http://UN Rewards Iranian Atrocities by Judith Bergman
In 2012, [Nasrin Sotoudeh] received the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for her work, which included representing dissidents arrested during mass protests in 2009, an effort for which she previously served three years in prison. She has also represented convicts on death row for offenses committed as minors. She is perhaps most famous for her defense of women’s rights, including the defense of several women who protested against wearing the headscarf, or hijab….
There seems to be little hope for the political prisoners of Iran today. Even despite a global outcry, the young wrestler Navid Afkari was executed on September 12 by the Iranian regime. US President Donald J. Trump had also appealed to Iran to let him live: the wrestler’s “sole act,” he said, “was an anti-government demonstration on the streets”
Meanwhile, the international community rewarded Iran. On August 14, the UN Security Council voted against a US resolution to extend the 13-year arms embargo against Iran indefinitely. Instead, the embargo will expire in mid-October, allowing Iran to buy and sell conventional weapons without UN restrictions. Perhaps it is time for the US to defund the UN, rather than bankroll and be complicit in these crimes against humanity.
In March 2019, Iranian human rights activist and lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. Last month, she was committed to a hospital after more than 40 days on a hunger strike. She was held at a hospital for a few days, heavily guarded by Iranian security, then returned, despite a serious heart condition, to notorious Evin Prison, where she is serving her 38-year sentence. As she began her hunger strike, Sotoudeh wrote in a letter from Evin prison:
“In the midst of the coronavirus crisis engulfing Iran and the world, the situation facing political prisoners has become so difficult that their continued incarceration under these tyrannical conditions has become impossible.
“Political [activists] have been accused of unbelievable acts: espionage, corruption on earth, undermining national security, prostitution… which can keep them behind bars for up to 10 years or even lead to execution.