15 grieving mothers arrested in Tehran

gathering of grieving mothers in Laleh Park in Tehran

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that 15 members of Grieving Mothers have been arrested in Tehran. Grieving Mothers is a group formed by the mothers of post-elections protesters who were killed in the events following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s allegedly fraudulent re-election.

Reformist media report that the mothers were arrested yesterday during a gathering in Tehran’s Laleh Park.

Grieving Mothers gather every Saturday in Laleh Park to demand the prosecution of the perpetrators of their children’s death. Mother of Neda Agha-Soltan as well as mother of Sohrab Aarabi belong to the group.

Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran condemned the arrest of the grieving mothers a “shameful” act whilst the “murderers of their children enjoy unlimited immunity.”

Accounts from Tehran indicate that families of the detained mothers have gathered in front of Vozara Detention Centre calling for the release of their kin. Some of the grieving mothers suffer from health complications.

The Campaign also reports that arrest of Hayedeh Tabesh, member of the One Million Signatures Campaign. Ms. Tabesh was arrested yesterday in Esfahan and according to her lawyer, her whereabouts are unknown.

Mehrnoush Etemadi, another women’s rights activist and member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, was also arrested two weeks ago. She has been visited once during this time by her family and indicated that she is “under pressure.”

The One Million Signatures Campaign is an organization of women with the objective of collecting one million signatures to change discriminatory laws against women. The group is active all across Iran where members directly contact people and speak to them one on one inviting them to add their signature to their document.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran urges the judiciary to cease these “illegal arrests and the assault on women’s rights activists and the grieving mothers.”