Nargess Mohammadi is risking her life to convince the security forces and the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who have imprisoned her unfairly for her human rights work, to speak with her children on the phone. Her children have had to leave Iran, along with their father, given their mother’s difficult circumstances that has naturally impacted their peace of mind and sense of safety.
International laws, as well as Iran’s own domestic laws, recognize prisoners’ rights to see and or contact their children. Even dangerous criminals, thieves and drug smugglers are to enjoy this right.
Siamak Pourzand (my husband who was a political prisoner in Iran and took his own life under house arrest in 2011), and his children, were deprived from contact for years. Despite our many efforts, the authorities did not even allow him to speak with his children on our own account. They could not speak to one another until he remained in prison, and could only resume contact via phone when he was under house arrest during the last few years of his life.
Regardless, not only Nargess Mohammadi is imprisoned without having committed a crime, she is also being deprived of her basic rights as a mother. She has gone on hunger strike in protest. Yet, the authorities have left her to suffer in a critical condition. They likely even hope that she does not survive her hunger strike so that they can say that she died as a result of her own decision to go on a hunger strike.
I demand that the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately grants Nargess Mohammadi her unconditional right to speak with her children. This is a simple request that is completely aligned with both international laws, the laws of the Islamic Republic, and more specifically with the laws governing prisons and prisoners in Iran.
This is not to mention that we have been demanding, time and time again, the unconditional and immediate release of Nargess Mohammadi whose imprisonment is unfair and unlawful. I urge you to spread the word.
Merhrangiz Kar: Why We Should Talk About #NargessMohammadi
