| Arts & Lettres | Poésie | Démocratie, laïcité, droits | Politique | Féminisme, rapports hommes-femmes | Femmes du monde | Polytechnique 6 décembre 1989 | Prostitution & pornographie | Syndrome d'aliénation parentale (SAP) | Voile islamique | Violences | Sociétés | Santé & Sciences | Textes anglais  

                   Sisyphe.org    Accueil                                   Plan du site                       






mercredi 17 février 2010


My Testimony at UN
Violation of rights in Iran, a window from my experience to a broader picture

par Shadi Sadr






Écrits d'Élaine Audet



Chercher dans ce site


AUTRES ARTICLES
DANS LA MEME RUBRIQUE


Burkini Is a Feminist Issue Too
The notion that it’s ok for disabled men to pay for sex is rooted in misogyny and ableism
Egyptian doctor living in Zurich produces educational videos about health and sexuality for the Arab world
Amnesty International and Prostitution : Not in Our Name !
Open letter to rabble.ca - Support Meghan Murphy suffered a misogynist campaign by the sex industry lobby
"Insectual - The Secret of the Black Butterfly", by Barbara Sala
Canada’s New Sex Trade Law
Sharia Law, Apostasy and Secularism
“Harm reduction” is not enough to appropriately analyze prostitution
True Progressives Encourage Women’s Equality, Not Their Prostitution
Sexual mutilations outside Africa : new report and new denial except the Iraqi case
FGM slowing down ? The UN asserts it, the Indonesian case contradicts it
Prostitution, STRASS and the senator - When opacity becomes relevant
Is equating prostitution and rape ‘intolerable violence’ ? Really ?
Obama, Madonna and us
After Ontario Courts rule on Bedford : a rant
Comparing Sex Buyers and Non-Sex Buyers July 2011 (Boston)
Sex resistance in heterosexual arrangements
Abolitionists of the prostitution system : who we are, what we want !
Women Living Under Muslim Laws Statement on Libya
Prostitution is a Threat to Humanity
Prostitution - Call for Australia’s prostitution laws to be tightened
Violence - An Open Letter from Black Women to SlutWalk Organizers
Nothing that is sexual can be considered criminal : hidden sexual violence in the DSK case
The Truth about Global Sex Slavery – A Book by Lydia Cacho
Why reproductive rights and prostitution are not the same thing : A response to one decriminalization argument
Prostitution - The abolitionist project within the conference Women’s Worlds 2011
Montreal - The Turcotte jury got it wrong
Reasons I Will Not Go On the Slutwalk
International Sex Industries and their Accomplices Hamper the Autonomy of All Women
Ten Critical Reasons for getting rid of Harper’s Conservatives
Real solidarity with prostituted women is in the fight for abolition of prostitution
Decriminalize prostituted persons and criminalize those who exploit them (‘johns’ and pimps)
Polygamy in Canada Should Remain Illegal
My fears of the push for indoors prostitution
We cannot be satisfied with the simple harm-reduction model
The Native Women’s Association of Canada is Worried About Himel’s Judgement on Prostitution
Ontario Court Decision Abandons Aboriginal Women and Women of Colour to Pimps
Response to the VPD review in the cases of the Pickton Murders
Speech - The effects of globalization of political Islam on Women’s Rights, the question with polygamy, the Niqab and Honour Killing
Quebec Forges Enlightened Trail on Burkas
Breast Cancer a Disease, No a Marketing Opportunity
The International Campaign To Closedown Iranian Embassies
"Sex worker" ? Never met one !
The Prostitutors
The One Million Signatures Campaign has been awarded the prestigious Global Women’s Rights Award from the Feminist Majority Foundation
Prostitution - Feminist Perspectives, a book
Prostitution : Violating the Human Rights of Poor Women
More than 1 000 american historians call for equity in the stimulus package in open letter to Obama
Order of Canada Awarded to Dr. Morgentaler - Acts of intimidation should not rule Canada
Femaid report on Afghanistan, May 2008
Time for Quebecers to be more open : Bouchard-Taylor report
Canadian Bar Association supports strengthening equality in the Quebec Charter
Zero Tolerance for Johns : How the Government of Sweden Would Respond to Spitzer
Politicians are responsible for toxic, misogynist environment facing girls
Spitzer - The Myth of the Victimless Crime
Goodbye To All That (#2)
The freedom to never prostitute oneself
NO legalized brothels for the Olympics 2010 - Aboriginal women’s Action Network statement on prostitution
CLES says NO to the violence of prostitution
Does Porn Make the Man ?
A Trip Into the Absurd
