Shirin Ebadi

[RedWine]

SHIRIN EBADI

The Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi was born in 1947. She received a law degree from the University of Tehran. In the years 1975-79 she served as president of the city court of Tehran, one the first female judges in Iran. After the revolution in 1979 she was forced to resign. She now works as a lawyer and also teaches at the University of Tehran.

Both in her research and as an activist, she is known for promoting peaceful, democratic solutions to serious problems in society. She takes an active part in the public debate and is well-known and admired by the general public in her country for her defence in court of victims of the conservative faction's attack on freedom of speech and political freedom.

Ebadi represents Reformed Islam, and argues for a new interpretation of Islamic law which is in harmony with vital human rights such as democracy, equality before the law, religious freedom and freedom of speech. As for religious freedom, it should be noted that Ebadi also includes the rights of members of the bahai community, which has had problems in Iran ever since its foundation.

Ebadi is an activist for refugee rights, as well as those of women and children. She is the founder and leader of the Association for Support of Children's Rights in Iran. Ebadi has written a number of academic books and articles focused on human rights. Among her books translated into English are The Rights of the Child. A Study of Legal Aspects of Children's Rights in Iran (Tehran, 1994), published with support from UNICEF, and History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (New York, 2000).

As a lawyer, she has been involved in a number of controversial political cases. She was the attorney of the families of the writers and intellectuals who were victims of the serial murders in 1999-2000. She has worked actively - and successfully - to reveal the principals behind the attack on the students at Tehran University in 1999 where several students died. As a consequence, Ebadi has been imprisoned on numerous occasions.

With Islam as her starting point, Ebadi campaigns for peaceful solutions to social problems, and promotes new thinking on Islamic terms. She has displayed great personal courage as a lawyer defending individuals and groups who have fallen victim to a powerful political and legal system that is legitimized through an inhumane interpretation of Islam. Ebadi has shown her willingness and ability to cooperate with representatives of secular as well as religious views.

[RedWine]

شیرین عبادی در روز 8 مارس امسال، روزی که نیروی انتظامی در پارک دانشجوبا خشونت با شرکت کنندگان رفتار کرد، در ایران نبود. او پس از بازگشت به ایران ضمن ابراز همبستگی با زنان حاضر در این برنامه و اعتراض به حرکت نیروی انتظامی دراین باره به زنستان گفت :

«وضعیت حقوقی زنان در ایران با وضعیت فرهنگی آنان همخوانی ندارد. بیش از 65 درصد از دانشجویان ایران دختر هستند و به عبارتی زنان ایرانی تحصیل کرده تر از مردان هستند. مهذا علیرغم وضعیت فرهنگی بالای زن ایرانی و با وجود آن که دولت ایران به میثاقهای بین المللی حقوق بشر پیوسته و متعهد اجرای آنها شده و مهمترین اصل در حقوق بشر، عدم تبعیض بر اساس جنسیت است، اما قوانین ایرانی متاسفانه حاوی نکات تبعیض آمیزی است. از جمله آن که شهادت دو زن در دادگاه معادل شهادت یک مرد است و یا این که اگراتومبیلی در خیابان با زن ومردی تصادف کند میزان خسارتی که به زن تعلق میگیرد نصف خسارتی است که طبق قانون به مرد میدهند و بسیاری قوانین نامناسب دیگر متناسب حقوق زن ایرانی نیست. بدین جهت جنبش فمینیستی ایران وسعت و عمق زیادی یافته است، این جنبش رهبری ندارد، اداره مرکزی و شعبی ندارد بلکه جایگاه آن در خانه هر ایرانی است که با تبعیض ناروا مخالف است.

