Shirin Ebadi’s Message in Defence of " Mothers in Mourning"

Free spirited women of the world!

The dimensions of the disaster were more widespread than we thought; protesters of the election results came to the streets of Tehran and other cities to express their objection in a peaceful manner, and yet the only response they received were bullets , sticks and batons , and the ones who survived were later arrested.

State radio and TV first announced that 8 people were killed , and this figure was later raised to 11 ! But still , after more than 25 days, there are many missing whose names neither appear among those killed nor as ones who have been detained.

Mothers searched wherever they might find any clues about their lost children, but there were no answers and now when mothers gradually receive the bodies of their beloved , it becomes evident that the number of those killed are in fact much higher than what has been officially announced by the government of the Islamic Republic. Furthermore, families are being forbidden from talking about the date and the reason of their beloved’s death.

However, it’s impossible to deny the truth and to keep such a pain locked up in your heart for ever, and so the dimensions of the disaster are unfolding daily before the eyes of Iranian people.

Mothers who lost their children or whose loved ones are still in prison or missing, formed "The Iranian Mourning Mothers Committee"

Members of this committee - and other women who sympathize with them - gather dressed in black, every Saturday from 7 to 8 P.M. in local parks to silently express their grief.

While stating condolences to mothers who have lost their loved ones for the sake of liberty and democracy , and declaring sympathy with those who are still searching for their children , as well as expressing a deep sorrow for the fact that many Iranian youths continue to be kept in jail only because of their peaceful activities, I invite all freedom loving women of the world to gather in one of their local parks on every Saturday evening between 7 and 8 P.M. - wearing black clothes , in sympathy with Iranian mothers in mourning and to thus help amplify their voices so that it can be heard by all – the world over.

Shirin Ebadi

July 18,2009