Individuals at Risk

June 12, 2006.  Haft-e Tir Square, in Tehran.  Women gather for a peaceful demonstration in support of women's rights, and are brutally repressed by police forces.  Iran's message is clear: public spaces in Iran are not open to women who cry for equality.

The One Million Signatures Campaign was inspired in part by the repression women faced on June 12, 2006.  It was born of a situation that deprived Iranian women of physical space and opportunity to organize.  The campaign aims to collect a million signatures of Iranians, on a petition that demands changes to laws that discriminate against women.  Campaigners hope to effect change with the written word and, in the process, they are building a network of Iranians who are meeting each other and dialoguing about social change.  Here is a fantastic video about the One Million Signatures Campaign: One Million Signatures

The Iranian government has spent the past few years jailing activists involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign.  On July 9, one such activist - Zeynab Bayzeydi - was arrested and jailed.  Amnesty International is working on her behalf, and calling attention to the plight of all women's rights activists in Iran.

Zeynab Bayzeydi is a member of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK) in addition to the One Million Signatures Campaign.  HROK's founder is currently serving an 11-year jail sentence for his involvement in the advocacy organization.

Amnesty has recently issued reports on the status of women's rights defenders in Iran and on Iran's human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority. 

Zeynab Bayzeydi is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely because of her peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and association.  She, along with the women she is working so hard to support, needs your help. 

Marissa Brodney - Urgent Action Network