Press Release from Women in black for Freedome of Leyla Zana

FREEDOM FOR LEYLA ZANA AND FOR THE KURDISH POPULATION IN TURKEY

More prison time is on the horizon for Leyla Zana, who was sentenced
to 2 years imprisonment for having spoken publicly of the leader of
the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. The sentence,
which was handed down April 10, 2008 by the court in the city of
Diyarbakir,
convicted Zana of making "propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization."

This was Turkey�s response to the recent decision by the European
Union�s second highest court, the Court of First Instance of
Luxemburg, to remove the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations.

And yet another attempt to silence the voice of Leyla Zana, one of the
most prominent individuals working for peace between the Kurdish and
Turkish peoples, who has already served 10 years in Turkish prisons,
from 1994 to 2004.

Leyla Zana has demonstrated to the world to be a woman of
extraordinary courage who has always been firmly convinced of the need
for dialog.

We will continue to support Leyla Zana, "peace prisoner," and her
right to freedom and we call upon the European Parliament, who awarded
Zana the Sakharov Prize for human rights in 1995, to stop the brutal
escalation by the more reactionary political forces in Turkey,
responsible for violence and repressive acts during the recent Newroz
celebrations as well as numerous legal proceedings against Kurdish
mayors and political exponents.

We call on Europe to use the negotiations with Ankara for entry into
the European Union as an opportunity to express strong condemnation
for an unjust sentence against Leyla Zana.

We call on Italy to give full priority to the respect of human rights
over interests of the market by supporting the request for a
moratorium on the sale of Italian weapons to Turkey.

Donne In Nero (Women in Black)