روز 8 مارس که از طرف سازمان ملل متحد روز جهانی زن نامگذاری شده وارتباطی با هیچ کشور و هیچ مرام و مسلکی ندارد عده ای اززنان هموطن ما قصد داشتند در یکی از پارکهای عمومی شهر تهران گردهم آیند و سوته دلالانه این روز را گرامی دارند. حتی قبل از برگزاری چنین تجمعی به محض آنکه چند نفر از راه رسیدند نیروی انتظامی با خشونت زنان را متفرق ساخت و در این ارتباط حتی به پرآوازه ترین شاعر زن ایرانی یعنی خانم سیمین بهبهانی که درسنین کهولت به سر میبرند نیز رحم نکرد. استناد پلیس برای خشونت آن بود که چنین گردهمایی ای احتیاج به مجوز دارد و حال آنکه طبق قانون اساسی تجمعات مسالمت آمیزنیازمند هیچ اجازه و مجوزی نیست و اگر قرار بر این باشد که هرگونه گردهمایی با کسب اجازه قبلی صورت بگیرد باید بر این اعتقاد باشیم که اگر سه نفر هم در گوشه خیابان یا پارکی گردهم آیند مرتکب خلاف شده اند و حال آنکه میدانیم این استدلال درست نیست. طبق اصول حقوقی، شهروندان آزاد هستند که هرطور بخواهند عمل کرده و زندگی نمایند. مگر این که قانونی در موردی خاص این آزادی را از آنان سلب کرده باشد. در موضوع مورد بحث قانونی وجود ندارد و نمیتوان آزادیهای مشروع ملتی را موکول به موافقت مقامات دولتی کرد و از سوی دیگر بر فرض که چنین عملی نیازمند کسب موافقت از مقامات دولتی باشد ضمانت اجرای عدم کسب مجوز این نیست که پلیس با خشونت رفتار نماید. مانند آن که اگر رانندهای از چراغ قرمزعبورکند، رفتار پلیس با وی چگونه باید باشد؟ آیا باید او را جریمه کند یا این که وسط خیابان او را با خشونت از ماشین پیاده کرده و به ضرب و شتم وی پرداخته و مانع از ادامه مسیر او شود؟ کدامیک از این موارد وظیفه پلیس است؟ مسلما هر فرد*بی*غرضی ولو آنکه به قانون نیز آشنا باشد به خوبی واقف است که فقط جریمه کردن در حیطه اختیارات پلیس است و بس.

به این ترتیب، ضمن اعلام تاسف از واقعه ای که روز 8 مارس در پارک دانشجو اتفاق افتاد و ضمن ابراز همبستگی با زنانی که در آن روز در پارک گردهم آمده بودند، به عنوان یک وکیل دادگستری اعلام میدارم خشونت نیروی انتظامی فاقد مجوز قانونی است و امیدوارم که احترام به قانون خصوصا قانون اساسی بیش از گذشته رواج یابد

[RedWine]

TEHRAN,Iran's Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, long a thorn in the side of the clerical regime in Tehran, said she had received death threats from an extremist group.

"You have been warned several times about your declarations but despite that you are continuing with your actions," the group said in a fax sent to AFP by Ebadi, an outspoken human rights lawyer.

"We are warning you for the last time, if you continue you will pay for committing treason against your country and Islam," said the letter, signed by "The Association Hostile to Apostate Bahais."

Ebadi, who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2003 for her work promoting women's and children's rights in Iran, said she has been on the receiving end of a number of death threats over the past few years.

The monotheist Bahai faith was founded in Iran in the 19th century but its practice is now barred in the Shiite Muslim nation.

[jahansh88]

that was YAHOO NEW's...isnt it,REDWINE????

[pora]

She's a muslim and nobel the price was biggest mistake for Nobel Foundation that gave to her

[Michellica]

I'm proud of her! she is the bravest woman in the world!

[pora]

I'm proud of her! she is the bravest woman in the world!

ببخشیدباید گفت زکی
خانم شیرین عبادی یک مسلمان است و مایع شرمساری تمام زنان دنیا
برای من زمانی خانم شیرین عبادی ارزش دارد که تغییر مذهب دهد
حالا چرا
برای اینکه خانم نمیتواند هم از حقوق بشر دم بزند و هم قوانین ضد بشری و زن ستیزی قرآن را لازم الاجرا بداند
شما که خانم عبادی را قهرمانش می کنید بمن بگوئید آیا یک زن چطوری قبول کند که علی امام اول شیعیان در خطبه 80 چنین بنویسد
خطبه 80 علی

