Defend International - Iran: DI Campaign In Support of DI Member Ms. Z. Bayazidi

DI calls on Iranian government to drop all judicial proceedings against her, and to release her immediately and unconditionally. DI member Ms. Bayazidi must not be punished for human rights activities.

Category: Prisoners of conscience / Arbitrary detentions / Fear of torture or ill-treatments / Judicial proceedings / Harassment / Human rights defenders

Ms. Zaynab Bayazidi, born 22/9/1979, a human rights defender, was reportedly arbitrarily detained by the Iranian intelligence services, the Ettelaat, on July 9, 2008 in the Kurdish city of Mahabad accused of participating in the One Million Signatures Campaign against discriminatory laws and for choosing a Kurdish name "Zilan" for her store. According to Human Rights Advocates in Iran, Ms. Bayazidi had "her case transferred to a court for review on July 2008. However, her review case was postponed for unspecified reasons."

On August 19, 2008 Ms. Bayazidi was tried and sentenced to four years imprisonment in Exile in the city of Zanjan, in West Azarbaijan Province. According to DI members in Iran, Ms. Bayazidi's defence lawyer was not allowed to attend the trial which failed to meet the basic standards for fair trial. Ms. Bayazidi has now begun a hunger strike and submitted a letter objecting the sentence issued in her case.

Ms. Bayazidi has focused on advancing women's rights and has been detained in the past by the Iranian authorities for her activities.

Ms. Bayazidi was aware of the difficult circumstances under which women's rights activists continued their work, however she joined the struggle for equality and was demanding that laws which discriminate against women be revised. She pledged to keep up her activities until those demands were met by authorities.

Ms. Bayazidi has demonstrated her commitment to defend human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iran. She has been arrested due to her participation in the "One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws" campaign, for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression, association and assembly and for defending women's rights.

Iranian authorities are required to create an environment conductive to human rights defenders, to take effective measures to protect, promote, and respect them, and to take action to prevent attacks and harassment against them.

Article 1: Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.

Article 5: For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels:

(b) To form, join and participate in non-governmental organizations, associations or groups;

1. Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

2. The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.

3. In this connection, everyone is entitled, individually and in association with others, to be protected effectively under national law in reacting against or opposing, through peaceful means, activities and acts, including those by omission, attributable to States that result in violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as acts of violence perpetrated by groups or individuals that affect the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms

Defend International strongly condemns the detention and prosecution of DI member Ms. Bayazidi and demands her immediate release. Moreover DI urges the Iranian authorities to stop detaining, harassing and prosecuting human rights defenders who are simply exercising rights protected by international conventions ratified by Iran.

Iranian government must drop all charges against activists who have peacefully advocated for human rights. Iran must encourage civil society to promote and facilitate the enjoyment of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, to allow women's rights defenders to use civil means to address their concerns, and to raise public awareness of the equal rights and responsibilities of male and female through campaigns, training, distribution of manuals and brochures etc.

Announces its full support and solidarity with Ms. Bayazidi, and calls upon all its members to express their solidarity by writing to the Iranian embassies in their countries;

Calls upon the Iranian authorities to guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Bayazidi;

Believes that the right and freedom of association and of public assembly are fundamentally integral dimensions of the freedom of expression;

Calls upon the Iranian government to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights conventions and instruments ratified by Iran;

Calls upon the Iranian authorities toput an end to all kinds of harassment against Ms. Bayazidi, as well as against all human rights defenders in Iran;

Calls upon the Iranian authorities to comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular with its Article 1, 5 and 12;

Please copy the following appeals, add your signature and address and send them to arrive as soon as possible.

I am deeply concerned at the news that Ms. Zaynab Bayazidi was detained on July 9, 2008 in the city of Mahabad and has been sentenced to four years imprisonment - punished for participating in a women campaign, and for choosing a Kurdish name for her store. Ms. Bayazidi is member of Defend International, an NGO working to stop human rights violations, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. In the past Ms. Bayazidi had received warnings from the Iranian authorities for her actions in the defence of women rights in Iran.

I appeal to you on humanitarian grounds, and in furtherance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in numerous international human rights and humanitarian treaties and declarations adopted by the United Nations, to drop all the charges against Ms. Bayazidi. In addition I appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of Ms. Bayazidi as a prisoner of conscience.

I urge you to guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Bayazidi. I also urge you to put an end to all acts of harassment against all human rights defenders and to allow them to continue their peaceful activities without any obstacles.

Furthermore I urge you to conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", as well as Article 12.2, which provides that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration".