Following our earlier post on Ghoncheh Ghavami…
A short recap: This young British-Iranian activist for women’s rights was picked up by the police for watching a volley ball game in a gender segregated stadium.
She was released, rearrested and sent to th einfamous Evin prison where she has spent over 100 days and nights – at least 40 in solitary confinement – with limited connections to her lawyer and family.
At first, no one knew what were the charges – Iranian media reported that she would be charged for espionage at one point but this week, the sentence went through and she received one year in jail for “propaganda agains the regime”.
She is now on her second hunger-strike.
All this follows another post regarding Iran’s head of human rights, Javad Larijani’s “outstanding oscar performance” and the UPR of Iran in which he made Iran sound like a paradise for human rights.
Here are a few relevant quotes which are in stark contrast to what Ghavami has been through and will continue to go through for the next 9 months:
- Larijani: Tehran “genuinely and meaningfully” involves its citizens “without any discrimination of any kind”.
Iran 24/07: He forgot to mention the severe gender segregation that landed Ghavami in jail in the first place. - Larijani: All Iranian nationals are “equal before the law”, “have the right to choose their own lawyers” and can count on “the presumption of innocence”.
- Iran 24/07: Ghavami, a British-Iranian national, may be “equal before the law” in Iran but she still has very limited access to her lawyer and has remained in jail since she was picked up over three months ago.
- Larijani: Iran prohibits the use of torture and arbitrary arrest.
Iran 24/07: ghavami was picked up at the stadium and was reportedly “beat up a bit” before letting her go and picking her up again…this time to jail.
IRAN 24/07 
We’re raising awareness of inequality issues and we’re glad you are to. Powerful article.
thank you and good luck 🙂
WE shall continue to fight against governments which have no God in them!
I would say the exact opposite – better a government without God than one ran by religious fanatics
Yes, religious fanatics are not God’s agents!!!!!
I love women so much that i treat them way better than men. who cares about women more than men do? if this iranian woman watched a volleyball game its fine id get her a drink and some popcorn. i would not want to see her in jail even if she was a spy.
rather i would talk to her and discuss anything related to women’s rights to work any inequality issues.
Desperate situation.
a preemptive strike against these death cults is what’s required…
and obama thinks that he can pussyfoot with these guys ]]] but then does obama think ]]] what are the chances that obama will wake up ???????????
“and obama thinks that he can pussyfoot with these guys”. – This story sounds almost like it happened in a state under the rule of law … compared to the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia, which is “our close ally and friend” (Pres. George W. Bush).
Chances of him waking up are very slim.
That worked out soooooo well the last time you tried that.
When are these Arab countries going to realize this is 2014?, almost 15, not 15 b.c. And this is not Obama’s doing, this is all Iran. Time to put away the camels people and get with the program. Let your women watch sports, wear pants and show their faces. we promise, we will try and not have sex with your women just because we saw their bare lips. sarcasm, gotta love it.
But all joking aside. This is horrible for these women to have to live a life that is based on misguided beliefs that have actually nothing to do with their old religious texts. Modern, if you can call them that, Arabs are the ones that do not want women enjoying themselves. Ancient arabs allowed their women more freedom than todays arabs do..
Let your people Mow !, I mean Go !, to Games!.
People = Women. I know some of you arab men dont believe this, but women are actually people… (pauses to let them think)…….
, I know crazy huh?, but true!
ND YET THEY CAN SLEEP WITH 4 WOMEN AT THE SAME TIME…. BRAINLESS MORONS
for gods sake…live and let live,,,your world is so very wrong…
Indignante, machistas fundamentalistas.
pathetic race
I do not understand why people in this world force others to uphold their own beliefs…what happens to the freedoms that our fore fathers fought for? I guess we need to keep fighting, such dogmatic laws should be abolished. Learn to love or at least respect our beliefs/differences.
the problem for me is that who do i believe is worse
IRAN or USA
Muslims are very backward and USA is very corrupt.
My suspicion is that Iran and North Korea are not as bad as USA makes out.
safe option, believe nobody and fight it out between you
Think for yourself, compare facts and you will know.
How may her brothers and sisters assist her during he current trials and tribulations?
Keep up the pressure – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Ghonche-Ghavami/516389621829147?fref=ts
CORRECTION: How may her brothers and sisters in the West assist her in her current trials and tribulations?
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Thank God she wasn’t picked up by the CIA, who knows what would have happened to her.
What?
Since when has the CIA even cared about people who watch sporting events? Besides the thing that irritates people the most is that the Gitmo prisoners were treated better than Islamic prisoners who are beheaded, have their hands, feet, arms or legs cut off, whipped, stoned, have acid thrown in there face eyes gouged out…that is what Islam thinks is normal. .We treated them too nicely.
Whilst we do not know whether due process was followed in the case of this young lady, we do know that many on Gitmo are being held in solitary for no reason at all. Those who were released after years, have received no compensation…
Beheading is cruel if due process was not followed. So is targeted bombing with drones and smart bombs. The one receives major western media attention and the other accolades when innocents’ bodies are torn apart and scattered with the “pre-emptive” strikes.