مَعاشِرَ النَّاسِ، إ نَّ النِّسَاءَ نَواقِصُ الْإِيمَانِ، نَوَاقِصُ الْحُظُوظِ، نَوَاقِصُ الْعُقُولِ، فَاءَمّا نُقْصانُ إِيمانِهِنَّ فَقُعُودُهُنَّ عَنِ الصَّلاَةِ وَ الصِّيَامِ فِي اءَيَّامِ حَيْضِهِنَّ، وَ اءَمَّا نُقْصانُ عُقُولِهِنَّ فَشَهَادَةُ امْرَاءَتَيْنِ كَشَهَادَةِ الرَّجُلِ الْوَاحِدِ، وَ اءَمّا نُقْصانُ حُظُوظِهِنَّ فَمَوَارِيثُهُنَّ عَلَى الْاءَنْصَافِ مِنْ مَوَارِيثِ الرِّجالِ فَاتَّقُوا شِرارَ النِّسَاءِ، وَ كُونُوا مِنْ خِيارِهِنَّ عَلَى حَذَرٍ، وَ لا تُطِيعُوهُنَّ فِي الْمَعْرُوفِ حَتّى لا يَطْمَعْنَ فِي الْمُنْكَرِ.
اى مردم ، بدانيد كه زنان را ايمان ناقص است و بهره منديهايشان ناقص * است و عقلهايشان ناقص است . اما ناقص بودن ايمانشان از آن روست كه در ايام حيض از خواندن نماز و گرفتن روزه معذورند و ناقص بودن عقلهايشان ، بدان دليل است كه شهادت دو زن برابر شهادت يك مرد است و نقصان بهره منديشان در اين است كه ميراث زنان نصف ميراث مردان است . از زنان بد بپرهيزيد و از زنان خوب حذر كنيد و كار نيك را به خاطر اطاعت از آنان انجام مدهيد، تا به كارهاى زشت طمع نكنند.

------------------------
برای این خطبه ودیگر نوشته زن ستیزانه قرآن لجن است که من خانم عبادی را قبول ندارم چون بعنوان یک زن درعین حال از قوانین زن ستیزانه اسلام دفاع می کند

[mahsaak]

ebadi says:

I was born in the city of Hamedan [northwestern Iran] in 1947. My family were academics and practising Muslims. At the time of my birth my father was the head of Hamedan's Registry Office. My father, Mohammad Ali Ebadi, one of the first lecturers in commercial law, had written several books. He passed away in 1993.

I spent my childhood in a family filled with kindness and affection. I have two sisters and a brother all of whom are highly educated. My mother dedicated all her time and devotion to our upbringing.

I came to Tehran with my family when I was a one year old and have since been a resident in the capital. I began my education at Firuzkuhi primary school and went on to Anoshiravn Dadgar and Reza Shah Kabir secondary schools for my higher education. I sat the Tehran University entrance exams and gained a place at the Faculty of Law in 1965. I received my law degree in three-and-a-half years, and immediately sat the entrance exams for the Department of Justice. After a six-month apprenticeship in adjudication, I began to serve officially as a judge in March 1969. While serving as a judge, I continued my education and obtained a doctorate with honours in private law from Tehran University in 1971.

I held a variety of positions in the Justice Department. In 1975, I became the President of Bench 24 of the [Tehran] City Court. I am the first woman in the history of Iranian justice to have served as a judge. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in February 1979, since the belief was that Islam forbids women to serve as judges, I and other female judges were dismissed from our posts and given clerical duties. They made me a clerk in the very court I once presided over. We all protested. As a result, they promoted all former female judges, including myself, to the position of "experts" in the Justice Department. I could not tolerate the situation any longer, and so put in a request for early retirement. My request was accepted. Since the Bar Association had remained closed for some time since the revolution and was being managed by the Judiciary, my application for practising law was turned down. I was, in effect, housebound for many years. Finally, in 1992 I succeeded in obtaining a lawyer's licence and set up my own practice.

I used my time of unemployment to write several books and had many articles published in Iranian journals. After receiving my lawyer's licence I accepted to defend many cases. Some were national cases. Among them, I represented the families of the serial murders victims (the family of Dariush and Parvaneh Foruhar) and Ezzat Ebrahiminejad, who were killed during the attack on the university dormitory. I also participated in some press-related cases. I took on a large number of social cases, too, including child abuse. Recently I agreed to represent the mother of Mrs Zahra Kazemi, a photojournalist killed in Iran.

I also teach at university. Each year, a number of students from outside Iran join my human rights training courses.