Mothers File International Complaint Against United States
Prostitutes are victims, not criminals
Anthology of Québec Women’s Plays in English Translation, Volume I (1966-1986)
The Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle (CLES) intervene during the upcoming provincial election
Prostitution - Three Women and a Debate
Men Favour the Apolitical Discourse on Prostitution
The Whole Truth Must be Told : Sylviane’s testimony on her experience of prostitution
Democracy and Religious Obligations : an Impasse ?
What is liberation ? Feminism past, present and future
Books by Andrea Dworkin
Globalization, Militarism and Sex Trafficking
Muslim Groups Denounce the Cultural Relativism of a Certain Left
Canadian Muslim leader alleges her veil views sparked vandalism
Prostitution : CATW’S Post-World Cup Statement
NOW to denounce so-called parental alienation
Prostitution : for an Abolitionist Bill
The dimensions of trafficking for purposes of prostitution
"Charm is a Guise ; Batterers Belong in Jail, Expert Says"
Interview with Catherine MacKinnon : Are Women Human ?
Danish cartoons - Doing away with the Enlightenment ?
It’s happening next door : from incestuous girls to alienating mothers
Green Light for Pimps and Johns
Buying Sex is not a Sport
Prostitution is Violence Against Women
The Ideal Site for the Crime
Tell me, what does "gender" really mean ?
Gunilla Ekberg : « The best thing we can do for our sisters is to support them to get out of prostitution »
Interview with Catharine A. MacKinnon : « They haven’t crushed me yet. »
Decriminalizing prostitution, a magnet for pimps and johns
Lovesick
Declaration on Religious Arbitration in Family Law
Prostitution : Towards a Canadian policy of abolition
Prostitution inseparable of violence against women
The need for a public debate on prostitution and its social consequences
Prostitution of First Nations Women in Canada
270 000 $ granted to Stella for a four days event on sex work
IN MEMORIAM : Andrea Dworkin or The passion for justice
Decriminalizing prostitution will not improve the security of prostituted women
Dworkin - Taking Back the Night
Backlash and Whiplash : A Critique of Statistics Canada’s 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization
Helping the prostituted women or promoting prostitution ?
The Need for a Public Debate on Prostitution and its Social Consequences
The legalization of prostitution and its impact on trafficking in women and children
Prostitution Links, Women’s Justice Center
"If you don’t take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits"
Sweden Treating Prostitution as Violence Against Women
Forced marriage as crime
Why Women Must Get out of Men’s Laps
International Campaing Against Shari’a Court in Canada
Decriminalize prostituted women, not prostitution
Canada Contributes to the Sexual Trafficking of Women for Purposes of Prostitution
Fathers’ Rights Groups in Australia and their Engagement with Issues in Family Law
Women Rage Against ’Rape’ in Northeast India
Sexual domination in uniform : an american value
Tribunals Will Marginalize Canadian Muslin Women and Increase Privatization of Family Law
The sexual sadism of our culture, in peace and in war
Queer theory and violence against women
The Legalisation of Prostitution : A failed social experiment
Globalization and the Sex Trade : Trafficking and the Commodification of Women and Children
Will Paternal Paranoia Triumph ?
Ode to Survivors
Court confirms any woman’s human right to organize with peers
Program produces motherless kids
Legitimating Prostitution as Sex Work : UN Labour Organization (ILO) Calls for Recognition of the Sex Industry (Part One)
Legitimating Prostitution as Sex Work : UN International Labour Organization Calls for Recognition of the Sex Industry (Part Two)
Elisabeth Badinter distorts feminism the better to fight it
Prostitution : Rights of Women or Right to Women ?
The "Stolen Feminism" Hoax : Anti-Feminist Attack Based on Error-Filled Anecdotes
Hormone Replacement Therapy, the "Magic Bullet" Ricochets
For the sake of the children : the law, domestic violence and children contact in England
Friendships between women good for health
Children of divorce need our protection
Divorce Bill’s flaws inadvertently aid abusers
Problem isn’t little boys, it’s little minds
A report from Status of Women Canada about the discursive denial of gender inequalities
Ten Reasons for Not Legalizing Prostitution
Poem for Peace
Peace Rally Speech of a 12 year old American Girl
Good clone, bad clone ?
Canadian Women’s Health Network
So hard to say goodbye







