Prominent Iranian lawyer, human right activist and author, Mehrangiz Kar (مهرانگیز کار )who was jailed in April 2000 for her writings and speeches on women’s rights , has signed the petition to Stop Child Executions in Iran. Mrs’ Kar met Nazanin Afshin-Jam last week in New Jersey. 

Mehrangiz Kar is Recipient of many human rights awards such as: Annual Human Rights First Award, Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize (France) , Democracy Award of the National Endowment for Democracy (U.S.),  Hellman/Hammett Grant from Human Rights Watch.

Nazanin  Afshin-Jam and SCE Campaign thank Mrs. Kar’s for her support of the Stop Child Executions Campaign and petition.    

About Mehrangiz Kar:  On April 30, 2000, the Islamic Republic of Iran imprisoned Mehrangiz Kar and other activists and intellectuals such as Akbar Ganji because they had participated in a conference on the future of Iran held in Berlin, Germany. She was denied access to her lawyer and was not allowed to receive medicines during her nearly two months in solitary confinement. She was charged with “acting against the internal security of the state and disparaging the sacred order of the Islamic Republic.” Two charges were filed against her in the Islamic Revolutionary Court– acting against national security and disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran– and three additional charges in Iran’s Public Court– violating the observance of hejab, denying the Islamic instructions stated in the Qu’ran, and insulting Islam. 

On June 21, 2000 Mehrangiz Kar was freed on $60,000 bail. Having been diagnosed with breast cancer, Ms. Kar appealed to authorities to be allowed to seek medical care in Netherlands and United States. Denied this humanitarian relief, Ms. Kar underwent a mastectomy and a regimen of chemotherapy of Iran. Almost concurrent with her medical treatment, her case went to trial. In January 2001, the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Mehrangiz Kar to four year’s imprisonment which was considered completed in exchange for money. The three charges against her in Iran’s Public Court are still open, for which she may again be arrested upon her return.