I am married. My husband is an electrical engineer. We have two daughters. One is 23 years old. She is studying for a doctorate in telecommunications at McGill University in Canada. The other is 20 years old and is in her third year at Tehran University where she reads law.

[mahsaak]

Social Activities
– Leading several research projects for the UNICEF office in Tehran.
– Cofounder of the Association for Support of Children’s Rights, 1995. I was the association’s president until 2000, and have continued to assist them as legal adviser. Currently the association has over 500 active members.
– Providing various stages of free tuition in children’s rights and human rights.
– Cofounder of the Human Rights Defence Centre with four defence lawyers, 2001. I am the centre’s president.
– Delivering over 30 lectures to university and academic conferences and seminars on human rights. The lectures have been delivered in Iran, France, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and America.
– Representing several journalists or their families, accused or sentenced in relation to freedom of expression. They include Habibollah Peyman (for writing articles and delivering speeches on freedom of expression); Abbas Marufi, the editor-in-chief of the monthly Gardoun (for publishing several interviews and poems); Faraj Sarkuhi (editor-in-chief of Adineh monthly).
– Representing families of serial murder victims (the Foruhar family).
– Representing the family of Ezzat Ebrahiminejad, murdered in the 9 July 1999 attack on the university dormitory.
– Representing the mother of Arin Golshani, a child separated from her mother as a consequence of the child custody law. She was found tortured to death at the home of her stepmother.

– Proposing to the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis) to ratify a law on prohibiting all forms of violence against children; as a result the law was promptly debated and ratified in the summer of 2002.


Publications
Books
– Criminal Laws, Tehran 1972. Published by Bank Melli of Iran (Professor Rahnama; Professor Abdolhoseyn Aliabadi).
– The Rights of the Child; A study in the legal aspects of children’s rights in Iran, 1987. Translated into English by Mohammad Zamiran. Published by UNICEF, 1993.
– Medical Laws; Tehran, 1988. Published by Zavar.
– Young Workers, Tehran, 1989. Published by Roshangaran.
– Copyright Laws, Tehran, 1989. Published by Roshangaran.
– Architectural Laws, Tehran, 1991. Published by Roshangaran.
– The Rights of Refugees, Tehran, 1993. Published by Ganj-e Danesh.
– History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran, Tehran, 1993. Published by Roshangaran.
– Tradition and Modernity, Tehran 1995. Written by Mohammad Zamiran, Shirin Ebadi. Published by Ganj-e Danesh.
– Children’s Comparative Law, Tehran, 1997. Published by Kanoun (This book was translated into English by Mr Hamid Marashi, and published by UNICEF in Tehran in 1998).
– The Rights of Women, Tehran, 2002. Published by Ganj-e Danesh.

* Details provided are taken from the original publications.

Articles
– “The Child and Family Law”; A series of articles appearing in the Encyclopedia Iranica. Published by Columbia University.
– “The Rights of Parents”; Article published in the journal Studies in the Social Impacts of Biotechnology. Published by CNRS, France
– “Women and Legal Forms of Violence in Iran”; Article published in the Bonyad Iran journal in Paris on the subject of violence.
– Over 70 articles on various aspects of human rights which have appeared in various publications in Iran. Some have been translated into English. They were presented at CRC [Convention on the Rights of the Child], a seminar organized by UNICEF in 1997.
– Articles published in various weeklies, including Fekr-e Now New Ideas, on various aspects of laws relating to women.

Prizes and Accolades
1. An official Human Rights Watch observer, 1996.
2. The selection of The Rights of the Child as Book of the Year by the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry.
3. Recipient of the Rafto Human Rights Foundation prize for human rights activities, Norway 2001.
4. The Nobel Peace Prize, Norway 2003.

[RedWine]

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, of Iran, third from left, Jody Williams, of the United States, second from left, and fellow pose with Mavis Leno, left, Feminist Majority board member, and Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Tuesday, April 11, 2006, in Los Angeles. Williams and Ebadi along with two other Nobel laureates will be honored by Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Tuesday evening during the Feminist Majority Foundation's gala. (AP Photo/Ric Francis) (Ric Francis - AP)

Female Nobel Laureates Launch Peace Bid
By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Shirin Ebadi remembers a time years ago when she was one of 100 female judges in Iran. She also recalls when the Islamic revolution changed everything.