Photo : FrontLine.

When I was sitting in an interrogation room, with my face to the wall, my eyes covered with a blindfold and my body with a chador, I never imagined that one day I would be at the United Nation Headquarters giving my testimony about this very day. So, I am very glad that I have the chance to be here, especially when many other political prisoners are still locked up inside the prisons or, even among those who were released, have to remain silent and neutralized out of fear. Let me start with my own experience, which is just one example of the many human rights violations that have occurred in Iran since the July 2009 Presidential Election.

On 17 July 2009, I was arrested while heading toward Tehran University for the Friday Prayers led by Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. I was walking on Keshavarz Boulevard with several other female activists when individuals in civilian dress approached us. Refusing to identify themselves or justify their actions, they forced me into a waiting car. After I had briefly escaped, my companions were restrained as I was beaten and forced back into the car. I was taken to one of the intelligence Ministry detention centers, called “the Follow-up Office” and after 4 hours interrogation, I was moved to Evin prison, where I been previously detained in March 2006.

In the middle of the night, I was taken to solidarity confinement after all of my personal belongings, including my clothes, my notebook and even my glasses were confiscated. They allowed me to have my glasses in the cell only after I refused to eat anything for three days. I was interrogated five times, each time for more than four hours. First, they wanted me to give them the username and passwords of all of my email accounts and blogs. It was a preliminary question for them, like asking my name and address. Then, they started to ask several questions about everything I had done or related to me, from our activities in women’s movement to my personal life, from the conferences in which I participated in foreign countries to the names and information of my friends in Iran and abroad. They described me as a doll or puppet of western countries, specially the United States, who had a mission to overthrow the government by changing society through women’s demands and the idea of gender equality. But they never formally charged me with a crime.

According to Iranian law, which I know very well as a lawyer, I did not have to answer any questions before I was formally accused of a crime. But this regulation, like many others guaranteeing prisoner’s rights, have been left completely unenforced. In contrast with procedure defined by the Iranian code to “Respect the Legitimate Freedoms and the Protection of Citizenship Rights”, they placed me in a solidarity confinement where a light was turn on all the time. I could not see the faces of my interrogators because I had to sit with my face to the wall wearing a blindfold – all of which is totally illegal. I was not tortured physically but one day, they took me and about fifteen male prisoners to a room inside Evin and while I was sitting facing the wall, at least twenty interrogators started to question the male prisoners who were made to sit behind me. These men were brutally beaten while I was forced to listen.

In the beginning, I could answer the interrogator’s questions about very simple and nonviolent activities such as distributing printed materials during the demonstrations. But after a few seconds I could not hear any more, and I felt like my head was being crushed between two iron plates. Less than one hour later, I was called for interrogation as my legs and my hands were trembling and my brain was totally empty. I really felt like I was being tortured.

