Iran has detained an Iranian Canadian professor, and her family doesn’t know why
Iran has detained an Iranian Canadian professor, and her family doesn’t know why – Homa Hoodfar, an anthropological professor at Concordia …
An Iranian Canadian academic who conducts research on gender issues in the Middle East has been arrested without formal charges and sent to the notorious Evin Prison, her family said Thursday.
Homa Hoodfar, an anthropological professor at Concordia University in Montreal, was arrested Monday after months of repeated questioning and interrogations, her niece Amanda Ghahremani told WorldViews.
The 65-year-old’s research and academic work are focused on “improving the lives of women across the Middle East,” and her family speculates that her arrest is a misunderstanding. “She is not an activist or political in any way,” her niece said. “Hoodfar’s work is balanced, and she has given credit to the Iranian government.”
So far, Iranian authorities have denied her lawyer visitation rights or access to her files. Her family is becoming increasingly alarmed because she suffers from a rare neurological disease, and authorities have refused to allow Hoodfar’s relatives and lawyer to give her prescription medication, according to the family’s statement. A Facebook page created less than one day ago urging Hoodfar’s release has already gathered 1,000 “likes.”
Hoodfar traveled to Iran in February, and although her visit was primarily for personal reasons, her trip happened to coincide with the country’s parliamentary elections, during which a record number of women won seats in parliament.
Shortly before Hoodfar was scheduled to leave the country in March, members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards entered her home, took her belongings and summoned her to Evin prison for interrogation.
Ghahremani said they interrogated her aunt for five days and that although she was released each night, the interrogations lasted nine hours each day.”It took a psychological toll on her,” she said.
Hoodfar’s family said in the statement that her passport and papers were confiscated during the raid and she was banned from leaving the country.
Although Canada has not had an embassy in Iran since 2012, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion told the Associated Press that “we will do everything we can [by] working with the like-minded countries that are in Iran.”
Iran Briefing | News Press Focus on Human Rights Violation by IRGC, Iran Human Rights