Human Rights Voices - Iran, April 28, 2007

was gathering peacefully outside Tehran's Revolutionary Court in support of five fellow activists on trial for demanding changes in laws that discriminate against women...

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Iranian police shoved and kicked them, loaded them into a curtained minibus and drove them away. Hours later, at the gates of Evin prison, they were blindfolded and forced to wear all-enveloping chadors, and then were interrogated through the night.

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a matronly divorcee with a fringe of chestnut hair peeking from under her shawl, and her story highlights her change of fortune since the days when Khatami was president and reformists were gaining influence in Iran.

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Under Ahmadinejad, Web access has been curbed, almost all liberal newspapers have been shut, and activists say they are under closer surveillance and often summoned for questioning. The women say they have borne the brunt of the onslaught.

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It is drafting a law to limit women students to half the places in college, instead of the 65% they now occupy. It is also restricting women's entry to medical schools, arguing that they put a strain on limited - and sexually segregated - dormitory and transportation facilities.

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Women working for the government must leave work by 6 p.m. to get home and tend to their families.

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ale prisoners got to smoke and drink tea as much as they liked, while women were limited to two cigarettes and two cups of tea a day. Men could exercise in sunshine; women got their 15 minutes outdoors at sunset.

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