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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

30 June 1998

Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami
Office of the President
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran
The Islamic Republic of Iran

Your Excellency:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific societies, with 143,000 individual members and 282 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

We are writing to you on behalf of the Committee regarding a law, currently under final consideration by the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly, that would require full segregation of health services provided in hospitals based on gender. We are concerned that if this legislation is approved, women's health may be seriously jeopardized. It is our understanding that the current number of female doctors in the country cannot respond to the health needs of Iran's 30 million women. We fear that many women will therefore be deprived access to adequate health care.

We are also concerned that religious vigilante groups such as Ansar-e Hezbollahi have chosen to enforce their religious orthodoxy through violent means. It is our understanding that an Iranian surgeon was beaten on 13 May, just one day after he was criticized by a member of parliament for speaking out against the proposed law segregating health care by gender at a medical conference in Tehran. The Committee is concerned that similar incidents have occurred on past occasions when officials have criticized individuals opposing government policies. We respectfully call on your government to reverse policies that reinforce gender apartheid and prohibit the discussion of women's issues or rights. We also encourage you to condemn the actions of religious vigilantes.

We would like to point out that if passed, legislation resulting in the denial of adequate access to medical care by women would constitute serious violations of international human rights standards, including those enumerated in the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), both of which were ratified by Iran on 24 June 1975. Under the ICESCR, Iran is obligated to assure the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; the right of everyone to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications; and the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social, and cultural rights. In addition, under the ICCPR the Iranian government is obligated to uphold freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom of expression; and freedom of association.

We urge you to use your good offices to assure access to medical care for Iranian women and to oppose laws that reinforce gender segregation. We encourage you to promote the equal right of men and women to enjoy all their human rights.


Sincerely,



Irving Lerch, Ph.D. Mary Gray, Ph.D.
Co-Chair Co-Chair
AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom
and Responsibility and Responsibility

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