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TIME MAGAZINE HAS named the women of Iran as their 2022 “Heroes of the Year” and the international community has rightly recognised the bravery and heroism of all Iranians, especially women, who are publicly calling for equality and justice for all.
Amongst these heroes are two such women – Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi.
Fariba, aged 60, and Mahvash, aged 69, have consistently upheld and promoted the equality of women and men, called for justice and truth for all and have paid a heavy price for upholding these principles. Both women were arrested on 31 July at the start of a fresh crackdown against Iran’s Bahá’ís and have recently been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Iran leaders’ shame
The Bahá’ís in Iran are all too familiar with persecution, suffering, arbitrary imprisonment, denial of higher education, hate propaganda, executions and daily harassment for the last 43 years. Thousands of Bahá’ís have suffered and continue to suffer from this ill-treatment and it is with heavy hearts that they now see this suffering extended far and wide within Iran.
Mahvash and Fariba both previously served 10 year prison sentences after they were arrested in 2008 as members of an informal group that tended to the basic pastoral needs of the Bahá’í community with the full knowledge of the Iranian government.
All members of this group, which included five men and two women, served 10 years in prison. Fariba and Mahvash were accused at that time of disturbing national security by directing the “illegal” and “deviant” Bahá’í “sect” – charges that were never supported by any proof.
Tending to the basic pastoral needs of their co-religionists is not akin to “directing” an organisation; nor, crucially, has there ever been any proof to support the unsubstantiated accusation that these women were attacking national security. The lawyer for Fariba and Mahvash in 2008, Nobel laureate Dr Shirin Ebadi, said at the time that there was not even a “shred of evidence” for the accusations.
Prison poems
Mahvash Sabet rose to international prominence after a volume of poems she had written in prison was published in English under the title Prison Poems and she was recognised by PEN International in 2017 when Michael Longley nominated her as an International Writer of Courage.
Both Mahvash and Fariba have also been adopted as human rights defenders by Frontline Defenders for their stance on the freedom of religion and belief and the right to education for all.
Several other prominent Iranian women were jailed at the same time as Mahvash and Fariba. Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is also back in prison for supporting the demands of women in Iran, made headlines when she visited Fariba during furloughs and after her release.
And Iranian American journalist Roxana Saberi, who shared a cell with Mahvash and Fariba, said that the two became sources of comfort and hope to their fellow inmates.
Mahvash and Fariba’s latest jail sentences were handed down after a one-hour trial on 21 November, almost four months after their arrest. Judge Iman Afshari, presiding over the Revolutionary Court’s Branch 26 in Tehran, rebuked the two women for “not having learned their lesson” from their previous imprisonment.
The proceedings lasted but one hour and were totally devoid of any semblance of due process. And then, at the end of this sham trial, the judge consigned both women to a further 10 year’s incarceration. This sentence makes an absolute mockery of the Iranian judicial system where judges preside as prosecutor, judge and jury.
In 2013, while Mahvash and Fariba were previously imprisoned, they were signatories to a letter to then President of Iran, Dr Hassan Rouhani, in answer to his public call for everyone to participate in a discourse about the rights and responsibilities of all Iranian citizens. In this letter, they foreshadowed the situation currently being witnessed in Iran.
As they said almost 10 years ago,“If no effective solutions are devised, under conditions where individual rights can be trampled upon so arbitrarily, who can be certain that the fate that has befallen us today will not befall him tomorrow.”
Predicted crackdowns
What we see today in Iran unfortunately is the extension of the persecution against the Bahá’ís to the generality of Iranians. A government that oppresses one group will have no compunction in being unjust to others – and perhaps, in the end, unjust to all.
Whilst most of the world last week marked the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Iran made a mockery of its commitments to international human rights law with increasingly violent and repressive actions against its own citizens. As Iranians of every age and all walks of life call for social justice and equality, they have been met only with violence and repression, instead of efforts to engage everyone in a genuine conversation about the future of Iran.
People in Iran and around the world are profoundly distressed that these two Bahá’í’ women, who have both already lost a decade of their lives to prison for their beliefs, are once again imprisoned on the same ludicrous charges. Both are wives, mothers and grandmothers to families who have already been forced to endure their absence and can now look forward to another 10 years of this agony.
The Iranian government must revoke this sentence and free Mahvash and Fariba and all other prisoners of conscience. Indeed, it should dismantle its machinery of repression that systematically violates the human rights of its people.
Brendan McNamara lectures in the Study of Religions Department at UCC and is a member of the national administrative body for the Bahá’í Faith in Ireland.
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Stop throwing women’s sport down our throats. If we wanted to watch , we would. The reason why people don’t watch women’s sport in general compared to men’s is because men’s sport simply
Is better to watch and at a higher level. We all know women aren’t as fast, strong, skillful or aggressive as men. It’s the difference between watching the Ireland u14s and senior team. Different league and entertainment and let’s not cod ourselves thinking otherwise .
@Ciaran:
Ciarán keep your g string on. If you don’t want to watch it switch channels you sad little man.
