By Mabel Pais

“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” – Mohandas K. Gandhi (The Mahatma)

“When politicians show hostility, we need to hear words of love and respect more than ever.” – Nasrin Sotoudeh

In A Letter to the UN, Imprisoned Iranian Writer Nasrin Sotoudeh, called “The Nelson Mandela of Iran” Protests Executions. She also reminds us of the late Congressman John Lewis. The young John Lewis led a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge (Selma, Alabama) into an army of state troopers and sheriff’s deputies wielding billy clubs, bullwhips and tear gas. Both Mandela and Lewis were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi.

In February 2021, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a distinguished human rights lawyer, writer, and PEN America’s (pen.org – American Association of Writers) ‘2011 Freedom to Write’ honoree, was currently jailed in Iran’s Qarchak prison.

In late 2020, she undertook a grueling 46-day hunger strike to protest the conditions facing political prisoners, including a heightened risk of contracting COVID-19. She was returned to Qarchak against the advice of medical professionals after a brief furlough in December, and continues to advocate for prisoners’ basic human rights.

Nasrin has asked PEN America to release and circulate the following letter on her behalf, to appeal to the international community to speak out regarding the current spate of prisoner executions in Iran.

To The Honorable Secretary-General of the United Nations,

“I write to you from Qarchak, one of Iran’s most notorious prisons, so that my voice might, in some way, boost the efforts of the United Nations. My hope is that, in the not too distant future, we can realize even some small part of the great dreams for humanity enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As you may be aware, in the past few months, many of our religious and ethnic minority compatriots in Iran have been executed amid the media’s silence. At dawn on Wednesday, February 17, Zahra Esmaeli, an inmate at our prison, and eight other prisoners were taken to the gallows and hanged.

You know well what predictable mistakes are often made in these numerous executions. As someone who has been closely involved in Zahra Esmaeili’s case, I am certain that she did not commit murder. I ask you, the international community, and human rights activists to please pay close attention to the issue of executions in Iranian society, especially that of religious, ethnic minorities, and women, and take necessary measures to prevent such extensive executions.

With deep respect,

Nasrin Sotoudeh

Qarchak Women’s Prison

February 2021

“Nasrin” is the documentary made by Jeff Kaufman, the director, producer and writer of the film.

 Nasrin Sotoudeh, an attorney and human rights activist often called “Iran’s Nelson Mandela,” is back in an overcrowded prison cell, separated from those she loves. Under arrest since 2018, she was granted a brief medical leave in January 2021, but it was abruptly canceled on Jan. 19, the same day the government froze her family’s bank accounts. That afternoon, her husband, Reza Khandan, drove her to Qarchak’s prison for women, accompanied by their daughter Mehraveh and son Nima.

Imagine what each of them was thinking and feeling during that hour-long drive — the dread and the heartbreak. Those are emotions felt by political prisoners and their loved ones all over the world. Repressive regimes use personal cruelty to punish their opponents. As a lawyer, she continually put herself at risk by defending religious minorities, children, journalists, artists, women, peaceful protesters and those facing the death penalty. She was arrested in June 2018, in part for defending women who challenged Iran’s mandatory hijab law by publicly removing their headscarves and waving them like flags.

Like Mandela, another inspiring figure who often cited Gandhi, Nasrin has shown that determined voices cannot be silenced, even behind prison walls. In December, she was honored with the 2020 Right Livelihood Award (widely known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”), and the American Bar Association’s Eleanor Roosevelt Prize for Global Human Rights Advancement (along with Anthony S. Fauci and Billie Jean King). The Iranian government’s response was to transfer Nasrin to the most unsanitary prison in the country. In a letter written after her arrest to the film’s director and producers, Jeff Kaufman and Marcia Ross, Nasrin said, “I’m sending you this letter from prison, but I’d rather talk of freedom. When politicians show hostility, we need to hear words of love and respect more than ever. I am so grateful for our collaboration. We lean on our friendship and walk toward each other.” “So, let me speak to you of my dreams, and of roads traveled and not yet traveled.”  Bryan Stevenson, founder/executive director of the ‘Equal Justice Initiative,’ filmed a video on behalf of Nasrin Sotoudeh

Watch it here youtu.be/5LZUyzFj9xA

IAAC Celebrates WHM

On Women’s International Day

 

With Phenomenal Women

Monday, March 8, 8 PM

Watch LIVE on facbook.com/iaac.us and youtube.com/user/IAACEvent

ABOUT BARKHA CARDOZ

Barkha Cardoz received her culinary training at The Institute of Hotel management in Mumbai, India and worked in the Development department at St. Peter’s Preparatory School in Jersey City, NJ. With her husband, the late chef Floyd Cardoz, she managed their Bombay Bread Bar in New York City from 2016 – 2019 and oversaw fundraising events for The Young Scientist Foundation, founded in 2011 with Floyd’s $110,000 Top Chef Masters win. Barkha is currently the Managing Member of Cardoz Legacy LLC, where she actively executes ongoing legacy projects including the FC +B&B Collaboration Masala spice line.

ABOUT CHEF SURBHI SAHNI

With two decades of professional culinary experience, chef Surbhi Sahni brings a fresh twist to modern Indian cuisine and confections. Before launching TAGMO, chef Surbhi served as the creative force behind three lauded New York City restaurants, Devi, Tulsi and, most recently, Saar Bistro in Midtown with chef Hemant Mathur. She is also the creative director and events director at Saar Catering.

ABOUT POOJA BAVISHI

Pooja Bavishi is the Founder and CEO of Malai, an artisanal ice cream company with flavors inspired by nostalgic, aromatic spices and South Asian ingredients, based in Brooklyn, New York. Pooja founded Malai when she discovered that the same spices of her childhood – ginger, rose petals, saffron, and cardamom – could be used to robustly flavor ice creams in a way that she had never tasted before. She notes that she “founded Malai because desserts bring people joy, and I wanted to be in the business of delivering happiness.”

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WORLD CHANNEL (WC) – A SHOWCASE OF FILMS BY, FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN

In celebration of Women’s History Month, World Channel (WC) will showcase films by & about women – leaders, mothers, activists, daughters, storytellers, sisters, filmmakers and friends.

WORLD Channel (WC) celebrates these groundbreaking women, well-known and a little less known, like Madam C.J. Walker, Sandy White Hawk, and Melody McCurtis whose works positively ripple through society. Throughout March, WC will share the stories of women who have defied traditional social standards for the opportunity of equality and equity. Watch #HerStories All Month and at worldchannel.org

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HERALD NATIVE WOMEN

Join Vision Maker Media for a month-long worldwide online streaming event “commUNITY: Herald Native Women” featuring films all produced and/or directed by Native women. The program portrays Native women in leadership, coming of age, and language revitalization stories suitable for the entire family.

 

The event is FREE and open to the public, but registration is required. Register at visionmakermedia.org.

 

International Women’s Day (IWD) is March 8th!

Let’s Celebrate the spirit of womanhood in each human being. In an enlightened society, each human experiences a balance of the masculine and feminine qualities within.

(Mabel Pais writes on Social Issues, The Arts and Entertainment, Spirituality, and Health & Wellness)