We must understand that the one-eyed media shapes our opinion. So in the same way that we were sold the “communists are bad” bogey, Islam, Muslims and Arabs are now the new target.
Yes, there does seem to be a double standard in the West between killing by beheading and killing with missiles – the second option is just as horrifying but it somehow seems “cleaner”.
The problem here is not the punishment.
The problem here is the premise (ie: a woman in a sports stadium) and the management (ie: a very dubious judicial process).
Tehran has to address these problems.
Islam is a divinely prescribed way of life, and what people do sometimes does not fall in line with Islamic principles.Muslims are human beings .please do not claim Islam teaches anything unless you spend time studying it properly.the Spanish Inquisition by Catholics was not Christianity so how can I say Christianity encourages it? please think before you speak and learn what you don’t know.
Islam doesn’t teach good or evil. Neither does Christianity nor any religion.
It is religious leaders who twist religion towards evil.
That’s too bad, I was hoping they would set her free. It is hard to fathom being arrested for watching a sports event, since I live in the U.S. and women aren’t segregated from events. I hope she is not mistreated in jail…prayers be with her…Joan
Chauvinistic tosses”
I’m astounded that any woman would willingly join or remain part of an Abrahamic religion.
do you have no self-respect at all? You’re part of a club that demeans you. I am outraged on your behalf.
All Abrahamic religions, in their true form, protects the rights of women. The demeaning and commodifying of women is rife now more than ever before. It is true revealed religion that ensured that each human being has a defined role to play and set parameters for each. Today, women are required to expose as much of their bodies to be acceptable and require that true freedom is only achieved when all sense of shame is removed. This is a value that is driven essentially by the capitalist dogma to profit as much as possible from the “female” commodity…
It is therefore no longer fashionable to be covered up in the west. The pressure is to expose, consume and be “free”. And when other nations see the wrongs in this, they are cast as backward, uncivilised and oppressive. The world has been here before. History tells us that the Roman Empire collapsed partly as a result of the society being devoid of any sense of shame. Archeological digs around Pompeii have shown nudity and open fornication was part of the culture. We need to be careful…
Who made men the judge as to what women can and can not do? Can or can not wear?
And does the fact that this is historically so make it right?
Theoretically the Koran and the Bible do not say anything about repressing women. It is the governing bodies, run by men, who abuse interpretations of religion in order to suppress women’s rights.
Men who don’t like to feel any lack of control of their sexual urges and blame the objects of their desires instead of accepting that they themselves are to blame. Men who would rape a woman and then blame her.
Men who make women cover up in order to not be tempted should grow up and be real men who know how to respect women for who they are and not for their bodies.
For those of us who believe in revealed scripture, we accept that there is a Divine injunction that requires women to dress modestly. The fact that men interpret text to suit themselves is not from the Quran, Bible or Torah. The fact though is that we are biologically attracted to or our DNA is hardwired to be attracted to the opposite sex. The control though of sexual urges is prescribed because humanity would collapse if this is not so. Which is where we are heading. Hence the need for divine regulation. We ignore the “instruction/maintenance manuals” of our creator/manufacturer at our own peril. We do this this with our appliances… This is my point…
I accept your point but disagree with it.
It is precisely our ability to control urges that make us less animal-like and more divine.
I am sure that Muslim men fantasize about women just as much as Western men do with or without the modesty of the women surrounding them.
This may or may not help men but it certainly represses women. Give women the choice to be modest or not.
You are completely wrong! No one in the West says women have to dress this way, in fact many women do not and many men do not want them to dress this way. However we also do not say they have to dress a certain way. It is their freedom to choose not a religious dictate,or some perverted tyrant, or a dictatorship that says they must dress in a certain ways. The same way women have the right to go to school, shop, drive a car. They are not required to nor forced to but it is their choice not someone else’s. Rome fell for many reasons included lead in the pottery and drinking water, most of the population being slaves not citizens, its reach exceeded its grasp, corruption. Many primitive societies thrive and men and women walk around naked.
Rןichard, the segregation and hijab laws in Iran are very clear: women are not allowed in many public places were men are (in stadiums, on stage etc…) and they have to over their hair and bodies.
If they want to do this voluntarily for their religion, that’s great. but if they do not want to and are forced to do so, it is a transgression of a basic freedom that doesn’t exist in Iran.
Some times you realize the laws in your country are much better when you face situations similar to this. I can not understand where does it hurts the community, or laws…. Some laws should esh………..
You can fix a broken car but you can’t fix a stone age religious mind.
How can we help pls let us know if governing bodies are lame then society will help lets rid these lame things a small help possibly can change a real life lets leave the dead and lame and make life the change Ro
She was pardoned last week.
That is wrong thing guys
After five months in jail with no charges, Ghoncheh was offically pardoned today – good ending 🙂
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