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August 29, 2006
Iran: Islamist Regime Forces Women To Cover Up
In May we wrote that Gholam Hossein Elham, a spokesman for Iran's Islamist government, had stated that the issue of making women wear appropriate Islamic dress would be achieved through "cultural work and not the use of force."
Today's Telegraph reports that in Tehran, Iran's capital, such "cultural" measures have been abandoned in favour of legal enforcement. So far, during this month, a total of 64,000 women have been forced to cover their hair and wear long overcoats in public, despite the sweltering temperatures of late summer.
According to Mohammad Reza Alipour of Tehran's police, 63,963 women have been issued with official warnings about their dress being "un-Islamic", with some of these forced to sign pledges to affirm they will "dress properly".
Human Rights Watch's Hadi Ghaemi states that the current trend of forcing women into shrouding garb is something not seen for a decade, and is part of a drive under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to impose Islamic codes.
Ghaemi states that how a person is treated under these rules depends on their status: "The person could end up in jail depending on their relationship with the authorities."
In addition to imposing strict "Islamic" dress upon women, other previously rulings are now being enforced where satellite dishes are being confiscated from private apartment blocks.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 29, 2006 4:12 PM
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