Roya Toloui (born May 22, 1966, in

Baneh Baneh () is a city in the Central District of Baneh County, Kurdistan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Baneh is approximately 30 km (18 miles) from Kurdistan Region in Iraq. History Historica ...

, Kurdistan province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

) is a prominent

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

ian

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, currently residing in the US. She was born in

in western

. She received her high school diploma at Baneh and her PhD in

Medical laboratory A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are conducted out on clinical specimens to obtain information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Clinical medical labor ...

from University of Mashad.

Life

She was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''Rasan'' (Rising up), a

monthly magazine about women's issues. Five issues of the magazine were published in

Sanandaj Sanandaj (; ) is a city in the Central District of Sanandaj County, in the Kurdistan province of Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. With a population of 414,069, it is the second largest Kurdish city a ...

in spring and summer of 2005 until it was closed down in the summer of 2005 by the Iranian judiciary. She is the founder of the ''Association of the Kurdish Women Supporting Peace in Kurdistan''. She is also a member of the

Kurdish PEN Kurdish PEN or the Kurdish Centre of the International PEN (''Navenda PEN a Kurd'' in Kurdish) is a branch of International PEN. It was suggested by Kurdish writer Hüseyin Erdem and voted into existence during International PEN's conference in Camb ...

. Due to her outspoken criticism of authorities as well as defense of the rights of Kurdish and Iranian women, she was tried in a Revolutionary Court in April 2005 and was accused of endangering national security. Following demonstrations in Kurdish inhabited areas of western Iran, she was arrested on 2 August 2005, and held in prison for 66 days until freed on bail in October 2005. Her case of imprisonment was highlighted in the

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

's ''Day of the Imprisoned Writer'' in November 2005. After her release, she fled Iran for

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and finally she sought refuge in the United States in April 2006. In 2006, she received the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award.

References

External links

Amnesty International's Report, August 2005

Imprisonment of Roya Toloui

* ttp://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/2/018e8424-74c5-4f77-a00b-444cdc86061c.html About Roya Toloui in ''Radio Free Europe''
Dr. Toloui arrives in US
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toloui, Roya 1966 births Living people Iranian democracy activists Iranian dissidents Iranian feminists Iranian journalists Iranian Kurdish people Iranian Kurdish women Iranian women's rights activists Iranian Kurdish feminists People from Baneh Ferdowsi University of Mashad alumni Political prisoners in Iran