[state] repression of dissent

Iran: Call for release of women's rights activist Maryam Bahreman

On Wednesday 11 May 2011, Iranian security forces arrested Maryam Bahreman, an Iranian women’s rights and civil society activist in Shiraz. Bahreman is a founding member, and was the general secretary, of the Association of Women of Pars (Anjome Zanan Pars), which was established in 2003. As a member of this association, she was active in many women's movement activities including the One Million Signature Campaign. Bahreman was also a participant at the 55th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) conference in New York in March of this year, where she was on a panel about women and ICT.

Libye: La femme qui accuse des soldats libyens de viol exfiltrée de Libye

Les images d'Imane el-Obeidi en pleur dans le hall de l'Hôtel Rixos à Tripoli avaient fait le tour du monde. Au mois de mars, la jeune avocate avait fait irruption dans cet hôtel en affirmant aux journalistes internationaux avoir été violée. Elle serait parvenue à quitter la Libye et aurait trouvé refuge à l'ambassade de France en Tunisie avant de se rendre au Qatar. information à prendre à précaution pour le moment mais tout laisse à croire qu'elle est dans un lieu sûr.

ليبيا: فرار إيمان العبيدي إلى تونس ومنها إلى قطر

نيويورك، الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية (CNN) - قال والد إيمان العبيدي، المرأة الليبية التي لفتت أنظار العالم بعدما اقتحمت بهو أحد الفنادق التي يشغلها صحفيون أجانب في طرابلس لتقول إن عناصر مسلحة ضمن كتائب العقيد معمر القذافي قامت باغتصابها، إن ابنته في دولة قطر وذلك بعد قليل من إعلانها النجاح في الفرار من ليبيا إلى تونس حرصاً على سلامتها.

Libya: Iman al-Obeidi 'raped by Gaddafi troops' flees to Tunisia

Iman al-Obeidi, the Libyan woman who claimed she was raped by Muammar Gaddafi's soldiers, has reportedly fled to Tunisia with the help of a defecting military officer. Obeidi, who drew worldwide attention when she burst into a Tripoli hotel to describe to foreign journalists her alleged ordeal at the hands of 15 men, has been given refuge in Tunis by western officials. Obeidi told CNN she had entered Tunisia with a refugee document and was considering her next move. She claimed her court case against the soldiers – who she said had seized her at a checkpoint near Tripoli – had barely progressed.

Iran: Justice for Iran Demands EU to Provide Supervising Mechanisms

Justice for Iran (JFI) commends the decision of the European Union (EU), as announced this month, to sanction 32 Iranian state officials complicit in or responsible for human rights abuses in Iran. The council decision published in the official Journal of the European Union obliges the 27 Member States of the EU to enforce travel bans and asset freezes against a list of judges, law enforcement officials and commanders in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. It also calls upon third States, outside the European Union, to adopt similar restrictive measures.

ليبيا : إطلاق سراح الناشطة المدافعة عن حقوق الإنسان وضحية الاغتصاب - إيمان العبيدي

منذ إصدار هذا البيان فقد تم إطلاق سراح السيدة إيمان العبيدي لكن من غير المعروف حاليا مكان تواجدها، ولا يزال هناك قلق بالغ على أمنها. 20/04/2011

تنضم شبكة التضامن الدولية "النساء في ظل قوانين المسلمين" (WLUML) إلى غيرها من منظمات حقوق الإنسان ومنظمات المجتمع المدني في دعوة السلطات الليبية إلى الإفراج فورا عن المحامية والمدافعه عن حقوق الإنسان، ايمان العبيدي ( 29 عام)، كما نطالب بأن يوضع أولئك الذين عرضوها إلى هذا الاعتداء الجنسي العنيف والسجن الخطأ . وأن يتم القيام بالمحاكمة بعد إجراء تحقيق شامل ومستقل.

Iran: Top PEN Prize to Honor Jailed Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

PEN American Center today named Nasrin Sotoudeh, a writer, lawyer, and leader of the women’s and children’s rights movement in Iran, as the recipient of its 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. Sotoudeh was arrested on September 4, 2010, and is now serving an 11-year sentence for her outspoken advocacy in defense of her clients arrested after the June 2009 presidential elections and interviews she gave to human rights organizations and media about their cases.

Le cri de détresse d’une blogueuse contre la répression au Bahreïn

“M. le président, je vous écris du Bahreïn, après avoir été victime d’une terrible injustice que je ne souhaiterais à personne d’autre au monde. Les forces de sécurité ont attaqué ma maison, enfoncé les portes à coups de massue et terrorisé ma famille. Sans aucun avertissement, sans aucun mandat d’arrêt et sans fournir aucune raison, des hommes armés et cagoulés ont attaqué mon père. Bien qu’ils n’aient rien dit, nous savons tous que le crime qui est reproché à mon père est d’être un militant des droits de l’homme”.

Syria: Women march to demand release of men held in security swoop

Hundreds of Syrian women have marched along the country's main coastal highway to demand the release men seized from their hometown, human rights activists said. Security forces, including secret police, stormed the town of Baida, going into houses and arresting hundreds of men after locals joined anti-government protests, according to the activists. Video showed a large crowd, most of them women, marching along the road leading to Turkey as they chanted: "We want the men of Baida."

Libya: Eman al-Obeidi in-person interview on CNN

On Wednesday, Eman Al-Obeidi, the woman who attempted to tell foreign journalists of her abuse and rape by regime forces but was taken away by security, appeared on camera in a CNN interview. The interview was arranged by Saadi Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, but transmission was held up for 18 hours by Libyan officials who wanted to review the tape. The video --- unaltered, according to CNN --- was finally transmitted yesterday afternoon.