05/27/2011
GVF — An independent watchdog that advocates freedom and democracy around the globe, has expressed solidarity and support for Iranian political prisoners Nasrin Sotoudeh and Abdollah Momeni, who will be celebrating their birthdays on Monday and Tuesday respectively, in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.
“Abdollah Momeni and Nasrin Sotoudeh, who should be spending their birthdays at home with their families, are instead held in terrible conditions, denied family visits, and undergoing abuse in Iran’s Evin prison. Their imprisonment and mistreatment by the Iranian authorities are gross violations of international human rights standards,” said Paula Schriefer, director of advocacy at Freedom House. “Freedom House calls for their immediate release as well as the release of other political prisoners suffering in Iranian prisons.”
Abdollah Momeni, a leading student activist and head of the Alumni Association of Iran (Tahkime Vahdat), was arrested days at presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi’s campaign headquarters just days after the rigged presidential election on 12 June 2009.
While in prison, he was held incommunicado by the Iranian authorities for 35 days, his whereabouts unknown. In September 2010, Momeni wrote a letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei detailing the tortures he had faced during his imprisonment.
Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh will also have to celebrate her birthday in Evin prison next week. After her arrest in September 2010 and a show trial in January, Nasrin received an 11-year jail-term and a twenty-year ban on practicing law and travelling abroad.
In addition to being denied the right to see her two young children. Sotoudeh’s husband has also been harassed by the authorities and briefly imprisoned for supporting her.
“Both Abdollah Momeni and Nasrin Sotoudeh have undergone severe abuse by the Iranian authorities, including interrogation under duress, attempts to force confessions, solitary confinement, and the denial of family visitation rights and legal representation,” Freedom house said on Friday. “Their imprisonment is part of a broader campaign by the Iranian regime to silence peaceful human rights activists and deny Iranians basic human rights.”
Iran is ranked Not Free in Freedom in the World 2011, Freedom House’s survey of political rights and civil liberties, and Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2011.