Regarding rights violations, so many others had experiences worse than mine, especially among those who were not well known among the public. According to officials, more than four thousand people were arrested in Tehran and several other cities during the post-election events. They were apprehended either in the streets or in their homes and workplaces. Several reliable sources now report that prisoners are suffering from widespread violations of their rights. In addition to the numerous examples of human rights that are systematically violated within the past three decades of the Islamic Republic, during the post-election events, basic and fundamental human rights remain in serious peril, such as equality of persons before the law, the right to peaceful assembly, the rights of political prisoners, and the rights of human rights defenders and civil society activists.

According to the fact-finding committee of Iran’s parliament, launched in July 2009 to investigate the complaints of torture and killing of detainees who were arrested in post-election protests, 3 detainees have been tortured to death in Kahrizak detention center. The committee recognized Saeid Mortazavi, Tehran’s former prosecutor general, as the main person responsible for the death of these 3 young men in a report published on January 10, 2010. Unfortunately, however, he has neither been summoned to the court nor has been officially questioned or accused, while many women’s movement activists, journalist and human rights defender are accused of attempts to overthrow the government because of their peaceful activities !
Right now, at least 60 women’s right activists are in prison.
Some of them have never been able to call or see their families.

In some cases, nobody knows in which prison they are detained. The judiciary refuses to inform prisoner’s families about their situation or cooperate with their lawyers. Not only are the rights of women’s rights defenders being violated, but the rights of all Iranian women are in jeopardy. For example, the Government has recently proposed a new draft of the Family Law (entitled "Protection of the Institution of the Family") and is currently being discussed in the Parliament. This draft is very discriminatory and gender-biased. The draft facilitates polygamy and temporary marriage, both of which are favorable to men and socially unacceptable. For these very reasons, women’s rights activists, since 2007, have regularly expressed their objections to this proposal and succeeded in delaying the vote that would legalize it in September 2008. But now, when many activists are either locked up in prisons or repressed, the Parliament is once again discussing it and unfortunately, is expected to pass it. Regretfully, the Islamic Republic defined this discriminatory draft as one of the upcoming legislation to improve the human right situation in its national report for the Universal Periodic Review.

Therefore, based on my own experience and reliable facts, I would like to finish my talk with some recommendations for the Islamic Republic of Iran, which I believe should be raised by the delegations of other countries during the UPR session :

  • Besides Iran’s international commitments to respect human rights, there exist many rules and legislations domestically, within Iran’s legal system, that concern the rights of prisoners, including the code to “Respect the Legitimate Freedoms and the Protection of Citizenship Rights,” in addition to other procedures, laws, and the Constitution, that are meant to guarantee fundamental rights. I strongly urge the Iranian police and judiciary to respect and enforce these international and domestic laws that guarantee the prohibition of arbitrary detention ; the right to have and visit a lawyer ; the right to regular family visits ; the prohibition of solitary confinement ; and the prohibition of physical harassment and torture.

  • The Iranian authorities must stop giving impunity to Mortazavi and pursue him as well as all the commanders and perpetrators who have been involved in the widespread violation of citizens’ rights during the post-election protests.

  • The Iranian government must withdraw all discriminatory laws against women, especially the draft of the Protection of the Institution of the Family, which is in complete violation to Iran’s international commitments, especially Articles 2 and 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

    Source : Payvand Iran News

    On Sisyphe, February 17, 2010



    Format Noir & Blanc pour mieux imprimer ce texteImprimer ce texte   Nous suivre sur Twitter   Nous suivre sur Facebook
       Commenter cet article plus bas.
  • Shadi Sadr

    Shadi Sadr (Persian : ???? ???) is a notable Iranian lawyer, women’s rights activist, and journalist. She is married, and has a daughter. She is an active lawyer defending execution cases in Iran.



        Pour afficher en permanence les plus récents titres et le logo de Sisyphe.org sur votre site, visitez la brève À propos de Sisyphe.

    © SISYPHE 2002-2010
    http://sisyphe.org | Archives | Plan du site | Copyright Sisyphe 2002-2016 | |Retour à la page d'accueil |Admin