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Dear

I strongly condemn the continued detention of Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, who were arbitrarily arrested along with thirty-one other women human rights defenders and journalists by members of the security police, during a peaceful protest in Tehran on 4 March 2007. The thirty- women who have been released have reported on the harsh conditions of detention in Evin prison.

The two women human rights defenders remain in solitary confinement in sector 209 of Evin prison, under temporary detention orders based on Article 33 of the Iranian Penal Code, which could be extended for one month. They have been not been given access to a lawyer, are being ill-treated in detention, and have been interrogated on a number of occasions without a lawyer being present. It is believed that they may have been interrogated while blindfolded at night time, so may be deprived from sleep. They have faced three separate accusations: “acting against national security”, “holding an illegal assembly”, and “confronting the security forces.” The remaining two charges have not been disclosed to the lawyers of the women.

It is understood that Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh has being held incommunicado since her arrest, without any access to her family. Both women have been denied access to medical care and the conditions of their detention is worsening their medical conditions. Shadi Sadr suffers from a chronic stomach ulcer, and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh suffers from arthritis and migraine headaches. They are both forced to sleep on the floor, with only one blanket, so are deprived of warmth. There is no toilet in their cells.

Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh was detained for a month in November 2004. Shadi Sadr, who was her lawyer at the time, was harassed and threatened by the District Attorney’s Office in Tehran a number of times. Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh is a prominent human rights defender, she is the editor of Farzaneh Quarterly, a bilingual journal on women’s studies that has been published in Iran since 1993. She is the founder and director of the Iranian NGO training centre. She was the founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Network of Women’s NGOs in Iran. She is also one of the founders of the “Stop Stoning Forever Campaign”. She was arrested and detained in solitary confinement in November 2005 and was threatened of being arrested a second time in 2005

Shadi Sadr is a prominent human rights defender, lawyer and journalist in Iran. She is the director of Raahi, a legal centre for women. She is the founder of the website www.womeniniran.net. She is the co-founder of website www.meydaan.org, which is a website devoted to campaigns to end discrimination against women. She co-organised the “Stop Stoning Forever Campaign” in 2006. She is also the co-founder of Zanan-e Iran (Women of Iran).

I condemn the continued detention of Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh by the Iranian judiciary and I call on the Iranian authorities to:

1. Grant the immediate and unconditional release of Shadi Sadr and Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh.

2. Take measures to guarantee their physical and psychological integrity.

3. Calling for both women to be granted immediate and regular access to their families, lawyers and to all necessary medical treatment, and thus immediately remove Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh from solitary confinement.

Yours sincerely,

Yours sincerely Please send the appeal to the address (s) below: Masshoud Nohasi

Charge d’Affaires Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran 72 Mount Merrion Avenue Blackrock Co.Dublin Email:iranembassy@indigo.ie Fax:012134246 Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei

Office of the Supreme Leader (Wali-e Faqih) Pasteur Avenue Tehran Islamic Republic of Iran Email: istiftaa@wilayah.org Fax: +98 21 649 5880 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Office of the President Pasteur Avenue 13168-43311 Tehran Email:dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir Fax: +98 21 614451