Italy, 12 aprile 2008

Layla Zana

Layla Zana

1995 Sakharov Freedom Award Acceptance Speech by Leyla Zana Leyla Zana 17/01/1996 From Ankara Prison, January 17, 1996 My Dear Parliamentarian Colleagues, Before all else, I would like to say it is an honor and a pleasure for me to have been found worthy of the Sakharov Freedom Award by the European Parliament. I am grateful and thankful for the close attention and friendship you have bestowed upon me and my friends throughout the sentencing procedures, which lasted two years. I would have liked to be with you to share my feelings from this pulpit. However, even if I am unable to be with you in person, I am among you with my mind and with my heart, which together have withstood their ground unyielding. I am with you. I salute you with my love, respect, and friendship. The late Andrei Sakharov, after whom this award was named, has an unforgettable and meaningful place within the tragic lives of the Kurds, and is still remembered with love and fondness. As you may remember, the "voice of the Kurds" was heard for the first time in 1975 through the oppression and massacres of the Iraqi Kurds at the hands of Saddam Hussein. Even in those times, Mr. Sakharov stretched his hand of friendship to the Kurds by demanding an arms embargo on Iraq and by striving to draw the attention and the interest of international institutions and organizations to the Kurdish issue. Due to his illness, Mr. Sakharov did not participate in the International Kurdish Conference in Paris. Instead, he sent his wife Elena Bonner. In his prepared message, he demonstrated his friendship to the Kurds once again. Taking the meaning and significance of this day into consideration, with your permission, I would like to quote a portion of his message which still stays with me: ...The tragic struggle of the Kurdish people, which has persisted for a long time, is due to the lack of the right of people for self-determination and, therefore, is a just struggle. We invite every government and international institution that has relations with countries where the Kurds live to pay attention to the policies that the administrators of the overlord countries pursue against the Kurdish people... It is because of this reason that the great defender of human rights and peace, the true friend of the Kurdish people, the great scientist and being, Mr. Sakharov, has a special place in the heart of the Kurds together with the former President of the United States Woodrow Wilson, who reiterated even in the 1920's that "the Kurds must be free," the Swedish President Mr. Olof Palme, and the late President of France, Mr. Francois Mitterand. We have never forgotten them and we will not forget them. I would like to point out that, for me, to be honored with an award previously deemed worthy of Mr. Nelson Mandela, Alexander Dubcek, Mrs. Teslime Nesrin, and Aung San Suu Kyi has a special meaning. Along the same lines, with your permission, I would like to extend my greetings and feelings of friendship to Sergei Kovalyev, who was also nominated for this year's award and who was indisputably as qualified as I. I perceive this award deemed worthy to me in person as a political message confirming the rightfulness of the democratic demands and desires of the Kurdish people and consider it as a gain of their struggle for freedom. This award not only has garnered the love and sympathy of the Kurdish people but also has bestowed courage to those who defend human rights and democracy, to artists, journalists, intellectuals, scientists, researchers, politicians, and to civilian non-governmental organizations, to pro-peace businessmen, to Kurdish friends, to the long-suffering and oppressed Kurdish women. It has condemned, in the international arena, those who have "condemned" us to prison. Above all else, I am a mother. And I consider every youth, irrespective of being a Turk or a Kurd, who has lost his/her life during this dirty war that has been waged for the last ten years in my country, as part of my flesh. I hope and wish this award gives courage also to Turkish mothers to bear the loss of their children in this war. Unfortunately, Turkey, which has been accepted into the Customs Union with Europe, has failed to establish a democratic opening. Instead of undertaking radical, constitutional reforms, it has confined itself to window dressing. But -- I am afraid -- it has failed even in this. Just yesterday, 39 people were put on trial by the State Security Court of Istanbul for violating the infamous article number 8 of the Anti-terror Law, which authorities claimed to have changed (in accordance with the requirements of the Customs Union). However, today, the same court preceded with the trial of the 40 people, business as usual. The balance of the ten-year war in Turkey is devastating: 30,000 people have lost their lives, more than 3,000 Kurdish villages have been burned, destroyed and wiped off the map. Three million inhabitants of these villages are forced to migrate elsewhere. Tens of journalists, 105 members of the HEP and DEP, including a parliamentarian, and three thousand others have been assassinated by "unknown" assailants. Thousands of hectares of forests have been burned and hundreds of Turkish and Kurdish youths have been maimed. Thousands of children are orphaned and the same amount of women have been widowed. During 1995 alone, six thousand people were put on trial for committing crimes of thought and expression. One hundred people were assassinated by "unknown" assailants and 200 people were tortured by security forces. Journalists, writers and publishers were punished with a total of 178 years of imprisonment. 1,500 people were prosecuted with the demand of a death sentence. 184 people disappeared while under custody. Very recently, Metin Goktepe, a journalist from the Turkish daily Evrensel, who was apprehended by the police, was tortured to death. Honorable Colleagues, From historical records we know that whenever Kurds talk about democratic rights and demands, they are silenced forcefully and violently. At no time have democratic channels been opened for them and every humane and natural demand of the Kurds has been branded as an "uprising" and slated to be squashed. A few years ago, President Suleyman Demirel revealed in one of his speeches the official state policy and the viewpoint of the administrators when he stated, "In recent history, the Kurds have revolted (against the Turkish state) 28 times and all of them were suppressed. This one is the 29th. And we will suppress it too..." Although, Kurdish people stood behind their Turkish brethren against every threat in each period of history and suffered equal hardships, at no time have they been accorded equal rights and status with the Turkish people. Herein lies the root of the problem. The official ideology of the state denies the (cultural and linguistic) differences and strives to "Turkify" everyone by force. Naturally, those Kurds who have accepted the fact of assimilation will not have a demand for Kurdish identity. Personally, I believe it is necessary and natural that we respect the choice of those who no longer consider themselves Kurds. However, the great majority of Kurds, who, according to official statistics, number between 15 and 20 million, do have a demand for Kurdish identity. As human beings, naturally, Kurds also demand to be trained and educated in their mother tongues. They want to publish and distribute their own newspapers, journals, and books. They want to use their language in radio and television broadcasting. They want to research their culture and history. And, they want to participate in the administrative and political life as Kurds. Taking into consideration the process whereby Europe is reinforcing its union via a single identity, a single passport, a single Parliament, and a single monetary system, and considering the globalization process whereby national borders are eroding, it is obvious that the Kurds cannot and shall not follow policies that would isolate them from the world. Even though Turkey has insisted on solving the Kurdish problem via non-peaceful methods for decades, and has neither taken a single ameliorative step nor given a hope to do so, it has received acceptance from the European Parliament. When the European Parliament "OK'd" Turkey's entry [into the European Customs Union], it was influenced by the one-way Turkish propaganda and, also, it hoped its acceptance would play a catalytic role in speeding up the process of democratization in Turkey. Even though we share the same hope and ideas, I must emphasize the fact that I am anxious because certain circles [in Turkey], who expect to reap the fruits of acceptance into the Union, will be emboldened to hamper the process of democratization, and will even increase the dosage of violence and tension. I would like to hope, during this fragile and critical transition period, the European Parliament does not consider only Turkey's geographic and strategic importance and its size as a potential market of 65 million people. I believe your Honorable Parliament and our friends [in the West] will not sacrifice democracy and human rights for economic interests. And, in the same vein, it will neither be a partner in the anti-democratic practices of Turkey, the new member of its Customs Union, nor will it legitimize them. Today, a historic opportunity has emerged for peace. A "Unilateral, Unlimited and Unconditional Cease-fire" has been in operation [by the PKK] since December 15, 1995. But, unfortunately, it has not been reciprocated and, as a result, tens of young men have lost their lives in ongoing operations. I say this ceasefire should be taken seriously. The ground for transition from war to reconciliation should be paved and conditions that suit this process should be created. Great duties await our European friends, in this respect, and I hope they will not shun them. Countries with similar problems (like that of the Kurds) solved them by opening up democratic channels. I believe it is not too late for Turkey also to solve their problem without any border changes and I hope that the problem is solved by peaceful means. Before all else, to make the cease-fire process permanent, -- "Political freedom," which includes the freedom to organize, should be recognized, -- The creation of an environment that nurtures the solution of the problem through dialogue and allows the utilization of democratic and political channels must occur, -- Domestic operations (against the Kurdish guerrillas) should be stopped immediately; cross border raids should not take place, -- Radical reforms and changes should be undertaken to provide Kurdish identity with constitutional and legal protection. Honorable Colleagues, Please do not think I have drawn a pessimistic picture or I have exaggerated what we have lived through or I have reflected events in a distorted form. I have tried to be as objective as possible. Naturally, another task that awaits you, my Parliamentarian colleagues, is not to limit yourselves solely to what the troubled partners tell you, but to come here, to the region, and conduct your own investigations and evaluations. I must reiterate that this award has a priceless moral value for me and I would be honored to carry out the responsibility it puts on my shoulders in the field of peace, democracy, human rights, and freedom of thought and expression. The most significant common denominator we share with you is our belief in democracy, human rights, and the idea of establishing a modern, democratic Turkey in its real sense. We need to save the portion of my country that has been turned into a lake of blood and an engulfing fire. We all have to do our share. Both the Kurdish people and the Turkish people have paid a high price and they are still paying it. I count March 2, 1994 and the period following it as the price we paid for democracy and freedom. The toils we went through have been an honor. In the spirit of friendship and solidarity, I greet all members of the European Parliament with my love and respect. =============================================================== Fourth international conference on EU, Turkey and the Kurds European Parliament, Brussels 3-4 December 2007 ================ Layla Zana's and Ahmet Türk's speech at EP (original text) 3 December 2007 Brussels Esteemed Friends, dear participants, ABHaber 03.12.2007 Brussels Firstly, I would like to thank everyone in the organising bodies for their contributions to this conference. As it is known, internal peace in Turkey is the greatest guarantee for peace in Europe, the Middle East and the world. I would like to reiterate that I find such events, where the Kurdish issue is analysed extensively, and in which all parties’ different components can participate with original views and proposals, valuable. My last visit to the European Parliament was on the occasion of the Sakharov Prize award ceremony. On that day, I had started my speech in the brother language Turkish and had continued in Kurdish where I wanted to once again underscore the brotherhood of peoples, languages and cultures. Today I want to speak to you in Kurdish only. This time, it is not because I do not want to emphasise brotherhood among peoples, but because I want to draw your attention once more to efforts of resurrecting the fear of mother tongue. In fact, I find it a matter of embarrassment for Turkey that people are still being tried in courts for speaking in their mother tongue. I believe that this emphasis I am making on the Kurdish language at a time when a democratic and civil constitution is under debate will be evaluated by you not as an important detail but as a primary request. During the intervening time period many conferences were held both within the European Parliament and also in Turkey on the issues of EU, Turkey and the Kurds. As these meetings on the themes of peace and solutions were held, various and original initiatives by the intellectuals were undertaken, signature campaigns were launched and press declarations were made, all these turned into a common agenda of all those whose hearts were beating for an honourable, just and lasting peace with the aim of putting an end to deaths. However, sufficient honesty and sincerity could not be demonstrated for ending deaths. The lock is there, the key is known but the door just won’t open. It is high time the door is opened. The important thing is to place the key in the lock properly. Everything hinges on an issue which I reminded you of just recently with insistence and emphasis but something that I have frankly got tired of reminding everyone...The key issue has to do with how the issue is defined, the approach and outlook to the issue. The issue does not stem from any problem of public order, security, hunger or socio-economic backwardness. Everything you try to strip of its identity is doomed to become more painful and complex as examples demonstrate in other countries. Unless we are able to debate the very name of the issue correctly, the multifaceted crisis of identity and social crisis will drown us all in an ocean of stalemates. If the Kurdish issue were solely an issue of poverty and security, wouldn’t the methods that have been tried for over half a century been not only decisive but would also have lead to results? Haven’t all methods including beatings, detentions, torture, executions, forced migrations, sending to forced exile, extra judicial killings, village evacuations, village guards, release based on confessions, pardon based on apology been tried? These are indeed only those methods that are known and explained in a loud and clear manner by the highest authorities. What about methods that not known or disclosed? I believe my memory which is writhing and reeling in pain will not allow me to remember and recount all of the ones that have been tried. Despite all these denials, this treatment with contempt, debasement and even being expelled from their land, Kurds did not get cross. They were heartbroken but believed it was a virtue not to complain about it. They were beaten but instead of taking revenge by beating back they insisted on a country where all existing differences would survive. They did not hold one blood more supreme than the other, one language superior to the other, one colour better than the other. They were not on the side of those who thrived on conflict and bloodshed between peoples. On the contrary, when the ringleaders were yelling and shouting to arouse, they maintained their modesty by remaining silent. They yearned and are still yearning for a policy of sensitivity and stability where common values are symbolised in an honourable, just and lasting solution. Destruction, denial must not be the only way. Then, it is not possible to change the issue by taking its causes and effects separately and independently from each other. Instead of dividing, pulling into pieces or scattering it, we should set off primarily by defining it correctly. We should reach an agreement that we cannot solve the problem through clichés, a policy of condemnation and damnation, by closing political parties, by increasing the number of investigations and arrests, by preventing civil politics, by raising the bar even higher on bans and prohibitions and more importantly, by regarding deaths of people as mere statistical data. Otherwise our losses will not decrease but will unfortunately increase. In fact, even the developments experienced in the specific context of Kurds in Turkey and legal politics are enough to demonstrate this. Along this direction, the number of our duties and responsibilities are on the increase. In addition to Kurds, the responsibility of the European Union and the Turkish Government cannot be underestimated. But the unison of discourse between the EU and the Turkish government spokespersons aggravate the issue rather than alleviating it. On the contrary, what is expected is to remind Turkey of its responsibilities concerning the Kurdish issue and ensuring that this should not remain at the level of a reminder alone. Undoubtedly, the solution to the Kurdish issue should be specific to Turkey. But during the process of finding a solution not everything should be expected of Turkey and the existing inner dynamics in Turkey. The aim should not be putting pressure but creating synergies by offering a contribution. Contribution to Turkey could not be through the unison created in discourse. It should be known that an “EU Member Turkey”, which will have solved the Kurdish issue in a manner that is in congruence with contemporary civilisations and the new world order will not only remain as a rising star but it will also be transformed into a facilitating force in the realisation of world peace. What are these responsibilities then? Despite all these adverse developments, I believe the historic opportunity that was seized in 1999 for a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue is still there. The world should stop avoiding the recognition of political, social and cultural democratic rights of Kurds whose population is over 40 million. Instead of a definition of citizenship which defines everyone as Turkish, the existing phobia against placing under legal protection all natural rights emanating from peoples’ original characteristics. Instead of focusing on denigrating concepts such as “pardon based on apology”, amnesty, pardon or the like, we should be speaking about quality and comprehensive projects with content. Enabling political detainees, intellectuals, writers and politicians who have been relegated to forced or voluntary exile to participate in the political life should be regarded as a step to facilitate a solution. Radical reforms in Turkey’s political and administrative structure will accelerate and strengthen the process of democratisation. For ways to be developed in finding solutions to problems, enhancement of local administrations will ease the process. Values that Kurds as a people do not hesitate to emphasise out loud or even regard as untouchable even if the price they have to pay is heavy should never be ignored. This is because the primary duty of politicians and those who give direction to politics is not merely to listen to the values and requests of the people. Being able to be the tongue and voice of the people requires that the untouchable values of the people are expressed clearly and honestly. In this process which is evolving towards a solution, the Kurdish people find the role of Mr Öcalan extremely important and effective within the framework of social peace and the togetherness of peoples. In fact, this is not expressed by Kurds alone. Prominent writers in Turkey draw attention to the fact that “the first radical step in seeking a solution would be a comprehensive agreement with Öcalan”. It is time we started talking about our problems by doing away with our taboos. Regarding that the sensitivities of people are noteworthy makes a lasting peace possible. What is expected of the world is to respect this will and exclude it from bargaining issues in international relationships. Unless the issue is approached from a human perspective and from a perspective of conscience, it will continue to be a potential risk threatening regional and world peace. It is for this reason that the policy of “good Kurds-bad Kurds” that has been tried for some time has gone bankrupt. What befits a modern country is to hand over a tradition of tolerance that will strengthen diplomatic, cultural, economic and social relations to the future rather than escalating tensions across borders and countries. Dear friends, The ties of citizenship are not only established through laws. Those who are considered as ‘so called’ citizens, but who are in fact real citizens in essence, despite the fact that they are tied to their through their hearts, may really become ‘so called’ citizens tomorrow. In a world where borders have lost their meaning, real division and separation is that which happens in the hearts and minds. Bringing the heart and mind together necessitates patience, fortitude, stamina, experience and maturity. I believe we have gone over the threshold of endurance. Just as we cannot build tomorrow by nurturing the pains of yesterday, it is not possible to find a solution by multiplying the pains of today either. Just as Emin Maalouf has said, “My identity is what makes me unique and unlike any other. Killing a person’s identity is a murder that is graver than killing him.” Every identity that is killed is in fact a loss for humanity. We should therefore capture the pluralism that will nurture those differences. It should be known that every identity that is murdered is our own murder regardless of what our language, religion or identity might be. Believing that you will approach the problem with sensitivity I extend my love to you... Leyla Zana

