arrested

Zeinab Peyqambarzadeh a human rights defender and leading member of the One Million Signatures Campaign was freed on 16 May 2007 after 9 days imprisonment in Evin prison and having paid a bail sum of 20, 000, 000 Iranian Toman  

Gégé Katana is a leading human rights defender working in Uvira, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. She is the president of Solidarite des Femmmes Activistes pour la Defense des Droits Humains, SOFAD (Solidarity Movement of Women Human Rights Activists) an organisation that works through a grassroots network of 625 women to research and campaign against sexual violence, and provide counselling and help to rape survivors. SOFAD also educates local communities on women and children’s rights, and lobbies the government to deliver justice and reform discriminatory laws.

Gégé Katana has worked with several non-governmental organisations including; IDEA/Afrique - Institut pour le developpement et l’education des adultes. She is a network member of the Global Fund for Women and Coordinator for the Synergie des Femmes Defenseurs des Droits de le l'Homme du Sud-Kivu en RDC (SYFEDH).  

Umida Niyazova, Uzbek journalist and human rights defender, was arrested on 22 January 2007 and taken to the pre-trial detention unit in the Uzbek city of Andijan. She was detained for four days before being handed over to the Office for Prosecution of Transport Offences in Tashkent on 26 January. On 21 December 2006, Niyazova's computer and passport were confiscated upon her arrival from Kyrgyzstan to the Tashkent airport in Uzbekistan. The customs officials said her computer contained illegal material. She was forced to flee Uzbekistan. Umida Niyazova turned to the UN in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) for protection. The Kyrgyz immigration services registered her as a person in need of protection. She was informed that all charges against her would be dropped on her return to Uzbekistan; however, she was arrested upon her arrival. The Office for Prosecution of Transport Offences in Uzbekistan initiated a criminal case against Niyazova for violation of articles 233 ("illegal border-crossing") and 246 ("illegal transportation of information material") of the criminal code. Umida Niyazova has worked for CJES since 2000 and with the Central Asian Internet magazine "Oasis" since 2005.  

Seven human rights defenders and fifty other participants in a peaceful protest marking World Water Day were violently arrested in New Delhi, on 22 March 2007.

The protestors were arrested at the Planning Commission Office where they had requested an appointment with the Deputy Chair of the Planning Commission. Members of the police and Rapid Action Force reportedly used excessive force to arrest the protestors, which resulted in the tearing of some of the female protestors' clothes. The protestors were then taken to the Parliament Police Station where they were told to sign blank arrest memos. All of the male protestors and only two of the female protestors were presented before the judicial magistrate that evening, and were remanded in custody until 5 April 2007. The women were then taken to Chanakyapuri Police Station before they were all transferred to Tihar jail 23 March.  

Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh y Nahid Keshavarz, defensoras de los derechos humanos, fueron arrestadas el 2 de abril pasado, cuando recolectaban firmas en apoyo de una petición para reformar las leyes iraníes que discriminan a la mujer.

Luego de negarse a firmar un acuerdo para poner fin a sus actividades en apoyo a los derechos de las mujeres, fueron acusadas de “accionar contra la seguridad nacional” y transferidas a la cárcel Evin.

Tanto Mahboubeh Hossein Zadeh como Nahid Keshavarz son miembros activos de la Campaña por el Millón de Firmas, que tiene como objetivo educar a las mujeres de Irán sobre sus derechos y promover la reforma de aquellas leyes que son discriminatorias. Otras tres miembros de la campaña, Sara Imanian, Homayoun Nami y Saiedeh Amin, también fueron arrestadas pero se las liberó al día siguiente.