Global Feminist Daily News Wire
June-29-00

62 House Members Demand Release Of Jailed Iranian Woman

After being imprisoned and tortured in Iran for four years, the women's rights and human rights advocate Mahnaz Samadi was jailed in the U.S. for allegedly leading "coordinated attacks designed to liberate Iran." Ms. Samadi, who has not committed any crimes in the US and was granted political asylum in 1995, has been praised by House members and human rights organizations as a legitimate advocate of democratic reform in Iran. A bipartisan group of 62 House members protesting the Immigration and Naturalization Service's mistreatment of Ms. Samadi stated in a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, "Given the Iranian regime's record of crimes against humanity, it is the right of the Iranian people, including Ms. Samadi, to resist their repressive rulers."

July will mark three months of Ms. Samadi's detention by INS authorities. She is now waiting in solitary confinement for a hearing which will inevitably send her to certain death in Iran. According to a Boston Globe report, deportations by the State Department and INS more often target immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

Media Resources: The Boston Globe 26 June 2000 Associated Press, Wa

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