United Nation and One million signature

Campaign” One million signature” in United Nation:
By: Soraya Fallah
Women rights activist and researcher

The following report is briefly about my experience in UN during the commission on Status of Women in New York.

I have so many experiences regarding campaign for one million signature, change for equality in Iran. Experiences about the people I gathered signatures from. I got so many different reactions while I was appealing for freedom of Kurdish campaign activist, Ronak, Hana,and … but my experience in United Nation was totally different. In my pervious experiences I was facing people who didn’t know and did not heard of the campaign. Some did not even believe in equality; Man is man, Woman is woman, they said.
This time I had the least problem with individuals, they were all activists and scholars from different part of the world. Even in a few cases they had signed the petition on-line. And in one case I met a member of the campaign against stoning. but this time was different.

The 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women has been held at the United Nations headquarters in New York from the 25th of February to March 7th 2008. The big day for NGOs was on Feb. 24.
The session was attended by the representatives of Member States of the United Nations and representatives of United Nations entities and of ECOSOC, accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world. This year Priority theme was financing for gender equality and empowerment of women with the expert group Meeting on "Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women”
This year representative of 67countries, 7 regional groups and more than 5600 individuals from NGOs represent at the commission.
This time I had the least problem with individuals, they were all activists and scholars from different part of the world. Even in a few cases they had signed the petition on-line. And in one case I met a member of the campaign against stoning. but this time was different.

