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Women's Rights Activist Detained In Tehran


An Iranian women's rights activist, Negin Sheykholeslami, has been detained in Tehran.

The reason for her arrest on October 4 and the charges against her are not clear.

According to unconfirmed reports, she is being held in Section 209 of Tehran's notorious Evin Prison. But one of her relatives tells RFE/RL's Radio Farda that her family have received no word on her whereabouts.

Sheykholeslami is one of the founders of the Azar Mehr Cultural Center, a nongovernmental organization based in Iran's Kurdistan Province that is active in women's rights issues. She is also a member of the One Million Signatures campaign that aims at gathering public support against discriminatory laws.

Sheykholeslami, who has been detained twice in the past, recently published a statement warning against female circumcision in Iran's Kurdistan.

(by Golnaz Esfandiari, editorial director of Radio Farda)

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"Watchdog" is a blog with a singular mission -- to monitor the latest developments concerning human rights, civil society, and press freedom. We'll pay particular attention to reports concerning countries in RFE/RL's broadcast region.

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