On December 30th Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Iranian-American Director of the Middle East Program at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, was traveling in a taxi from her mother's house in Tehran to the international airport to return to Washington D.C. when she was ambushed by masked gunmen and her passports, both Iranian and American stolen. For the past five months Dr. Esfandiari has lived in near house-arrest in Tehran, undergoing frequent eight-hour interrogation sessions by Iranian officials urging her to "cooperate" (i.e., confess), which she has refused.
On May 8 however, she was taken from her 93-year old mother's home to the notorious Evin Prison, the site where Iranian-Canadian photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi was killed during her own interrogation in 2003.
Dr. Esfandiari is particularly lauded for her tireless work in furthering the rights of women in the middle east, and is described as "...held in high regard by academics and civil society professionals across the Middle East. She has organized many seminars in the region bringing together diverse Middle Eastern thinkers, particularly women’s rights experts. She is known for her kind demeanor, academic integrity, and enthusiastic networking."
The "Free Haleh" campaign is organized by the American Islamic Congress in conjunction with Ibn Khaldoun Center in Cairo, the Initiative for Inclusive Security in Washington, and the Kuwaiti Economic Society. I urge you to visit the site: www.freehaleh.org to read more about Dr. Esfandiari's work and the situation surrounding her detention. Please also consider signing the petition in the top right hand corner of the home page. The petition will be sent to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, once again urging him to ensure the release of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari.