During the sessions I have had a chance to talk to the representatives of Member States, United Nations and non-governmental organizations; most of the time with Panelists that had significant experience in capacity-building for gender mainstreaming.
I planed to find the Kurdish and Iranian groups that I might not be aware of their participation. I took 150 copies of the petition (for first day) and information about the campaign in case somebody wanted to know more about it.
Sunday, the day before the commission, was the big day for all NGOs. Hundreds of women got together, and after an orientation and some important talk we got in 10 groups to decide about our requests to UN and to the States.
In my group I got a chance to talk to all attendees in the hall and in the result I could participate in one out of the ten committees for suggestions and resolutions. I distributed my copies to aware every one of the Kurdish Women’s issues and campaign and I received so many good responses.
Luckily on the 25th I met 2 other Iranian women rights activists out of UN in the Charge Center, the place that some of the parallel events of NGOs were holding their sessions. Each of us had our own way to promote and find an opportunity to talk about the campaign. The ideas were all great. We came out with an outcome that we should attend and ask for solidarity and signing the petition we have in each event and session. Sometimes it was hard to catch people to sign. They needed an explanation and more time, but the lines to get the entrance card was the best. They were waiting anyways.
Some of them were accepting to take the petition for work and school to introduce it to others and send the sheets back. My friend, Kay from Utah
Day after I could speak with Dr.Vivian B. Pender, the chair of NGO committee on the Status of Women, and I insisted to give me an opportunity to talk about the campaign for one million signature and Kurdish women issues. After a few times of meeting with her and her colleagues she introduced me to one out of six Caucuses that deal with West Asia which Iran and Kurdistan should be included. She said this is the official procedure.
On Wednesday I attended the West Asia (included Middle East) Caucus. Representatives from Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, and some other countries were there. I asked to talk:
I would like to catch every body’s attention to 3 issues that you never mentioned in your resolution. I need time and I hope you all paying attention. This is a caucus for the West Asia including Middle East, which Kurdish women and Iranian women should be included in. I talk on their behalf, because my sisters from Iran could not attend the commission, non of the NGOs from Iran, could get a permission to attend, and based on my knowledge no representative from the State. .
First of all, Iranian women’s situation due to oppression is getting worse on a daily basis. For years they are trying to claim their basic rights, not to be counted as half a man. I am here to represent an Iranian women campaign for One million signatures, a campaign for change for equality which I believe that the is a historic movement, and it is most effective, democratic women movement in the Middle East. I need you to indicate it in your resolution. I provide you all with a package about the campaign, March 8th and ask for your solidarity and signing this petition on behalf of your NGO and as an individual.
Second, 20million Kurdish women in the Middle East are subjected to multiple discrimination and has been forgotten for any project and are not privileged of any financial progress. They are not only discriminated due to being a women, but being discriminated for being Kurd. I ask you to indicate these two issues and their need in the resolution
The interpreter had translated it from English to Arabic and the chair of the caucus indicated in the resolution. With a vote of 100% of the representatives, it has been approved for the resolution! Everybody signed the campaign’s petition.
During the sessions, meeting, and gatherings I found some of the participants who were interested in helping to gather signature and talk about the campaign. They took the sinning sheets and the info of the website. My friend KAY SWAN from Utah has been volunteer to help and talk about it with others when she goes back to her home city.
On Thursday morning in a big gathering, called the Breathing session, I had a chance to talk as a Kurdish caucus representative, I mentioned one million signature and urgency of change and the need of being recognized
I visited my campaign colleague a few more times to discus about the process, the signatures and some pictures for the campaign website. We made everyday 100 copies and packages and I delivered the inside UN with the different methods of distribution and talk about it.
On Friday 29th, Amnesty International had a special chair for the campaign with lots of information. This year the commission was different than ever…





Soraya Fallah is a Human and women Rights activist. She works with several humanitarian organizations.
She is Chair of Kurdish Women Rights Committee in North America. She is actively promotes “The Campaign one million signature and being in contact with campaign’s activists inside Iran and Kurdistan.
She studied International Relations and law as major and psychology as minor.
She published a few books in different political and legal matters and many other articles in women and Kurdish issues book on Women right and roll of United Nation. She serves International pen, Kurdish sector, northern America as a chairwoman.
She was a researcher in “The Institute for political and International studies “(IPIS)in Tehran and worked as a legal adviser and active member of Amnesty International, Red Cross and Underground Danish organization for refugee in Denmark. She chaired a few conferences and in 2007 she chaired an International Conference on Kurdish women for peace and Equality held in Kurdish of Iraq.
Soraya is a board member of Society for human rights in Iran and Kurdish/American Committee for Democracy in Iran.

Press Release

Call for the Immediate Release of Kurdish Women Activists in Syria

Date: Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Kurdish National Congress Of North America

Press Release

Call for the Immediate Release of Kurdish Women Activists in Syria

On November 28, 2007 two Kurdish women 'Aisha Afandi, aged 48, and Kawthar Taifour, aged 50, active members of the unauthorized Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria were arrested by members of State Security, the security police and are being held incommunicado in detention at the women's section of al-Maslamieh prison with criminal prisoners and suspects in Aleppo.

In November 2007 the Kurdish Community held a peaceful demonstration in the cities of Qamishli and 'Ein al-Arab (Qoubani). The demonstration had been arranged by the PYD to protest against Turkish threats to invade Kurdish areas in northern Iraq. The arrest of Afandi and Taifour occurred shortly after that, The reason for their arrest has not been provided and the women do not have access to legal counsel or contact with their families

The KNC expresses deep for the welfare of Aisha and Kawthar, especially after the torture and ill treatment other Kurdish detainees have suffered.

We urgently demand an immediate release of the two Kurdish women activists from Syria's prison. We condemn and protest the Syrian regime's continuing oppression of the Kurdish community in Syria.

We call upon Human Rights Watch, Women's Rights Organizations, United Nations, US Human Rights Organizations, Members of the Parliament of European countries, political parties, Amnesty International and individuals to raise their voices to free the Kurdish Women activists.

Chair of Kurdish Women Rights Committee, KNCNA,

Soraya Fallah

For more information contact: knc@kurdishnationalcongress.org or Soraya@vokradio.com

www.kncna.org

Feb20 2008

Press Release

Press Release
Calls for the Freedom of Kurdish Women Activists in Iran
The Iranian Islamic laws consider women second-class citizens, thus promoting discrimination, unfair treatments, and inequality beyond brutality towards them. Countless political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, continue to serve sentences that were imposed on them through unfair trials.
Women of lower socio-economic status and/or women from religious and ethnic minority groups suffer disproportionately from such legal discriminations. The situation for Kurdish women in Iran is in particularly more unjust. Not only do these women suffer from discriminatory laws due to their gender, but they also suffer from regional poverty, regime’s policies against ethnic minorities, and the militarization and the instability of the Kurdish region.
Kurdish Women’s Rights Committee of KNCNA condemns and protests the Iranian Islamic authorities’ detention, torture, and death threats to Kurdish women rights activists in the prisons of Sanandaj, Mahabad, Saghez and other cities in Iran. Currently, without due process, and the presence of their lawyers, Zinab Yousefi, Hana Abdi, Chnur Fathi, Shahin Mohamadi, Runak Safarzadeh, and many other Kurdish women activists whose names have not even been publicized by the authorities were accused of working against the revolution’s values and national security and have suffered unjust consequences.
Nasrin Rourast, Maryam Hosssien khah, Tutia Kabudvand, Najibeh Salehzadeh, Fatemeh Goftari, Shilan Oromiaii, Fatemeh Khandani, Zainab Banyazidi, Srvah Kamkar, Chiman Baizidi, Jian Kamkar, Maryam Ghazi, Jalehj Mohamadi, Fathemeh Ghobadi, Fatemeh and Chia Javaheri, Nishtman Ahmadi have been detained and are under investigation. Fatemeh Khandani, Tuba Razapoor, and many other mothers have been hospitalized after they were beaten in the courts. Their “crimes” were defending women’s rights, Kurdish issues, or teaching children the Kurdish language. Some of them are students; others are mothers of active students, cultural and civil right activists, journalists, and members of the Women Rights Organization who were active in the well known campaign by the name of “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws” for women’s rights in Iran.
We urgently demand an immediate release of all these Kurdish women activists from Iranian prisons. We condemn and protest the Iranian regime’s deliberate murder under torture of Kurdish women. We call upon Human Rights Watch, Women’s Rights Organizations, US’ Human Rights Organizations, and Members of the Parliament of European countries, political parties, Amnesty International, and individuals to raise their voices to free these Kurdish Women activists.

