Iran: Further arrests of human rights defenders including Ms Jila Baniyaghoob, Mr Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee and Ms Shiva Nazar Ahara
Front Line has received new reports of further arrests in a clamp down on human rights defenders, in the aftermath of the controversial presidential election. Among the detained are Ms Jila Baniyaghoob, her husband Mr Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee and Ms Shiva Nazar Ahara.
Further Information
Jila Baniyaghoob is responsible for the news website “Association for Iranian Women” which focuses on women's rights, Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee has written various pro-reform publications and Shiva Nazar Ahara is a blogger and human rights activist.
On 18 June 2009, Front Line also issued an urgent appeal concerning the arrests of human rights lawyer Mr Abdolfattah Soltani and members of the Arbitrary Investigation Committee, Mr Alireza Tajik and Mr Kayvan Samimi.
On 20 June 2009, Jila Baniyaghoob and Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee were arrested at their home in Tehran by plain clothed intelligence ministry officials who searched their home and then took them to an as-yet unknown location. On 14 June 2009, Shiva Nazar Ahara was arrested in her Tehran home.
Jila Baniyaghoob has for many years been a campaigner for women's rights in Iran. On 12 June 2006, she was among 42 women and 28 men arrested for taking part in a women's rights gathering which took place at Haft Tir square in Tehran to raise awareness about gender discrimination in Iran.
The peaceful demonstration was violently disrupted by the authorities and the arrestees were charged with "participation in an illegal assembly”.
On 12 June 2008, she was among nine women briefly arrested for attending an event to commemorate the second anniversary of the 12 June 2006 demonstration.
On 6 September 2008, she appeared before the investigative branch of the Revolutionary Court and was charged with disruption of public order and refusal to obey police orders.
Front Line is deeply concerned by the targeting of human rights defenders in Iran, including Jila Baniyaghoob, Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee and Shiva Nazar Ahara, and believes that the arrests of the aforementioned human rights defenders are directly related to their peaceful and legitimate activities in defence of human rights.
This Urgent Appeal has now ended. No further action is requested at this point. Thank you for taking action on this case.
Front Line issues Urgent Appeals on behalf of human rights defenders at risk on a daily basis. These Appeals normally remain active on our web site for a period of up to six weeks, depending on the situation. After this time they will be archived. Front Line maintains a watching brief on all these cases but no further action is requested after the six weeks, unless there is a significant development in the case.
