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<h1 class="title" style="line-height: 36px;">Amnesty
International calls for immediate and unconditional
release of Dr. Homa Hoodfar</h1>
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<div class="field-item even"><a
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href="http://www.amnesty.ca/category/media-types/news">NEWS</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span
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bold; margin-left: 10px;">JUNE 09, 2016</span></div>
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<p style="margin: 20px 0px; line-height:
24px;"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.amnesty.ca/news/amnesty-international-calls-immediate-and-unconditional-release-dr-homa-hoodfar">http://www.amnesty.ca/news/amnesty-international-calls-immediate-and-unconditional-release-dr-homa-hoodfar</a></p>
<p style="margin: 20px 0px; line-height:
24px;">Canadian-Iranian citizen Dr. Homa
Hoodfar, who was arrested in Iran on June
6 in relation to her peaceful professional
work, must be immediately and
unconditionally released. Amnesty
International considers her to be a
prisoner of conscience. The organization
calls on the Government of Canada to take
all possible diplomatic measures to ensure
her immediate release and safe return to
Canada.</p>
<p style="margin: 20px 0px; line-height:
24px;">“The arrest of respected and
accomplished scholar, Dr. Homa Hoodfar, is
the latest attempt by the Iranian
authorities at targeting individuals,
including academics, for the peaceful
exercise of their rights to freedom of
expression and association.” said Alex
Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty
International Canada. “It is deeply
troubling that someone whose research
focuses on addressing women’s inequality
can find herself arbitrarily arrested and
held, possibly in solitary confinement,
without access to a lawyer and her family.
At a time when Canada has signalled its
intention to restore relations with the
Iranian government, it is essential that
the Canadian government bring all possible
pressure to bear and exhaust all possible
avenues to gain her freedom.”</p>
<p style="margin: 20px 0px; line-height:
24px;">Dr. Homa Hoodfar, who also holds
Irish citizenship, is a professor of
anthropology at Concordia University in
Montreal. Her academic work includes
research related to development, family
law, refugees, women and electoral
politics and human rights. She was in Iran
visiting her family and conducting
historical and ethnographic research on
women's participation in elections since
1906. She was taken from her home by the
Revolutionary Guards on March 10 for
questioning, shortly before she had
planned to leave the country. The
authorities also searched her home and
seized her personal belongings including
her passport, phone, and computer. She
was subsequently released on bail but was
banned from leaving the country.</p>
<p style="margin: 20px 0px; line-height:
24px;">While out on bail, Dr. Homa Hoodfar
was repeatedly summoned and subjected to
interrogations by officials from the
Revolutionary Guards without a lawyer
present. Amnesty International understands
that Dr. Homa Hoodfar may be facing
national security related charges but has
not yet been formally charged. She is
currently held in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Amnesty International is deeply concerned
for her health and safety as she has a
neurological condition for which she
requires specialized medical care that she
may not receive in prison. </p>
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