Chair of Kurdish Women Rights Committee, KNCNA,
Soraya Fallah
For more information contact: knc@kurdishnationalcongress.org or Soraya@vokradio.com
www.kncna.org
January/27/ 2008

I am angry! Who cares?

by Cklara moradian

Who cares?

I am angry! At me, the girl who stares back at me in the mirror

by Cklara Moradian
03-Jan-2008

“I am angry!” I typed in a search bar and I found numerous articles, poems, and vignettes of writers around the world who have begun their essays with this exact statement. In fact I’ve written a blog post with the same title in the past. Today I begin another rampage of thoughts in the same fashion and it is not the first time I have purged my anger unto a piece of paper and shouted in maddening rage. The anger has always been justified though because, well, let’s face it, it's been about ME. Who is to say I can’t be angry?

However, today I wanted to write about something other than myself. I wanted to talk about something greater than me, something of importance, something worth being angry about. So, in retrospect, why have I begun this piece so egocentrically? Is it human nature to be so self-absorbed? So self-centered? Or is it this individualistic, materialistic, “Me, myself and I”, consumer world we live in? Can I really be blamed for beginning an article about something important by using an “I” statement?

“I AM ANGRY?” Is it even important how I feel? What I want? What I write about? Does my anger even matter when Britney Spears’ 16-year-old sister is pregnant? Could I possibly have something provoking to say when Paris Hilton just lost all of her inheritance to charity? Can I possibly have something more enraging to be angry about when so and so just got engaged and the other couple from last year's wedding filed for a divorce? I mean who cares what I have to say? Everyone has so much to worry about already. JC Penny's “16-hour post holiday sale” is ticking down and Macy's has that “two days only end of the year, new year special” going on right now so why would anyone in their right mind be reading this instead? Who cares that I am angry? I bet you are angry too! For heaven’s sake, your central heater is too loud, or was it your refrigerator? And your laundry takes too long. I bet you're angry too, I mean isn't it outrageous that you didn't get an extra day off this year and that Hanna Montana tickets were sold out before it was supposed to go on sale?

Well I'm going to tell you what I’m angry about anyways because why would I care that you have your own problems? I’m going to express myself anyways because isn’t that what we are supposed to do? Aren’t Myspace, facebook, YouTube, blogcentral, etc. etc. all there to make us feel like we are expressing ourselves freely and someone cares to listen? I’ll probably put this up on my Journals on OkCupid so I can seem like a better catch and wipe out my competition. I mean isn’t that what it’s all about? This game, this race that we are running to be the best, the first, the biggest, the smallest, the richest, the most powerful, I don’t know, the youngest, the oldest? Isn’t it all about the winners? Aren’t they the ones who end up writing history?

Isn’t that why you’ve never heard of the girls whose breasts are cut and then ironed onto their chests in order to desexualize them? Wouldn’t you rather see pictures of a D-cup breast instead? Oh, you were saving up to buy some, how else are plastic surgeons and porn stars two of the biggest money earners in this country? They are the winners. You wouldn’t know the San Fernando Valley and Beverley Hills if it weren’t for them. Isn’t that why you’ve heard of the Holocaust but never about the genocides in Armenia, Kurdistan, Rwanda, Darfur, Cambodia? I mean you just upgraded to Cable. While you had dial-up and DSL it took too long to watch the videos shot by a cheap hand held camera by an unknown journalist who was trying to give you an image of what the circumcisions of 130 girls in a village in Africa looks like. The Victoria Secret show downloaded faster and let’s face it, it was full of eye candy. It wasn’t your fault, it never is!

I am angry! I want to shout it on top of Mount Everest and I bet just as many people will hear me then, as the number of people who will read this vignette when I put it up online.

My father always tells me “you can’t be angry at the ignorant but of those who know and look away.” Is that called oblivion? I am angry because half this world is oblivious to the fact that every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger? I mean your anorexic daughters and sisters are hungry too so why would you care? I am angry because your ignorance is not an excuse. Because isn’t this era called the information era? Shouldn’t you know more than ever, now that you spend at the least 12 hours a day online? I mean it wasn’t so hard for you to get the latest news about the release of the video games you play 5 hours a day, every day. How come you have no idea that more people die of suicide than those murdered or killed in war? So who cares that I am angry that my search results for “statistics on childhood sexual abuse” is not even 1/3rd the size of the search results for your favorite television show. I bet you are angry too that you didn’t get the new iPod during this holiday season. I’m not judging you. I mean, I myself have useless conversations on a cellular phone that costs more than what 300 people live on each day and I walk around wearing a Bluetooth headset to make myself feel important!

UNICEF just put out this statement: “Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, while the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people.” Is that just a random fact I copy and pasted?

I am angry because we couldn’t collect more than $100.00 for those hungry children you couldn’t care less about while we stood all day in front of a shopping mall in Calabasas where the shoppers drove no less than their pimped out brand new models of Mercedes Benz, BMW, Lexus and guess what? That’s the Middle class man’s car in those areas. Their 16-year-old daughters who all look alike drive Maseratis and hold $1,500 purses that “daddy” bought for them for Christmas. It’s much cooler, trust me.

I am angry! At you, no, not you the reader, but me, the girl who stares back at me in the mirror. I am angry because I sat down to write something worth reading and all I have done is given you facts and figures you should know already. I bet you’re angry too because I am making you feel guilty. I mean it’s all for a reason right? All this madness, sadness, and chaos? Maybe if I believed in your omnibenevolent God, I wouldn’t be so angry. Maybe then I could justify through the misuse of logic how an all loving and an all knowing, an all powerful God has decided that it’s justice for little kids in the Middle East to have to pick mine bombs as a job to feed their families while your little cousins, nephews, and nieces pick daisies and strawberries for fun. I am angry, and bitter, and all fired up but aren’t you tired of all these angry liberals? I mean you hear enough sarcasm on Saturday Night Live. You don’t need another self righteous hypocrite to tell you how unfair this world is. You don’t need to feel patronized, interrogated, and guilt tripped? You didn’t choose to be born in this country, or with a silver spoon, or ignorant. All you can do is feed yourself and your own family. Life is a struggle, you didn’t decide for the rest of the world to starve. It’s all for a higher purpose anyways, right?

Listen, I am angry! I am angry that I walk through Berkley, the supposed liberal heaven and I see Che Guevara on sale. Google him, I bet you’ve already seen his pictures amongst your little brother’s band shirts. No, Che isn’t a band. He was a guerrilla fighter against oppression, or to please others he was a terrorist and guess what? They sell him now! Capitalism prints his photos on bikinis and Adriana Lima proudly wears it on the catwalk for the pleasure of your senses. You can now pre-order Rebellion, Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, and all your ideologies can be shipped free to the comfort of your door at no extra charge. And while you’re at it, why don’t you send Democracy to Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine and Afghanistan? They will gladly take your imposed ideas and wear it to their Intifada.

So now that our heroes and idols are sold on the shelves of our highly glamorous bourgeois malls, who are we supposed to worship? I mean this is a hero-worshipping land right? How many super hero movies were blockbuster hits this past year?

