(HRW/IFEX) – According to Human Rights Watch, on 19 May 1998, three international human rights organizations expressed concern to the speaker of the Iranian parliament over comments made by one parliamentarian about women lawyers in Iran. The three organizations — Human Rights Watch, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, and the International Federation of Human […]
(HRW/IFEX) – According to Human Rights Watch, on 19 May 1998, three
international human rights organizations expressed concern to the speaker of
the Iranian parliament over comments made by one parliamentarian about women
lawyers in Iran. The three
organizations — Human Rights Watch, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights,
and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) — warned that two
prominent women lawyers, Shirin Ebadi and Mehrangiz Kar, could now be at
risk of attack by religious vigilantes.
The comments were made on 12 April 1998, during a discussion in the Islamic
Consultative Assembly (Majles, or parliament) about an amendment to Article
6 of the Press Law, concerning media coverage of women’s issues. Majles
member Dr. Marzieh Wahid Dastjerdi referred to people who had debated
women’s rights issues in the press, and made clear references to articles by
prominent lawyers, threatening that “we are going to deal with these people
ourselves.” Although Dr. Dastjerdi did not name the women
lawyers, it was clear in that context that the lawyers were Shirin Ebadi and
Mehrangiz Kar, who have been outspoken advocates of greater rights for women
in Iran. In the past, vigilante violence has followed the statements of
government officials criticizing individuals or institutions. For example,
at a medical conference in Tehran on 12 May 1998, Dr. Dastjerdi strongly
criticized an Iranian surgeon who had spoken out against a
proposed law on gender segregation in health care. One day later, vigilantes
of the Ansar-e Hezbollahi, or Partisans of the Party of God, attacked and
beat the surgeon.
“We recognize that opposing points of view should be recognized in the
course of parliamentary debates”, said Hanny Megally, executive director of
the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “But the
words of parliamentarians should not legitimize political violence by
zealots.” The letter urges the speaker of the Majles, Hojatoleslam Ali
Akbar Nategh-Nouri, to condemn Dr. Dastjerdi’s comments.
The full text of the letter can be found on the website: http://www.hrw.org
