Ronak Safazadeh, age 21, is an Iranian women's rights

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, and a member of the Azarmehr Association of Kurdish Women. She campaigned for women's rights by collecting signatures for the

One Million Signature Campaign One Million Signatures for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws (Persian: ), also known as Change for Equality, is a campaign by women in Iran to collect one million signatures in support of changing discriminatory laws against women in their co ...

, an effort to remove discrimination against women from the Iranian legal code. She was arrested on November 4, 2007, the day after she participated in a Children's Day celebration in which she collected signatures for the One Million Signature Campaign. The Iranian authorities have not allowed her family to visit her, or revealed the reason for her arrest. She is currently imprisoned in Sanandaj prison. On August 13, 2008, Safazadeh was charged at the Fourth Magistrate’s Branch of Sanandaj with “propaganda against national security” for leaking information about prison conditions at Sanandaj to the outside world. In April 2009, she was sentenced to six years in prison. More than 600 members of woman's organizations have petitioned for Safazadeh's release.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

has featured Safazadeh in their Greeting Cards Campaign, urging people to send greeting cards to her with messages of support.

References

1980s births Living people Iranian activists {{iran-bio-stub