I am angry and let me tell you why. So us women, if we need a role model why don’t we idolize Angelina Jolie? I mean, she’s beautiful, sexy, a humanitarian, she even has an environmentalist boyfriend and a multi colored family. She deserves my respect for being a sexually liberated woman with her own opinions. What else can I strive to be?

So I am angry that for the first time in the history of the most powerful nation in the world, yes, The United States of America, we have a major female presidential candidate and she is not supported by the majority of her gender because she isn’t woman enough! What does that mean? And in other news, our other candidate, a man of color, isn’t black enough for our tastes! If those are the criteria by which we vote for our leaders, I now understand why Bush was selected president, the Jesus-loving, homophobic, hypocritical man IS indeed white enough!

I am angry that I know injured veterans who still swear by their military, and when they are trying to impress you they talk about how they marched with their over sized rifles in ROTC at the age of 14. I am angry because people dare talk about freedom and responsibility, they dare look me in the eyes and tell me that this war we are fighting is a “war on terror” and it’s about humanity. Since you happen to know the truth delivered to you by FOX news, since you seem to be convinced that our government is the best in the world, tell me then why in 1988 when Halabja was bombed with nerve agents Sarin, Tabun and VX, as well as mustard gas, when 5000 people literally dropped dead, and thousands are still suffering today, no one started looking for “weapons of mass destruction”. There is in fact half a page on the event on Wikipedia, your convenient reliable source of choice. That’s right. You didn’t even know about Halabja. You were watching The Young and the Restless while that happened. A decade later, the 3000 people who died on September 11, 2001 are forever remembered and the world is never the same again.

Tell me again, tell me how this war is justified so that I can tell you how many gallons of blood equals a barrel of oil. “Oh! She is one of those conspiracy theorists”, you’re probably thinking. I mean we all know our SUVs waste a lot of oil but we have Alaska, no need to go overseas. I am angry because you complain about gas prices while you’re driving your brand new Hummer and you’re not at all worried about global warming. Let Al Gore take care of that.

Tell me again how this war is about the people so I can tell you about the thousands of refugees this war has created, so that I can tell you about the tents and the cargo ships and the group shacks, not homes, they live in. Tell me it’s about the future, so that I can tell you about their living conditions, which even films labeled “Quentin Tarantino Presents” couldn’t envision. Tell me again how wonderful this freedom-loving, democratic, secular government is, so that I can tell you how the Kurds put their lives in danger to help our cause during the war only to see our lovely Condoleezza Rice shake hands with the prime minister of Turkey and watch them bombard the already ruined homes of the Kurds. When did betrayal become ethical? Thanks to the Patriot Act even torture can be considered lawful. Tell me again about civil liberties in this country so that I can tell you just how much respect our queer families receive. I am angry because human life isn’t measured equally. Your life is worth far more than the disposable human guinea pigs of Africa and Asia. While you’re at your baseball game and eating $8 hot dogs, little children in downtown LA, not Africa, but in LA, go to sleep hungry.

I am angry because it’s Saturday night and while you’re out with your buddies downing a 6-pack or on a date, all I’ve managed to accomplish is look like a pessimistic passive writer. I am not considered a brave, courageous, rebellious activist because if I were, I wouldn’t be here. I mean with my psychiatric history, thanks to the Virgina Tech. massacre, not only would I not be able to buy a gun, but quite easily they can claim an “accidental“ suicide as the cause of my death tomorrow morning. No, I’m not paranoid because I don’t think they are listening; I know! What am I complaining about? I mean there are men and women out there who are fighting in Iraq so that I can write propaganda and feed your illusions of freedom, so that I can make you feel like something is being done by someone. Go ahead, call me a bitch! Oops, was that politically correct? Let’s talk about freedom of speech for a second. I am angry because censorship has taken a whole new meaning. It’s not about approving a script or book before it’s published, there is a much better mechanism in effect. It’s called self-censorship. We’re all so afraid to say the wrong thing at the wrong time that we just don’t say anything at all. Well I’m so angry that I’m going to say it all. Racism exists and slavery is far from over! “Did she just say what I think she said?” Yes, I did. Next time you see your amigo go to work on Labor Day and pull off an 18 hour shift at minimum wage, you’ll know just what I mean. I am angry, no, not at you the religious fanatic, no, not at you, the cheerleader and sorority sister, no, not at you the baseball star, I am angry at these pseudo liberals who are outraged by the West Bank fences but end up volunteering to “protect” our borders from illegal immigrants and vote for their deportation. I am angry at these double standards. I am angry that you shout and riot about labels and stereotypes, yet right and left you call everyone names. I am angry that you’re willing to stand in line 12 hours, all night, in front of a retail store, but it hasn’t occurred to you to spend an hour with an ill child at a local hospital.

So all this said and done, what I am really angry about is that on Thursday morning my idol was assassinated. I bet you heard about the Pakistani leader who was shot; she did have quite a photogenic face. Although there hasn’t been half as much coverage on Benazir Bhutto’s murder as there was for Anna Nicole Smith’s overdose. I mean you don’t see Bhutto’s face by every grocery store checkout stand. I am angry because she was a woman worth looking up to, because she was a woman worth striving to be, but when she died and I called my friend in tears, she said: “Oh my God, who died?” Last month Bhutto told TIME Magazine that she is not afraid. I am angry because she wasn’t scared. She said in one of her interviews that her Mother’s Kurdish blood gave her the courage she needs to fight. I am angry that the same blood runs through me but I AM afraid. I wouldn’t walk through a country where every day a suicide bombing has cleared the streets in the past month. I am afraid but courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s the ability to face it. I am angry because I don’t know what to answer when I ask myself: “Would I die for my people?” But a few years ago I was willing to die for my boyfriend; getting his name tattooed was the only thing off limits. I am afraid because this world is like a chess game and all they have to do when a piece is in the way is to eliminate it, terminate it, brutally, forcefully, violently, and ruthlessly silence it. I bet the western strategists who decided that she needed to be killed didn’t take into account the psychology of the region. I bet they didn’t realize that in those parts of the world the dead speak louder than the living. I bet they didn’t foresee the chaos that has overtaken Pakistan since. I bet they didn’t take into account our martyr-worshiping mentalities and didn’t realize death is powerless in the face of truth, that death is a catalysis, that it becomes a reason and ideas are bullet proof.

You want to silence people, give them drugs! Learn from the way the government is enjoying full access to one of the world’s largest opium supplies in Afghanistan and is pouring it in the streets of Iran, to dig the youth in their own self-destructive holes. They call it “the silent genocide” where I come from. Or what about the way our health care system is willing to pay for anti-depressants but doesn’t cover therapeutic sessions for your suicidal kids. I am angry because our kids are loaded on Zoloft and Prozac because our fast-food nation needs a quick fix for their blues. I guess we are all overworked and can’t afford British nannies like the ones on Nanny 911, to take care of them so instead we have 1000 channels that they can watch on a big screen TV to keep them occupied. Sure, the Simpsons and Family Guy can teach them family values. Next time their father decides to abuse them they can relate to Bart who is systematically, for your amusement, choked by Homer…

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Benazir Bhutto's mother, My roll model was a Kurdish-Iranian

enazir Bhutto is the eldest child of the deposed Pakistani premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Begum Nusrat Bhutto, who was of Kurdish-Iranian origin. Her paternal grandfather was Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto, a Sindhi and a key figure in Pakistan's Independence movement. Bhutto attended Lady Jennings Nursery School and then the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. After two years of schooling at the Rawalpindi Presentation Convent, she was sent to the Jesus and Mary Convent at Murree. She passed her O-level examinations at the age of 15. In April 1969, she was admitted to Harvard University's Radcliffe College. In June 1973, Benazir graduated from Harvard with a degree in political science; during her time at college, she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She attended Oxford University in the autumn of 1973 and graduated with an MA degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. She was elected President of the prestigious Oxford Unio.
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Benazir Bhutto, my roll model is from Kurdish_Iranian Mother

Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007)

Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007 By HOWARD CHUA-EOAN

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto

Anthony Suau

Making a Martyr of Bhutto

The assassination of the charismatic politician plunges Pakistan into uncertainty, and possibly more instability

Where Bhutto's Death Leaves the U.S.

