The leading international human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, has issued a statement calling for the suspension of the prison sentence issued in the case of Delaram Ali, who was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison by an appeals court, for her participation in a peaceful protest objecting to legal discrimination against women in June 2006. The statement also objected to the arrest of Ronak Safarzadeh, and Hana Abdi, two members of the One Million Signatures Campaign in Kurdistan. Both are women’s rights activists and active in Azar Mehr NGO in Sanandaj. The statement also criticized pressures on student activists and called on the Iranian government to amend or abolish criminal penalties for the expression of free speech.

To read the full statement visit HRW’s site.