Iranian human rights victims on Dutch stamps

A series of special postage stamps portraying victims of human rights abuses in Iran has been launched in the Netherlands. In the latest addition to the series, five thousand copies of the stamp showing Iranian Baha’i leader Mahvash Sabet have just been printed.

By Nicola Chadwick
The initiative was the brainchild of Mina Saadadi, managing editor of media organisation Shahrzad News, which produces radio programmes and online content in Persian and English.

The Netherlands is one of a number of countries in which the postal service allows the creation of personalised stamps, which can then be used just like ordinary stamps.

“There are a lot of violations of human rights in Iran, so we thought, ‘Why don’t we cover the different sections of Iranian society and give a face to those who are under pressure?’” explained Ms Saadadi.

Green Movement
This is not the first time that exiled Iranians have produced their own Dutch stamps. In 2009, some stamps supporting members of Iran’s Green Movement caused great excitement in Iran. Some satellite TV stations broadcasting to Iran from abroad were contacted by excited Iranians, who assumed that it was a Dutch government project. The TV stations broadcast this information without checking, causing political embarrassment to the Dutch government.

Partnerships
This time, Shahrzad News has entered into partnerships with other organisations to produce and promote the stamps. The one depicting Mansour Osanlou, the imprisoned leader of a transport workers’ , has been used on letters to Iran from the Dutch Confederation of Trades (FNV) concerning the situation of Iranian labour activists.

Five thousand copies of the stamp showing Mahvash Sabet have been produced. A trained psychologist, Mrs Sabet worked as a teacher and a principal at several schools. After the 1979 Islamic revolution, however, along with thousands of other Baha’i educators, she was fired from her job and barred from working in public education.

Mrs Sabet has been incarcerated since 5 March 2008. She was the first to be arrested of a seven-member, national-level ad hoc group that helped attend to the needs of Iran’s 300,000-strong Baha’i community. After 30 months of illegal detention, the seven were tried on trumped-up charges and each was sentenced in August 2010 to 20 years in jail.

More stamps to come
Future stamps will feature, amongst others, Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent lawyer who has represented numerous victims of human rights abuses, including prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. In January this year, the authorities sentenced Ms Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison on charges that included “activities against national security” and “propaganda against the regime.” Additionally, she has been barred from practicing law and from leaving Iran for 20 years.

Shahrzad News is presenting the stamps at events including, for example, a conference held in the Netherlands last week attended by some 300 Iranian women. “They were glad to hear about the idea of giving a face to people who are struggling in Iran,” said Ms Saadadi.

Source: Freedom Messenger