Dear all,
As you may know, on Sunday, December 21, the police shut down the Tehran office of a human rights group headed by Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi. Policemen in uniform and plain clothes raided the office, made an inventory of its contents, then sealed it off and told the staff to leave the premises without resistance. They did not show any judicial warrant. The human rights group had been scheduled to hold a belated celebration marking the 60th anniversary of Human Rights Day on December 10.
The closure marks a toughened crackdown on rights campaigners by the Islamic Republic that is in the habit of systematically violating human rights in Iran.
Ebadi condemned Sunday’s crackdown but vowed that human rights advocates would be unfazed.
“Shutting down the office without a warrant is illegal and we will protest,” she told Agence France Presse. “Obviously such a move does not have a positive message for other rights activists in Iran, but my colleagues and I will fulfil our duties under any circumstances,” she said.
To support the group and to protest the shutting down of the human rights office, please sign the following petition:
h
Or send your support to the following email address:
Thank you,
Azadeh