"After the revolution, we were informed that women could not be judges anymore and women judges were demoted to administrative levels," she said in an interview Tuesday. "I became the clerk of the court in which I had been the judge. Of course, I couldn't tolerate that and I got early retirement."

[RedWine]

May 3, 2006 · Shirin Ebadi, Iranian human-rights activist and winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, talks to Robert Siegel about the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program and the provocative rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ebadi, author of Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope, also discusses the state of human rights in her homeland and why she decided not to leave it. She says it's important for Iranian expatriates to familiarize themselves with Iran today -- and understand that it is a "land of contradictions."

Chapter One

A Tehran Girlhood

My indulgent grandmother, who never spoke to us children in anything but honeyed tones of endearment, snapped at us for the first time on August 19, 1953. We were playing in the corner of the shadowed, lantern-lit living room when she turned on us with a stern expression and scolded us quiet. It was the year before I started grade school, and my family was spending the summer at my father's spacious country home on the outs***ts of Hamedan, a province in central western Iran where both of my parents were raised. My grandmother also owned property nearby, and the grandchildren gathered there each summer, playing hide-and-seek in the fruit orchards and returning by sunset to gather around the radio with the adults. I vividly recall that evening: we returned home with sticky fingers and berry-stained clothes to find the adults in a terrible mood, for once unmoved by our disarray. They sat huddled around the radio, closer than usual, with rapt expressions, the copper bowls of dates and pistachios before them untouched. A trembling voice announced on the battery-operated radio that after four days of turmoil in Tehran, Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh had been toppled in a coup d'etat. To us children, this news meant nothing. We giggled at the downcast eyes and somber faces of the adults and scampered away from the still, funereal living room.

The supporters of the shah who seized the national radio network announced that with the fall of Mossadegh the Iranian people had triumphed. Few outside those paid to participate in the coup d'etat actually shared this sentiment. For secular and religious Iranians, working class and wealthy alike, Mossadegh was far more than a popular statesman. To them, he was a beloved nationalist hero, a figure worthy of their zealous veneration, a leader fit to guide their great civilization, with its more than twenty-five hundred years of recorded history. Two years prior, in 1951, the prime minister had nationalized Iran's oil industry, until then effectively controlled by Western oil consortiums, who extracted and exported vast stores of Iranian oil under agreements that allotted Iran only a slim share of the profits. This bold move, which upset the West's calculations in the oil-rich Middle East, earned Mossadegh the eternal adoration of Iranians, who viewed him as the father figure of Iranian independence, much as Mahatma Gandhi was revered in India for freeing his nation from the British Empire. Democratically elected to power by overwhelming consensus in 1951, Mossadegh extended his popularity beyond the appeal of his nationalism. His open demands for freedom of the press, his penchant for conducting diplomacy from his bed, his Swiss education, and his Iranian savvy combined to enchant people, who saw in him a brilliant, cunning leader who embodied not just their aspirations but their intricate conception of self -- like them, he was composed of seeming contradictions, aristocratic roots and populist ambitions, secular sensibilities that never precluded alliances with powerful clerics.

[RedWine]

The Iranian constitution of 1906, which established the modern constitutional monarchy, vested only symbolic power in the hands of the monarchy. Under the reign of Reza Shah, from 1926 to 1941, a wise dictator and nation builder who assumed total authority with a measure of popular support, the monarchy ran the country. But in 1941, after British and Russian forces occupied Iran during World War II, Reza Shah was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The young shah presided over a period of relative political openness marked by a freer press, the balance of power shifted back toward elected government, with the parliament and its appointed prime minister taking control of the country's affairs as the constitution had intended. During Prime Minister Mossadegh's brief era, the shah exerted nominal influence, and until the coup d'état of 1953, it could be said the Iranian people were effectively governed by their elected representatives.