As Washington tries to figure out how to deal with Pakistan going forward, it also faces charges that it didn't do enough to support and protect the slain leader

Video: Benazir Bhutto, Nov. 2007

Benazir Bhutto speaks from inside her home in Pakistan, when she was under house arrest

Photos: Benazir Bhutto

The former Prime Minister is killed by an assassin

How To Welcome Back Bhutto

A supporter of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party chants slogans from a trai...

No Shortcut

After returning from exile last April, Opposition Leader Benazir Bhutto, 33, basked in the welcoming...

Bhutto, Musharraf: After the Break-up

Article Tools As breakups go, it was pretty spectacular. On Tue...

Bhutto at the Barricades

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Aamir Qureshi / AFP / Getty ...

She was a child of privilege, and took the mantle of power from her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the fiery and magnetic founder of the Pakistan People's Party, who himself would become a martyr for democracy when he was executed in 1979 by the military dictatorship of General Zia ul Haq. She inherited her bearing and physical presence from her mother Nusrat Ispahan, from a distinguished Kurdish family from Iran. Educated at Radcliffe and Harvard, she would also study law at Oxford. Her family and close Western friends knew her as "Pinky."

As a Muslim woman leader, Bhutto was almost an iconic figure in the West. But her actual career in office was one of great populist spectacles and little governmental achievement. It was a personna she parlayed. "I am not one of those leaders who sell lies and buy time," she told TIME in the mid-1990s. "No leader, no dictator could do what I have done."

However, in the final analysis, her career was an almost tawdry cycle of exile, house arrest, ascent into power and dismissal, much sound and fury and signifying little. Jailed and then exiled after her father's fall, Bhutto returned to campaign for office in 1986 after Zia's military government gave in to international pressure to slowly restore democracy. (Despite his dictatorship, Zia was a key ally of the West, supporting the Mujaheddin against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.) In a scene reminiscent of her second coming in October 2007, she was greeted in April 1986 by hundreds of thousands of frenzied supporters, who enveloped her motorcade and staged a daylong demonstration that was the largest display in memory of discontent with Zia's government. "Zia is a dog," chanted the demonstrators again and again. "We love Benazir."

Zia's death in a plane crash in August 1988 helped to further loosen the military strictures around the country, and Bhutto became Prime Minister by December of that year. As a ruler, Bhutto got few favorable reviews in Pakistan. Her government passed no legislation except a budget during its first 14 months in power. Much of its energy was squandered feuding with the opposition. Among the first acts of Bhutto's party after coming to power was a campaign to bribe and threaten legislators in Punjab. The goal: to overthrow Bhutto's nemesis, Mian Nawaz Sharif, Punjab's chief minister, a wealthy industrialist and a close associate of Zia's. Worse yet, her Cabinet stank with corruption scandals, including allegations against her husband Asif Ali Zardari and her father-in-law Hakim Ali Zardari, who was chairman of the parliamentary public-accounts committee. With so much fractiousness and scandal, Bhutto's first government lasted only until August 1990, dismissed by the country's President for "horse-trading for personal gain." Soon after, in November 1990, Nawaz Sharif, campaigning on an anti-corruption platform, became Prime Minister.

Bhutto returned to power in 1993, after Sharif was felled by his own corruption scandal. "This is my victory. It is a clear and decisive victory," she declared after a bitter name-calling campaign between herself and Sharif. But despite her claims, she did not have a working majority in parliament and had to wobble through her next few years in office as head of a fractious coalition, beholden to contentious blocs of power. At the same time, Pakistan owed huge amounts to the International Monetary Fund as part of servicing its enormous $28.6 billion in foreign debts. Bhutto had raised taxes, which raised the level of discontent in the country. But even so, her government did not collect enough revenue. In an effort to appease the IMF, Bhutto gave up the finance portfolio she had held since retaking the government. "The debt servicing is breaking our backs — debt that I didn't incur," she told TIME. "But as Prime Minister, I have to pay it back." Rumors soon spread that her government would be dismissed. "Rubbish," she said. But that is exactly what happened. Soon, Nawaz Sharif was Prime Minister again.

Sharif himself would be overthrown in a coup by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Musharraf would become an indispensable ally of the U.S. after Sept. 11, 2001, when he became the guarantor of the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan against the tide of Islamic radicalism.

And that is where Bhutto's final chapter picks up — as the popularity of the Musharraf regime collapses and the world looks warily at the future of Pakistan and the threat of radicalism. In exile once again and with corruption charges against her, Bhutto struck a deal with Musharraf, who was under pressure to restore democracy. Washington smiled on it and Bhutto, now anointed as the West's favorite to restore democratic credibility to a moderate Pakistani government, returned to retake what she always believed was hers. Thousands showed up to welcome her and more than 100 died when that welcome-back parade was attacked by still unknown bombers. The last quarter of 2007 was filled with political maneuverings between herself, Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif, who had also returned from exile. After one more stint under house arrest while Musharraf imposed a brief emergency rule, she seemed set for another triumph at the polls. But in the end, the violent cycle of Pakistani politics claimed another victim. And once and for all, Benazir Bhutto will rally people to her cause without being able to deliver on its promise.

"One Million Signatures

About "One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws"
Saturday 4 شهریور 1385

Iranian women’s rights activists are initiating a wide campaign demanding an end to legal discrimination against women in Iranian law. The Campaign, “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws,” which aims to collect one million signatures to demand changes to discriminatory laws against women, is a follow-up effort to the peaceful protest of the same aim, which took place on June 12, 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran. Preparation activities in support of this campaign commenced in June of 2006 and the campaign will be officially launched on August 27, during a seminar entitled: “The Impact of Laws on Women’s Lives.”

The collection of a million signatures in support of changes to the law is only one of several aims of this campaign. The Campaign will also aim to achieve the following:

1. Promotion of Collaboration and Cooperation for Social Change: This campaign intends to serve as catalyst in promoting cooperation between a wide spectrum of social activists in creating and advocating for positive social change.

2. Identification of Women’s Needs and Priorities: This collaborative campaign aims to develop connections and linkages with a broad base of women’s groups from different backgrounds. Direct contact between equal rights defenders and other women’s and citizens’ groups will allow those involved in the campaign to identify the everyday concerns of women, especially their legal needs and problems. On the other hand, this direct contact will increase awareness among the general population about the inequities that exist within the law.

