National Education Union National Education Union NUT Section Hamilton House Hamilton House Mabledon Place Mabledon Place London WC1H 9BD London WC1H 9BD T 0345 811 8111 neu.org.uk Joint General Secretary Kevin Courtney Joint General Secretaries Dr Mary Bousted BA (Hons) MA PhD Kevin Courtney Mr Hamid Baeidinejad Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran 6 Prince's Gate LONDON SW7 1PT Email: [email protected] 23 March 2021 Dear Ambassador, Campaign for the Release of Women Political Prisoners in Iran As the joint general secretaries of the National Education Union (UK), we write this letter to express our deep concern about the treatment of women political prisoners in Iran. We are particularly concerned about the harassment, arrest and imprisonment of women for defending human rights. These include the prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, whose detention has been described as arbitrary, unlawful and disproportionate by UN experts; Marzieh Amiri, a journalist who was detained after attending an international workers’ day rally in Tehran; Niloufar Bayani, who is serving a 10-year sentence after an unfair trial, for her conservation work; and Atena Daemi, who is currently incarcerated for condemning the execution of political prisoners, after serving a five year sentence in connection to her advocacy work on the rights of children. Many other women have been arrested and imprisoned for campaigning for gender equality. On 2 March 2021 eight political prisoners in the women’s ward of Evin Prison spoke of their concern at the total lack of any attention to the health and safety of the inmates. In his recent report to the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran described the conditions in prisons as overcrowded and unhygienic, and highlighted the denial of access to adequate and prompt medical treatment, which is of particular concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also expressed deep concern at the high use of the death penalty, particularly against protestors. We request that you urge the government of Iran to protect women’s rights by taking immediate steps to: • End gender-based oppression in Iran; • End the violent suppression of women’s rights activists; • Release all political prisoners, including women human rights defenders, with immediate effect. Thank you for your consideration. Yours Sincerely, Mary Bousted Kevin Courtney Joint General Secretary Joint General Secretary cc: Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP [email protected] .