In 1951, next to the prime minister, the unloved thirty-two-year-old shah, heir to a newly minted, unpopular dynasty conceived of by a Persian Cossack army officer, appeared a green inferiority of little promise. The shah observed Mossadegh's rise with anxiety. In the expansive popular support for the prime minister, he confronted his own vulnerability as an unpopular monarch backed only by his generals, the United States, and Britain. The two Western powers were incensed by Mossadegh's nationalization of Iranian oil, but they bided their time before launching a response. In 1953, they concluded that circumstances were auspicious for his overthrow. Kermit Roosevelt, a grandson of Teddy Roosevelt, arrived in Tehran to reassure the skittish shah and direct the coup d'etat. With nearly a million dollars at his disposal, he paid crowds in poor south Tehran to march in protest and bribed newspaper editors to run spurious headlines of swelling anti-Mossadegh discontent. In a neat four days, the ailing, adored prime minister was hiding in a cellar and the venal young shah was restored to power, famously thanking Kermit Roosevelt: "I owe my throne to God, my people, my army, and to you." It was a profoundly humiliating moment for Iranians, who watched the United States intervene in their politics as if their country were some annexed backwater, its leader to be installed or deposed at the whim of an American president and his CIA advisers.

The shah ordered a military trial for Mossadegh, and newspapers ran front-page photos of the fallen prime minister entering the crowded courtroom, his gaunt frame and aquiline features more striking than ever. The judge handed down a death sentence but said he would reduce it to three years in prison, in tribute to the shah's superior mercy. For those three years, Mossadegh languished in a central Tehran prison; afterward, he retired to his village of Ahmadabad, to spend his retirement responding to letters from his devastated and still loyal supporters. In later years, his replies, penned in his subtle, lucid handwriting, appeared framed in the offices of Iran's leading opposition figures, those who would a quarter century later thrust the shah from power in the 1979 revolution.

Twelve years before the coup that interrupted both Iranian history and their lives, my parents met and married in the fashion typical for Iranians of their generation: through the traditional courtship ritual known as khastegari. On a bright spring afternoon in 1945, with the cool mountain breeze blowing across the ancient city of Hamadan, my father presented himself at my mother's family home to ask for her hand in marriage. They were distant relatives, and had met several months earlier at the home of a second cousin. The family received him in the formal sitting room reserved for company, and my mother served tea and shirini (the word means "sweets," and shares an origin with my name), peeking at my father's handsome profile while carefully pouring the cardamom-laced tea in the graceful manner long practiced for precisely this occasion. He fell deeply in love with her from the start, and to this day I have yet to see a man adore a woman more devotedly than he did my mother. Throughout their long lives, he addressed her reverentially as Minu khanum, adding the formal Persian word for "lady" after her name, as though he feared familiarity would diminish his regard. She called him Mohammad-Ali Khan.

[RedWine]

When my mother was growing up, she dreamed of attending medical school and becoming a doctor. But before the day of the khastegari, the family roundly dismissed this possibility, on grounds that my mother scarcely had control over. As she entered adolescence, it escaped no one's notice that she was becoming a rather spectacular beauty. Had she been born a generation earlier, when it was unheard of for women to attend college, her luminous, fair skin and slender figure might have conferred some advantage in the only realm in which she could compete, the marriage bazaar. But for a young woman born in the late 1920s, a time when patriarchy was slowly loosening its grip on Iranian society and a few women were being admitted into universities, her good looks were a liability to any ambition greater than marriage.

She did not wear the veil, for her family was not so traditional as to insist that its girls cover their hair. But she did witness the banning of the hejab, as part of the modernization campaign launched by Reza Shah, who crowned himself king of Iran in 1926. Turning an expansive country of villages and peasants overnight into a centralized nation with railroads and a legal code was a complex task. Reza Shah believed it would be impossible without the participation of the country's women, and he set about emancipating them by banning the veil, the symbol of tradition's yoke. Reza Shah was the first, but not the last, Iranian ruler to act out a political agenda -- secular modernization, shrinking the clergy's influence -- on the frontier of women's bodies.

Circumstance and era conspired to keep my mother from a university education, but at least she ended up marrying a man as unpatriarchal as could be imagined, for his time. My father was serene by temperament, controlled his anger without fail, and could never be provoked into raising his voice. When upset or irritated, he paced the house with his hands behind him or methodically rolled a cigar, extracting tobacco from a silver case carefully, using the time to still his mind and raising his head only when he was fully composed.