3. Amplifying Women’s Voices: Through this campaign, the organizers hope to be able to connect with groups whose demands are left unheard. The campaign, relying on the needs identified by women themselves, aims to amplify the voices of women whose needs are often not addressed at the national policy level.

4. Increasing Knowledge, Promoting Democratic Action: This campaign is committed to increasing and improving knowledge through dialogue, collaboration, and democratic action. The campaign steadfastly adheres to the notion that real and sustainable change can be achieved only if it is community and needs driven and reflective of the desires and demands of the society at large. Changes to women’s status in society need to be based on the belief that legal problems faced by women are not a private matter, but rather symptomatic of larger social problems faced broadly by women. In other words, this campaign is committed to carrying out bottom-up reform and to creating change through grassroots and civil society initiatives, and seeks to strengthen public action and empower women.

5. Paying our Dues: The initiators of this campaign recognize that social change and the elimination of injustice are not easily achieved. It is through commitment to collaboration and hard work that we will be able to build the solidarity necessary to create change. Surely this solidarity and collaboration in pushing forth the objectives of the campaign will have a positive impact on the future of our country. The experiences of women’s democratic movements around the globe, and particularly, in countries within the region, have demonstrated that solidarity and commitment to the goals of collective action are key components to the successful elimination of discrimination. The struggle for equal rights in Iran will indeed be a lengthy, difficult and arduous process. The true path to achievement of equality will not be paved through existing power structures or a dialogue solely with men and women in positions of power. Rather, achieving the goals of this campaign will be based largely on a strategy which seeks to raise awareness among individual women and citizens about their identity and their status within society.

6. The Power of Numbers: The successful implementation of this campaign will prove once and for all that the demand for changes to discriminatory laws is not limited to a few thousand women, who have supported these types of efforts in the past. In fact, the successful implementation of this campaign will demonstrate that support for legal changes are broad-based and that a large majority of men and women are suffering from the inequities that are promoted by Iranian law. The Campaign will strive to demonstrate that women are, and have consistently employed a variety of means and venues to voice their objections to the laws, such as the writing of books, articles, production of films and other forms of artistic expression, and through social activism. Those women with fewer and more limited resources have demonstrated their objection through more difficult channels, such as recourse in the courts, running away from home, or more destructive means such as suicide, or self-immolation. In an effort to demonstrate the widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo, the Campaign will aim to highlight the many strategies used by women to challenge discrimination in the law.

7. Power in Plurality: The successful implementation of this campaign will also shed light on the fact that the demand for changes in the law is not only voiced by a specific group of women. In an effort to silence the voices of women calling for change, critics claim that demands for legal change are expressed by a particular group of women, who are out of touch with the realities of ordinary Iranian women. These critics wrongly claim that only elite and socially and economically advantaged women seek changes to laws, in direct opposition to the real needs and sensitivities of the masses of Iranian women. These claims are indeed incorrect, as discriminatory and unjust laws negatively impact the lives of all women, whether they are educated or not, live in upper class neighborhoods or poor communities, are married or single, live in rural areas or in cities, and so on. The Campaign will work to address some of these issues.

Timeline: This campaign will be ongoing. The first phase of the Campaign will focus on the collection of one million signatures demanding changes to discriminatory laws. It is a fair assessment to claim that the first phase of the Campaign will be carried out over one to two years, after which the campaign will move into its next set of phases focused on proposing new laws.

The Demands of Campaign are not in Contradiction to Islamic principles: The demand to reform and change discriminatory laws is not in contradiction to Islamic principles and is in line with Iran’s international commitments. Iran is a signatory to the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights and as such, is required to eliminate all forms of discrimination. Based on these commitments, the government of Iran needs to take specific action in reforming laws that promote discrimination.

On the other hand, these demands are in no way contradictory to the foundations of Islam. In fact, the changes being demanded by this campaign have been a point of contention and debate among Islamic jurists and scholars for some time. Ayatollah Sanei’i and Ayatollah Bojnourdi, to name a few, have for years called for a revision and reform of laws which are discriminatory against women, and have explicitly stated that such reforms are indeed not contradictory to the basic beliefs of Islam. A million signatures supporting changes to discriminatory laws, will demonstrate to decision-makers and the public at large that a large segment of the Iranian population is in support of revising discriminatory laws against women and that these demands are not limited to a small segment of society. This campaign will also demonstrate to law makers that Iranian women are serious in their demands to change current laws.

Implementation of the Campaign: This campaign will rely largely on face-to-face education and contact to achieve its goals. It will be implemented through the following strategies:

1. Collection of signatures through door-to-door contact and dialogue with individual women.

2. Collection of signatures in places and events in which women gather, and where dialogue and discussions with groups of women can be carried out. Public locations, such as parks, universities, production centers, factories, health centers, religious gatherings, sports centers, and public transportation centers (metro, buses, etc), where groups of women can be accessed, will be identified by members of the Campaign for the purpose of initiating dialogue about the law and collecting signatures in support of changes to discriminatory laws.

3. Implementation of seminars and conferences with the intent of raising the profile of the campaign, promoting dialogue, identifying supporters and collecting signatures.

4. Collection of signatures through the internet. The internet will be utilized to share information about the campaign, including legal educational materials, and those interested in supporting this effort can sign petitions related to the Campaign.

Volunteer Education: In order to successfully implement the Campaign a large number of volunteers will be recruited. Volunteers will receive legal education as well as information on the campaign. Several committees have been established within the campaign, including the “Education Committee” which is charged with implementing educational workshops for all volunteers. All those interested in cooperating with the campaign and collecting signatures will be provided with training on legal issues and laws; the aims and strategies of the campaign; face-to-face and door-to-door education techniques; public education and outreach techniques, etc. All volunteers interested in becoming involved in face-to-face education must participate in the workshops.

It should be noted, that volunteers don’t necessarily need to be experts in women’s legal issues. These workshops implemented by the “Education Committee” will provide an overview for the lay person with respect to legal rights of women.

Scope of Activities: The activities of this campaign will not be limited to Tehran, and women’s rights activists in the provinces are strongly encouraged to participate in this campaign. Groups and individuals based in the provinces can participate in workshops in Tehran and begin campaign activities in their provinces. Larger numbers of women and women’s rights groups interested in receiving training and/or participating in this campaign can request special workshops to be held in their respective provinces. Additionally, Iranians based outside Iran can submit signatures in support of the demands of the Campaign by mail or email.

Minimum Age for Signatures: Women and men signing on in support of the demands of the Campaign must be at least 18 years of age. Signatures will be collected in special forms developed for this purpose, and will also be published on the web.

Support for the Campaign: Participation in this campaign is purely voluntary. Volunteers are asked to support the Campaign through a contribution of 5,000 tomans (roughly 6 USD). These funds will be the major source of support for the activities of the campaign. In order to create change, women have often had to rely on their own limited resources, financial or other, such as time and energy. Women have always managed to rely on their capacities and their beliefs to create change. The success of this campaign, too, will benefit from women’s immense commitment.

Contact Information: Those interested in supporting or joining this effort should feel free to contact us, through the following means:

• Web address: www.we-change.org • Email address: forequality@gmail.com • Address: Iran – Tehran - P.O. Box: 14335-851