On May 23 2002, the jury of ” Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize ” awarded the Prize 2002 to the iranian lawyer Mehrangiz Kar.
Mehrangiz Kar, born on 18 October 1323 in Ahvaz, is a lawyer, writer, journalist, former political prisoner and social activist in the field of human rights, women’s rights and democracy expansion.
Mehrangiz Karan is a law graduate from the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Tehran University. In April 1379, he participated in the “Iran after the Elections” conference organized by the Heinrich Bell Foundation in Berlin (known as the Berlin Conference). This conference was disrupted by the opposition of the Islamic Republic. After returning from this conference, Mehrangiz Kar was interrogated in the third branch of the Islamic Revolution Court and arrested. He was imprisoned in Evin prison for two months and then released.
Then he was tried by the third branch of the Islamic Revolution Court and sentenced to four years in prison. He managed to go abroad. In the same period, his wife, Siamak Porzand, made a televised confession saying that they were trying to overthrow the government in Iran by an American spy agency. Since 2001, Mehrangiz Kar has collaborated with prestigious universities and research institutes in the world, including Harvard University and Columbia University in America and TEDA Institute in Japan in the field of human rights. She is currently working at the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown University.
After the publication of the statement of 14 women activists in Iran, in which they demanded the resignation of Khamenei and the transition from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mehrangiz Kar was among the 14 women activists who supported these women by publishing a letter outside of Iran.
In March 1401, Mehrangiz Kar and 82 other activists in the litigation field signed the “Litigation Agreement” in order to build a basis for “solidarity” in advancing the “Women, Life, Freedom Movement”, based on principles such as the rejection of violence and the establishment of justice and truth. They made a promise. This group has signed that they will adhere to the principles for the future of Iran, which are part of all international conventions and covenants regarding the observance of human rights.