He was born into a wealthy family, to a landowning father who served as a colonel in the military, in the late days of the Qajar dynasty, the monarchy that preceded Reza Shah's. My grandfather married a Qajar princess whom he loved dearly, but who could not bear him children. After painful years of trying, he finally relented to the insistence of his brothers and, with his wife's approval, acquired a second wife, Shahrbanu, who gave birth to my father and uncle. My grandfather passed away when my father was seven, leaving Shahrbanu alone with two children. The relatives fought over his will and eventually stripped the widowed Shahrbanu of much of his property and wealth. Indignant, she decided to fight back. She traveled to Qom, Iran's holiest city and home to the country's seminaries, hoping to find clerics who would help her secure custody of her children and the holdings that remained. With their assistance, she managed to keep her two sons, as well as assets enough to meet the family's basic needs. In those days, women's consciousness of their rights was limited to their intuitive sense of right and wrong; they would not have conceived of petitioning a legal system for redress, and instead appealed to influential men in society -- often clerics, seen as a resource for battling injustices large and small -- to advocate on their behalf.

I was born on June 21, 1947, the summer before we left Hamedan for Tehran. My childhood memories revolve around our home in the capital, on what was then called Shah Street (renamed, like most of the city's street, after the Islamic Revolution). The house was quite large, two stories tall and full of rooms, a veritable playground for my siblings and me. In the manner of old Iranian homes, it was built around a central courtyard garden full of roses and white lilies. There was a pool in the middle where a few silvery fish swam, and on summer evenings our beds were carried outside, so that we could fall asleep under the stars, the air perfumed with flowers and the night's silence filled with the chirping of crickets. My mother kept the house spotless -- clutter of any sort irritated her -- and in this she was assisted by our household staff. Many of my father's farmworkers from Hamedan had applied to serve at our house in Tehran. She entrusted each servant with a task; one did the shopping, another cooked, the third cleaned, and the fourth served tea and meals to guests.

My mother seemed to genuinely love my father, though their marriage had been essentially arranged, and had kept her from attending college. She would wait impatiently for his deep, booming voice to resound through the courtyard at the day's end. But after her marriage, she developed an extraordinarily anxious temperament. If we came home five minutes late, we would find her in the alley outside our house, frantic with fear that we had been kidnapped or run over by a car. The nervousness manifested itself in her physical health as well, and she was often ill, in and out of the care of doctors unable to fully treat or diagnose the source of her constant agitation. There was no obvious reason for it. By almost any account, she was a perfectly fortunate woman -- cared for by an ideal, loving husband, mother to obedient, healthy children, in relatively good social and financial standing. It would have been enough to make most Iranian women of her day content. But I can't recall a single day when my mother seemed truly happy.

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As I grew older, my mother still groomed herself immaculately, still smiled quietly as she sat knitting in the shadiest corner of our spotless house, but the anxieties still raged inside her, and her body revolted with one illness after another. She was perpetually sick, and her attention to her failing health only fed her nervousness. For a while she came down with asthma, and she paced the house, complaining of feeling suffocated. When I was fourteen, my older sister married and moved back to Hamedan, leaving me the eldest child at home. My mother's poor health was the backdrop of our lives, and I constantly feared her death. I would lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling through the gauze of mosquito netting, worrying about my brother and sisters. What would happen to them if our mother died? Each night, I entreated God to keep her alive until my little brother and sister grew up. In my young mind, I thought that if she died I would have to quit school and take on her duties at home.

One day that year I crept up to the attic, to make a quiet appeal to God. Please, please keep my mother alive, I prayed, so I can stay in school. Suddenly, an indescribable feeling overtook me, starting in my stomach and spreading to my fingertips. In that stirring, I felt as though God was answering me. My sadness evaporated, and a strange euphoria shot through my heart. Since that moment, my faith in God has been unshakable. Before that day I had only said my prayers by rote, because I had been taught to say them, just I had been taught to wash my face before bed. But after that moment in the attic, I began to recite them with true belief. It is hard to describe the awakening of spirituality, just as it is difficult to explain to someone who has never fallen in love the emotional contours of that experience. My attic revelation reminds me of a line from a Persian poem, "Oh you, the stricken one / Love comes to you, it is not learned."

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The biggest surprise of 2003 was when an Iranian human rights activist, Shirin Ebadi, became the first Iranian ever to win a Noble prize . Yet, the Nobel committee referred to her as the first Muslim woman, completely denying her nationality. That angered Iranian nationalists. Iranians have suffered enough cultural destruction from Islam, but now even the Nobel committee was denying Iranian nationality, and promoting Islam instead.

