Human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh freed!!

Ms. Nasrin Sotoudehis known for defending juveniles facing death penalty, prisoners of conscience,human rights activists and children victims of abuse, and for being a member ofthe Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC). She is also the co-recipient ofthe 2012 prestigious Sakharov human rights prize awarded by the EuropeanParliament.

Ms.Sotoudeh was arrested on September 4, 2010 and sentenced on January 9, 2011 to11 years of imprisonment for allegedly “acting against national security”,“propaganda against the system”, “collusion and gathering with the aim ofacting against national security” and “membership in an illegal organisation”.On September 14, 2011, her sentence was reduced to six years’ imprisonment and10 years’ ban on practising law. During her detention, Ms. Sotoudeh was held for long periods in solitary confinement anddenied contact with her family and lawyer. She repeatedly went on hungerstrike to protest her prison conditions andviolations of due process. Since her arrest, the Observatory had constantlycalled for the release of Ms. Sotoudeh, whose detention was solely aimed atsanctioning her human rights activities, and had referred the case to theUnited Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for a decision on thatissue.

Accordingto the information received, on September 17, several other prisoners ofconscience were also released, including Ms. Mahboubeh Karami, humanrights activist and member of the One Million Signatures Campaign that seeksfor the end of discrimination against women in Iran, and Ms. JilaKaramzadeh-Makvandi, supporter of the Mourning Mothers of Laleh Park. Thereare also as yet unconfirmed reports about the release of Messrs. IssaSaharkhiz, a journalist and founding member of the Iranian Association forthe Defence of Freedom of Press, and Ahmad Zeidabadi, also a journalistand Secretary General of ADVAR TAHKIM.

“Iam happy to learn about the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has beenarbitrarily detained over the past three years in particularly harshconditions. I hope her release sends a positive signal towards ending theharassment of all human rights defenders and political prisoners in thecountry,” FIDH President Karim Lahidji said today.

“Although we welcome the release of NasrinSotoudeh and several other political prisoners, Iranian President HassanRouhani should now continue to take concrete steps towards ending systematichuman rights abuses in his country, in particular when he addresses next weekthe United Nations General Assembly’s 68th session in New York”,OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock urged today.

The Observatory calls upon the Iranian authorities to immediately andunconditionally release all human rights lawyers and defenders currentlydetained in Iran in relation to their human rights activities, to cooperatewith UN human rights mechanisms - including by allowingthe UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran and other UN SpecialProcedures to visit the country - and to fullyconform with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human RightsDefenders.