A/HRC/28/70 145. In its response to concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur in his 2014 Report to the General Assembly about the prevalence of violence against women in the country, and on shortcomings in national laws and institutional frameworks for addressing the problem, the Iranian Government maintained that domestic violence was a capital offence and noted that legislation to legally define all forms of domestic violence was being considered. The Vice President for Women and Family Affairs announced on 29 November 2014 that the draft legislation to “Protect Women Against Violence” has been submitted to the Administration’s Bills’ Commission, and said that her office had recommended that the Judiciary establish safe houses for abused women. 2. Freedom of assembly for protestors of acid attacks 146. On 22 October, over 2,000 protestors gathered in front of the Esfahan Justice Department calling on authorities to investigate the attacks. On the same day in Tehran, dozens of people demonstrated in solidarity with the victims in Esfahan, staging a gathering in front of the Iranian parliament and calling for investigations of the attacks and the provision of security for women in society.118 147. In the days following the demonstrations of 22 October, the Governor of Esfahan stated “any assembly on the matter is illegal,”119 and the Chief of Police of Iran suggested “all [protestors] have a common source, and they want to influence society [and] spread a climate of insecurity; fortunately none of their calls have been widely welcomed.”120 He also claimed that individuals and media advocating such demonstrations aim to “disseminate terror” in Iranian society.121 148. On 24 October 2014, Parliamentarians Mr. Abed Fatahi, an Urumiah (the only Members of Parliament to visit the protestors) disagreed with negative views towards protests stating, “women have the right to protest. Even if they sit in all the city squares as a sign of protest, they still have the right because the peace and comfort of women in our society has been negated; this is not a good thing. I’m sorry that some of the Members of Parliament are still trying to reduce the tragic story of acid attacks to [a story of] ‘love revenge.’ In my mind, there was something else behind the acid attacks, which I hope is not proven by the police investigation.”122 149. On 25 October 2014, several society activists (Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh, Mr. Peyman Aref and Ms. Giti Pourfazel) who had participated in a demonstration in protest of the attacks in front of the Interior Ministry of Tehran were arrested for a few hours.123 C. Women’s rights activists 150. A British-Iranian woman, Ms. Ghoncheh Ghavami, was arrested along with ten other women who attempted to enter Azadi Stadium for a volleyball match between Iran and Italy’s national teams on 20 June 2014, with intention to protest laws that prohibit women from sports arenas. Ms. Ghavami was arrested again on 30 June, allegedly due to content on her mobile phone, including text messages and photos. She was charged with “propaganda against the system,” and tried before Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court on 118 119 120 121 122 123 http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/443827. http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2014/10/141028_l03_acid_attacks_isfahan. ptth://swpiswen.mos/swen/2411458/‫اجازه‬-‫برگزاری‬-‫تجمع‬-‫های‬-‫غیر‬-‫قانونی‬-‫را‬-‫نمی‬-‫ دهیم‬. http://www.ilna.ir/news/news.cfm?id=218142. http://aftabnews.ir/fa/news/267949/. Rezan Khandan’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/reza.khandan.5/posts/868813436462339. 49