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DemocracyAlerts

From time to time, the World Movement for Democracy issues alerts concerning participants and other colleagues who are, or may be, facing personal danger due to their work on behalf of democracy and for whom a vigorous response from around the world may be critical.

To see previous alerts go to www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/democracyAlerts.html.

(July 27, 2007)

Alert: Iranian Activists Arrested

The Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP) recently issued an alert for Amir Yaghoub Ali and Bahareh Hedayat, two activists in the Iranian "One Million Signatures" Campaign who have been arrested. Amir Yaghoub Ali, 20, one of a growing number of young men involved in the “One Million Signatures” campaign, which demands an end to discriminatory laws against women, was arrested on July 11 while collecting signatures at Andisheh Park in Tehran. He is the 13th campaign activist to be arrested. After five days in detention, he was transferred to section 209 of Evin Prison, which is administered by the Ministry of Intelligence. He has been in Evin since then, celebrating his 20th birthday in solitary confinement.

Bahareh Hedayat, 24, was arrested on July 9 at Amir Kabir University in Tehran and is also being held at Evin Prison. Bahareh was arrested while peacefully participating in a sit-in to protest the arrest of fellow students. She could face harsh treatments especially because she was convicted on charges of acting against "national security" earlier this year. A member of the “One Million Signatures” campaign and one of the founders of a women’s commission in Tahkim Vahdat, a prominent student organization in Iran, she received a two-year suspended prison sentence for her participation in the June 12, 2006 peaceful women’s rally in Tehran which ended in police violence and the detention of more than 70 people.

For more information, go to: www.learningpartnership.org/advocacy/alerts/iranwomenarrests0307

For previous World Movement alerts, go to: www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/apr2007.html