@Ciaran: Men’s rugby is turning into a defence dominated dirge-fest. But in general your comment is sexist, ignorant and misogynistic.
@Ciaran: but what about foxy boxing?
@Ciaran: here’s how it goes Ciaran women pay the TV licence, women watch women’s sport, it’s called equality so Ciúnas please … oh and I’d report the person who forced you to watch to yhe Garda if I were you !!
@Ciaran: Relax lad no one is forcing you to do anything. If women’s sport upsets you that much why did you read the article?
@Me Me: classic modern society, I don’t like what someone else has said so I’ll call names .. what I said is factual , women are weaker, slower and less agile than men in general in our species and in most animals. Here, let me find a junior cert biology book so you can better understand, princess … “me me” seems a little bit self entitled …
@king kong: I didn’t read article .. nobody reads the articles here Einstein … people come here for the comments .. duh
@Sinead Cosgrave: women don’t watch women’s sport. Ask a woman on the street to name 4/5 female rugby players … see how many she gets.. then ask to make 4/5 male rugby players… and you wonder why women get less money in sport ? Rookies
@mark madigan: I don’t wear g strings .. sorry to ruin your fantasy fruitcake ..and I would bet easily that I’m bigger than you haha
@Ciaran: womens gaa was a lot more entertaining than the shite the men served up last year
@Ciaran: calm down there a lil bit C, its a report on a women’s international game, nothing more, nothing less. It wasn’t obligatory to read for you to read, or indeed vent your spleen on it.
Any of us that were lucky enough to have daughters who played sports cheered them on and supported them as much as we did with our sons.
It’s obvious you have a certain distain towards women’s sports, simple solution for ya, if it obviously antagonises you so much, don’t watch it, don’t read about it and above all dont……………… (fill in as appropriate.)
@mark madigan: Watching women’s Ruby is terrible . Simple
@Ciaran:
@Ciaran: I didn’t call anybody name. I said your COMMENT was sexist and misogynistic. Why? For saying that women are not as skillful or aggressive as men. And your comments are incorrect about most animals too. I would suggest you read beyond a JC text book. Try the biologist Lucy Cooke.
@Me Me: women aren’t as skill full or aggressive as men.. it’s a fact.. let’s have the Irish men v Irish women’s rugby and see what happens.. USA American womens soccer team lost to Dallas FC under 15 boys.. Serena Williams said she wouldn’t even be ranked in top 100 of men’s players… and she is the greatest women’s player of all time.
@Ciaran: I do
@Ciaran: Put a heavyweight boxer against a flyweight. Does that mean the heavyweight is more skullful?? More aggressive? No, just more powerful.
@Me Me: why do women not play with / against men in most sports ? Because it’s an unfair competition and they can’t compete directly , and that’s ok. We all know it even if you dont.. stop living in denial princess
@Ciaran: Compete separately because of disparity in size and strength.
Steady improvement over the past 2 six Nations. Really gutsy competitive performance compared to the previous beatings against this excellent French side .
Cracking game, highly entertaining, let’s stop slagging the ladies! Will be cheering you on in cork!
@John Morrissey: and I’m sure women couldn’t give a flying f…k what men think about their game. Great to see women’s sports and their supporters forging on
Look, there’s some improvements it must be said but the team still aren’t the complete package. Granted, France are probably the third best team in the world at women’s rugby, but there were so many errors from Ireland inside the French 22. Accuracy from them kicking tee was the difference between the two teams. The French fly-half was 5/5 while the Irish fly-half O’Brien was 0/4 and left 9 points out on the field. I am optimistic though because the team is in a much better place than 2 years ago when they finished bottom of the Six Nations and got beaten by France 53-3 and the victory against the All Blacks in the Autumn Internationals last year.
The place kicking was embarrassingly bad, and ultimately very costly.
@Brian I: totally agree, decision making wasn’t great either.
pathetic performance, lets stop with the codding
@qffaffaf affrafrfraf: yea, admittedly I didn’t see it,but a 27-15 scoreline kind of contradicts the headline.
@Deano74: they got the final try close to the end of the game, it was close up to the 70th minute
@Sinead Cosgrave: fair enough,I didn’t see it.
Ireland really good except for their kicking. That was the difference between the teams. You won’t win if you can’t kick any of your points and have to keep kicking to the corner cause you can’t convert penalties. The French kicker was able to convert everything so it can’t be the conditions.
Ireland go close ? What game were you watching?
@David craddock: did u watch it ?
Hardly close, 2 scores.
27-15 isn’t really close. Just another comprehensive defeat.
@John Moore: If Ireland could convert pointsot would have been level. Not comprehensive at all
Holy Gods! All that bashing, tumbling and ggggnasshing and trashing As a man, I wouldn’t even do that…but I’m a coward and a weakling. A shrinking violet, I tell you!
nobody cares
I wouldn’t like to come up against some of the women out there. Ok, maybe. Ok yes ; I wouldn’t say no to being fought over in the ruck … ahem … Very entertaining game !
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