Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs calls on Iran to release women’s rights activists

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre has called on Iran to release all of the women’s rights activists arrested on Sunday. “Their imprisonment violates Iranian women’s right to freedom of expression,” said Mr Støre.

Thirty-three women’s rights activists were arrested on 4 March while participating in a peaceful solidarity demonstration outside the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Thirty women have been released, but three of Iran’s key women’s rights activists remain in custody. The detained women have been key figures in, among other things, the fight against stoning in Iran.

“I call on the Iranian authorities to release these women immediately. Their imprisonment violates Iranian women’s right to freedom of expression and to express their views through peaceful demonstrations,” said Mr Støre.

In recent years, Iranian security police have broken up all attempts to mark International Women’s Day in parks and public places.

The demonstration in which the women were participating was legal under the Iranian Constitution. Iran has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides that states have a duty to respect and protect freedom of expression and the right of assembly for all inhabitants irrespective of gender, ethnicity or any other factor. Iran is therefore being urged to respect the rights of Iranian women to demonstrate peacefully and to exercise their freedom of expression.

Mr Støre is also calling on Iran to ratify and respect the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.