Imprisoned Iranian activist and journalist Narges Mohammadi has clearly articulated what so many Iranian activists and human rights advocates are thinking: “10 women and 132 years of prison are not merely two numbers. They are parameters for analyzing a regime that claims Islamic mercy, human norms and divine commands, coupled with freedom and democracy

Narges Mohammadi posted this short message from Evin Prison: “On the 40th anniversary of the victory of the Iranian people’s revolution to achieve democracy, freedom and justice, it is necessary for the future ahead of us to review the government’s record.” She pointed out the great strides the women’s movement had made over the last 40 years, and urged people to scrutinize the Iranian regime’s repressive role in holding back women in legal, social, economic and cultural areas

But, in particular, what stands out in this message is Mohammadi’s reference to 25 female prisoners of conscience in just one of the many prisons in the Islamic Republic — the Women’s Ward at Evin Prison. She points out that at least 15 of these prisoners qualify for pardon and many of them who have been detained for a long time have been denied leaves of absence or visits

Apart from the figure Mohammadi reveals in her message, there are no accurate statistics about the number of female political prisoners in Iran. The Iranian judiciary and security establishment are both reluctant to be transparent about this figure, but many of them are known to the international public because they have been in the news or they have had their voices heard outside the prison

Below, IranWire provides a short review of some of the female prisoners of conscience currently held in Iranian jails

1. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian dual national who was arrested on April 3, 2016 as she was leaving the country with her daughter after a visit to her family. She was first imprisoned at Kerman Prison and was later transferred to the security ward at Evin Prison

At the time of her trip to Tehran, she was a project manager for the charity Thomson Reuters Foundation and had previously worked for BBC Media Action, an international development charity. In September 2016 Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison on vague national security charges in connection with her work at Media Action and Iranian authorities accused her of plotting the “soft overthrow” of the government of the Islamic Republic. In October 2017 it was reported that a new case against her could increase her prison sentence by 16 further years

In January 2019, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Narges Mohammadi went on a three-day hunger strike to protest against the denial of medical treatment. Prison doctors had determined that both prisoners urgently need medical care outside the prison, which they outlined in an open letter published on January 3. However, prison authorities have refused to transfer Mohammadi and Zaghari-Ratcliffe to outside facilities for treatment

More on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Iranian TV’s New Conspiracy Series, January 12, 2019

Iranian Prisoners’ Hunger Strike Is a Plea for Basic Rights, January 16, 2019

Nazanin on Temporary Release, August 23, 2018

No Release for Nazanin Until UK Pays Debt, July 23, 2018

“Nazanin’s Treatment is Torture”, February 14, 2018

Iranian State TV’s Smear Campaign Against Nazanin, November 9, 2017

Iran says it honors family values — so why are authorities holding a young mother hostage?, December 20, 2016

The Iranian Government Should be Ashamed of Taking My Wife and Daughter Hostage, September 17, 2016

2. Narges Mohammadi

Narges Mohammadi, human rights activist and vice president of the banned Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), was first arrested in 2010. In July 2011, she was found guilty of conspiracy against national security, illegal activities through her work with the DHRC and propaganda against the regime at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison. In March 2012, the appeals court reduced her sentence to six years

Authorities transferred Mohammadi from Evin Prison in Tehran to a prison in the provincial capital of Zanjan. But her health deteriorated further and eventually doctors concluded that she could not survive in prison. She was released in July 2012. However, on May 5, 2015, she was arrested again so that she could serve the rest of her sentence. On September 28, 2016, while in prison, Tehran’s Revolutionary Court of Appeals upheld an earlier verdict against Mohammadi that had sentenced her to a further 16 years in prison

Taghi Rahmani, Mohammadi’s husband, who has himself spent 14 years behind bars in Iran and now lives in Paris, told IranWire that the appeals court verdict was “revenge by the intelligence ministry against a human rights activist for her activities in defending human rights. It is revenge for the rally [she held] outside the parliament to protest against acid attacks, and for her support for women … The intelligence ministry is behind this

In January 2019, Narges Mohammadi and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe went on a three-day hunger strike to protest against denial of urgently-needed medical treatment and limitations on their contact with their children

More on Narges Mohammadi

Iranian Prisoners’ Hunger Strike Is a Plea for Basic Rights, January 16, 2019

Imprisoned Human Rights Lawyer Narges Mohammadi Hospitalized, August 15, 2018

Narges Mohammadi Awarded Sakharov Prize, April 16, 2018

Iran’s Judiciary is Slowly Murdering Prisoners of Conscience, November 10, 2017

"The Revenge of the Intelligence Ministry": Narges Mohammadi's 16-Year Sentence Upheld, September 28, 2016

The Price of Staying in Iran: Narges Mohammadi on Hunger Strike, June 29, 2016

50 Iranian Women you Should Know: Narges Mohammadi, August 27, 2015

3. Nasrin Sotoudeh

Nasrin Sotoudeh is well known to those who follow human rights in Iran. She has been indefatigable in defending victims of the Islamic Republic, and in combating its hostility toward human, minority and political rights. As a result, she has been repeatedly harassed and arrested. The most recent instance was her arrest over her defense of “Revolution Women” who protested against compulsory hijab laws by removing their headscarves in public places, placing the scarves on a stick and waving it in front of them

Sotoudeh was arrested on June 13, 2018  at her home after she took up the defense of Shaparak Shajarizadeh, one of these Revolution Women, following a complaint by the judge handling the case in the city of Kashan. The charges against her have not been officially declared but her lawyer reported that she had been arrested to serve a five-year sentence that had been handed down in 2016

Following this, according to her lawyer Payam Darafshan, she was charged with espionage. “In the prosecutor’s indictment, her charges were ‘propaganda against the regime’ and ‘insulting the Supreme Leader,’ but Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court has now charged her with espionage,” Darafshan told the media on August 15, 2018

In prison, the pressures on Sotoudeh continue. According to her husband Reza Khandan, she was denied prison visits when a small pair of scissors was found among her belongings. Khandan himself was arrested in early September 2018 and was not released until late December