United Women of East Kurdistan (YJRK) condemns stoning law applicable by the Iranian regime

In a declaration the United Women of East Kurdistan (YJRK) strongly condemns stoning rules which are still applicable in Iran and the government has not taken a necessary step to repeal the law. The U.W.E.K has declared the stoning rule against women in Iran as a political concept needs to be explained through the internal and external factors influencing its existence in contemporary Iranian law and politics.

The United Women of Eastern Kurdistan (YJRK) has precisely stated that the Islamic regime’s “Anti-Women” policies aimed to restrict women’s success in all the social and political fields and legalised deprivation of women from having an access to their primary rights as human being. The Anti-women policies are not just limited to public fields rather the regime is systematically encouraging the patriarchal system with the aim to suppress women publicly and privately.

Islamic regime of Iran since its foundation has been enacting different anti-women rules on the grounds of the Sharia Law and the Islamic criteria’s of conduct “Code of Conduct”. As it is clear the regime is systematically planning to seed its anti-women policies within the society with the purpose to turn the society into a prison for the women. The regimes policies toward the women are the key cause of most of the social issue within the Iranian society. However, because of the lack of deep understanding of the regimes policies by the Iranian’s the situation is deteriorating on daily basis and heading toward a social explosion negatively. Therefore, it is possible to claim that the women’s rights and equality are one of the most difficult issues Iranian regime has been facing and countering since its emergence.

Islamic regime always has tried willingly to avoid key issues, such as women’s situation within the society and within the family and intentionally publicised the secondary issues such as nuclear weapon and national security. In addition to that, the regime used the national security as a primary justification to oppress and annihilate the women’s voice internally and internationally.

Daily social pressures faced by women in Iran have increased the suicide phenomena among them. Instead of adopting policies to resolve the social issues dominating women’s daily life, a regime stoning law and its anti-women policies rather encouraging them to commit suicide as some of the women’s stated suicide is better than being stoned by the regime.

Public stoning and hanging by the regime is aimed to enslave and discourage women from demanding their own basic rights as human. However, despite the regime’s savage and barbaric acts against women, the Iranian women’s still standing and determined to fight for their rights and freedom of the Iranian people side by side with the Iranian men.

Islamic regime on Crossroad: Accepting or rejecting women’s right.

The United Women of the Eastern Kurdistan have continued by stating that the Islamic regime has to adopt one of the two options; either the Islamic regime has to adopt the principles of democracy or it will fall such as the rest of the undemocratic systems in the world. However, it is highly unlikely to assume that the current political and legal structure of the regime will permit the democratization of the system and the system cannot be democratised while it is dominated by patriarchal and anti-women rules. United Women of Eastern Kurdistan stated that next presidential election is an opportunity for the regime to modify its system and the system would not be changed without foundational alternation in the structure.

However, instead of taking necessary steps toward democratization of the foundational structure of the system, the Islamic regime and the guardian council are proposing to re-implement the stoning law actively after decades of uninterrupted struggle by the women and Iranian ethnic minorities to remove such a savage rules from the constitution. Since the last 6 years judicial branch and Islamic General Assembly were considering the removal of the stoning rules, however, the Guardian Council blocked the removal of the rules. It is not hidden to the Iranian people and particularly to the Iranian women that the Guardian Council had played a key role in prevention of women to participate in social, political and economic fields. Disqualification of women to candidate themselves in next presidential election and re-implementation of the stoning rules by the Guardian Council is sign of regimes discriminatory attitudes toward women.

The rise of political awareness in the Middle East and Kurdistan has changed rule of women. As we see, the rise of awareness among the women has encouraged them to start uninterrupted struggle against the oppressors and demand equality, particularly in Iran. Now a day, as a result of the regime’s savage policies toward women, there is huge gap between the regime and the Iranian women which ultimately compels regime to take active steps toward the democratization or it will face the destiny of the dictator regimes in the region.

Promoting the campaign through the rise of awareness:

The United Women of Eastern Kurdistan (YJRK) has demanded all the Iranian women particularly Kurdish women in Eastern Kurdistan to join the struggle against the system. Self-marginalization and being passive in the struggle will not result in the democratization of the system neither current system nor the future systems. Therefore, in order to remove the stoning rules and achieve women’s right it is necessary and important for the women to participate in all the democratic campaigns. As a matter of necessity and facts the Iranian and Eastern Kurdistan women need to unite in their campaigns. Together they could achieve remarkable and historical achievements, as far as they take into account reasonably all the social and legal modifications within the system.

YJRK demanding all Iranian women, Feminist schools and organizations, human rights advocate, women’s rights activists to actively participate in the democratizations process by uniting in their campaigns.

United Women of East Kurdistan (YJRK)
Translated by: Rojhelat.info