Iran Human Rights, the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) and 27 other human rights organizations have signed a joint statement marking International Women’s Day, calling attention to the plight of women and gender minorities trapped in oppressive legal systems worldwide and honoring those who fight for the abolition of the death penalty.

The statement reads as follows:

“On this International Women’s Day, and every day, we want to recognize and center the stories, voices, and expertise of women and gender minorities/gender diverse persons who languish behind bars in racist, classist, and patriarchal legal systems around the world.

Fighting for women’s rights includes protecting the rights of the accused, criminalized, and condemned because they are the first victims and survivors of intersectional discrimination and oppressive systems.

The death penalty, with its targeting of minorities and its arbitrary, inhumane, and discriminatory application has no place in any of our societies and we honor the organizers, advocates, and survivors who fight tirelessly around the world to abolish it. In the current context of ongoing attacks on the rights of women and gender minorities, this is more than ever a necessity.”

Signing organizations: 

1. Abolition Death Penalty in Iraq
2. Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran
3. ACAT-France
4. Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)
5. Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide (CCDPW)
6. Center for Prisoners’ Rights
7. Centre for Equality and Justice (CEJ)
8. Children Education Society (CHESO)
9. Capital Punishment Justice Project
10. Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI)
11. Harm Reduction International
12. HAYAT
13. Hope Behind Bars Africa (HBBA)
14. Humanity Diaspo
15. Human Rights Activists (in Iran) (HRA)
16. Human Rights Office of Kandy Diocese
17. Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO)
18. International Commission of Jurists - Kenya Section
19. Justice Project Pakistan
20. Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
21. Legal Awareness Watch Pakistan
22. Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)
23. Penal Reform International
24. Reprieve
25. The Sunny Center Foundation
26. The Advocates for Human Rights
27. The Inclusion Project (TIP)
28. Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN)
29. Women Beyond Walls
30. World Coalition Against the Death Penalty