Eleven female political prisoners in Tehran’s Evin prison wrote a letter saying that exposing gender apartheid would help fight discrimination and oppression.
Political prisoner Golrokh Iraee shared the letter on her , Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahabube Rezai.
The letter reads: “March 8 is International Women’s Day, a reminder of a century of women’s struggle. This global day of solidarity aims to achieve gender equality and combat all forms of injustice, exploitation and legal, economic, political , cultural and social discrimination.”
The prisoners reflected on the status of women, particularly in the Middle East and in countries such as Iran and Afghanistan, saying: “We acknowledge that there is still a long way to go to achieve freedom and equality.”
Political and civil activists, trade unions, trade unions and critics of the Islamic Republic’s government send greetings to Iranian women on International Women’s Day while denouncing the government’s repression of women.
Earlier, in a message shared on her Instagram page, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nargis Mohammadi, who is imprisoned by the Islamic Republic, urged the UN Secretary-General to “criminalize gender apartheid” and Designates it as “one of the crimes against humanity”. February 1st.
In her address, she reflected on the decades-long “presence of Iranian women in the shadow of the Islamic Republic’s government,” claiming that the Islamic Republic “systematically and deliberately uses all government tools and powers, especially through legislation, to perpetuate the marginalization of women.” state”. and violated their human rights. “
Against this backdrop, a United Nations panel of experts recently highlighted the profound injustices experienced by women, particularly under governments such as the Taliban, and urged the world to recognize “gender apartheid” as a “crime against humanity.” The initiative, previously spearheaded by Mohammadi, called for a United Nations investigation.
The UN expert panel, which includes representatives from the United States, China, Mexico, Uganda and Serbia, stressed that recognition of gender apartheid as a crime is long overdue and that international law does not explicitly address this form of apartheid.
Karima Bennoun, a professor of international law at the University of Michigan, told VOA: “Gender segregation stems from the legal structure of racial segregation, highlighting the deep roots of gender discrimination in the government system itself.”
Experts have urged the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly to include gender apartheid in Article 2, which deals with the prevention of crimes against humanity and their punishment. One of the experts stressed that “gender apartheid is not just a theoretical or legal concept; it is a real danger and a tangible reality for millions of women and girls around the world.”
Last week, Bennon, an Algerian-American and former United Nations special rapporteur on cultural rights, delved into the legal issues of criminalizing gender apartheid in an interview with VOA.
She served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights from 2015 to 2021, and in 2023 she addressed the United Nations Security Council on gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
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