For more than a month, we have been hearing news of uprising, multiplying and extending from Tunisia to Egypt, from Algeria to Yemen, from Libya to Bahrein. What we're seeing are enormous popular demonstrations againsgt despotic and corrupt regimes. Women and men, young and old are calling for bread and freedom, dignity and justice, social equality and democratic participation. .
As Women in Black against war, we feel the drama of the bloody repression that is causing hundreds of victims in these countries. Violent powers are waging a war against unarmed people.
The Iranian people, too, after thirty years of difficult life under the repression of the theocratic islamic government, are calling for democracy with the pacific action of the Green Movement. The response of the government has been bullets, prison, torture, and death sentences.
The recent terrible increase in death sentences and the establishment of unfair tribunals are, every day, causing the death of innumerable political prisoners. Based on reports coming out of Iran, from 1st to the 27th January 2011 106 executions have been carried out, that is, an average of 20 executions a week. Many more are awaiting execution.
For many months, a group of courageous mothers have been protesting, calling for the abolition of the death sentence, the freeing of political prisoners, punishment of those responsible for crimes committed in the last 31 years. The mothers meet every week in Laleh Park, in Teheran. (http://www.madaraneparklale.org/p/about-us.html). They are mothers in mourning - mothers of the martyrs of the last 32 years. They refuse to close their eyes to the loss of their children and demand the punishment of those who ordered and those who carried out mass executions, executions of individuals, torture and attacks on student residences since the 80s. In response, the regime has set its sights on them, detaining and arresting women to stifle their demands for justice.
The Italian network of Women in Black has known and supported this struggle for some time. On February 25, together with Amnesty International, we particpated in a press conference held at the International Women's House in Rome with Luisa Morgantini, Sabri Najafi and Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel peace prize laureate - women how have always fought for human rights despite the risks that this brings.
Together with the Mothers of Laleh Park, we call for:
- The freeing of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
- An end to the executions which in January and the first weeks of February alone have taken the lives of more than 100 people.
- The abolition of the death sentence.
We support the non-violent struggle of the mothers of Laleh Park and of the Iranian civil society. We will give voice to these women and make known their situation and their courage which is completely ignored by the media
