EACH CHRISTMAS, AMNESTY International runs a letter-writing marathon which aims to highlight cases of prisoners of conscience and at-risk people across the world.
Last year, more than 1.3 million letters, emails and faxes were sent from 75 different countries to plead with governments and regimes to release and protect these vulnerable people. Yesterday, today and tomorrow, TheJournal.ie is bringing you three of the 12 cases being highlighted this year as part of Write for Rights 2012.
Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. She was the Executive Chairperson of the Centre for Human Rights Defenders in Tehran and heavily involved in helping the families of some of the thousands of political prisoners in Iran.
The Iranian authorities forcibly closed the centre in 2008, and several of its members have been harassed, arrested and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
Narges is the mother of young twins, Ali and Kiana. Her husband, a former political prisoner himself, has had to flee Iran to avoid arrest. Her most recent imprisonment began on 22 April 2012. In 2011, she was convicted of “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security” and for “spreading propaganda against the system” – charges connected with her human rights work. Narges has been banned from travelling abroad since 2009 when the Iranian authorities confiscated her passport.
Pre-existing health problems worsened when she began serving her sentence, and on 31 July 2012 she was granted temporary leave and hospitalised to obtain medical treatment, including for seizures and temporary loss of vision.
Supporters believe the damage to her health was a result of the psychological pressure brought to bear as a result of her arrest and imprisonment. They worry that if her health improves, she will simply be returned to prison where her condition will worsen again.
You can find out how to help Narges here or log on to amnesty.ie/shinealight for details of the other 11 cases.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say