against him or the sentence passed. Hofer is reportedly being held in Evin Prison in Tehran.
The Committee for Humanitarian Assistance to Iranian Refugees (CHAIR), the International Federation of Iranian Refugees (IFIR) and the International Campaign in Defense of Women's Rights in Iran-US Branch call for continued protest against the death penalty, stoning and the Islamic regime in Iran.