Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Spring fashions in Iran

As summer temperatures rise, the police in Tehran start cracking down on "improperly dressed" women. The report is from al Jazeera.

Iran veil crackdown criticised

"Iran's latest crackdown on women who do not strictly observe rules on Islamic dress has found an unlikely critic in the head of its judiciary, press reports have said...

"Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who is appointed by the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned police against heavy-handed actions with women found to have broken the country's dress code... 'Tough measures on social problems will backfire and have counter-productive effects... we need to act against organised crime and thugs...'

"The arrest campaign - an annual pre-summer crackdown given greater prominence this year - is aimed primarily at women whose coats are seen as too tight, trousers excessively short or hijabs (headscarves) overly loose..."


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At 10:10 AM, Blogger Ken Wedding said...

Golnaz Esfandiari, writing on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty web site, summarizes reports from Iran and from Iranian emigres in the US about political repression in Iran.

Maybe the police activity in Iran is about more than women's clothing (as implied by the al Jazeera news report.

Iran: Crackdown Intensifies On Students, Activists, And Teachers

"Just in the past week, some 10 women's rights activists have been summoned to court. Four have been sentenced to prison... while others were charged with 'gathering and colluding to disturb the national security'...

"On April 2, the government detained five women involved in the campaign to gather one million signatures in an effort to change laws deemed discriminatory against women. And last month, police arrested over 30 women's rights activists who had gathered in front of a Tehran court to peacefully protest against the prosecution of five other activists.

"State pressure on student activists has also increased...

"Last week, 15 students at Mazandaran University were detained following protests of the sentences handed out by disciplinary committees to student activists at the university...

"Dozens of teachers have also been detained in recent weeks in connection with several demonstrations over low wages and poor working conditions...

"Amnesty International expressed concerned in an April 20 statement...

"On April 23, Iran's largest reformist student group... condemned the increased pressure on activists as an attempt to eliminate all critical voices..."

 

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