The story of SHIRIN EBADI, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate was something for Iranians to be proud of. It began as a lyrical poem, evolving into the contemplative, national epic. It meant wonderful things to Iranians across the world. In the ancient tradition of historical epics, the story's elements all perfectly matched the image of the inspirational melody. It was an incantation of nationality, conjuring up the soul of freedom loving Iranians everywhere .


Iranians, who had been brutalized, imprisoned and tortured by the ruthless and merciless agents of the Islamic Republic, found reason to rejoice. They thought Ms. Ebadi would now become their voice to the outside world. Her sudden international recognition gave them great hope for a bright future. They had reason to be happy and proud, but little did they know.

Ms. Ebadi, instead of becoming the voice of the voiceless and using her Noble status to speak about the atrocities of the Islamic Republic against the innocent people of Iran, she used her platform to speak against the war on terror, and to criticize the United States! She said the September 11 attacks had served to justify Islam's violation international law and human rights.

She condemned the United States for its treatment of its detainees at Guantanamo . She attacked President Bush's attempt to liberate the Iraqi people. She attacked Israel for defending itself against the wrath of the Palestinian suicide bombers. She made a 180 degree reversal of her human rights agenda to appease the Mullahs in Iran .

Yes, Ms. Ebadi, in her moment of glory, chose to betray the very causes she was honored for supposedly supporting. What perfidy. President Bush, for five consecutive years, has adamantly supported the Iranian people in his state of the union addresses, yet our Noble Peace Prize Laureate has chosen to use her platform to join the chorus of America and Israel bashers. The Ayatollahs must be very pleased with Ms. Ebadi's performance as they continue the reign of terror in Iran —with the blessing of a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

While Islamic militants issues decrees (Fatwa) against the civilized world, Ms. Ebadi spends her $1.2 million Peace Prize to promote the Islamic ‘democracy.' Ms. Ebadi, speaking in Paris , denied that Islam needs reformation or modernization. Instead, she said, the West needs to understand Islam. We quickly inform Ms. Ebadi that not only does the West understand Islam, but so do the Iranian people who are being held hostage in their own country. We reject Islam as a form of government!

Ebadi herself has been betrayed by Islam. Under the former, secular regime, she was a courtroom judge in Iran . But the Islamic regime removed her from that office, since Islam says that a woman's brain is worth half of that of a man (Qur'an, 2:282.) Yet, she continues to promote Islam, even though that same Islam has denied her rights as a human being. She obviously fears the mullahs.

Should we blame the Noble Committee, which also bestowed Noble Peace Prizes upon the former US president Jimmy Carter (who is responsible for the creation of an Islamic state in Iran) and former Palestinian terrorist, Yaser Arafat, (who is responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks against civilian people as well)? If anything, this action should alert us all of the true nature of the Noble Prize Committee.

Currently, Ms. Ebadi is spending some time in the United States and speaking in Persian (with English translation provided) about the publication of her new book, Iran Awakening : A Memoir of Revolution and Hope . She is also expected to appear on the Oprah Winfery show, which most Iranians protest. Iranians feel totally betrayed by Ms. Ebadi and they wish to convey this message to Ms. Winfery before Ms. Ebadi appears as a guest on her show.

At the end one must ask oneself whether Ms. Ebadi is truly what the Noble Committee believed her to be, a champion of human rights, or is she simply a spokesperson for the most vicious, tyrannical, oppressive and barbaric system known to the history of man, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

[RedWine]

Iranian human-rights activist Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. A judge who was dismissed from the bench after the 1979 Islamic revolution, she is now a lawyer who works to promote press freedom, spotlight gender inequity and child abuse, and defend dissidents against Iran's theocratic regime. Ebadi, 58, whose memoir Iran Awakening is out this week, spoke with TIME's Jeff Chu about the Nobel's impact, Iran's nuclear ambitions and her daily relaxation ritual.

Has the fame that came with the Nobel helped you in Iran? No, it has not helped at all. I published my memoirs outside Iran because I knew I would not get permission inside Iran. Also, from the time I won the Nobel, the authorities have tried three times to build a case against me. At the moment I have an open case against me. I have been accused of having taken money from the U.S. to give to Akbar Ganji, a journalist who is in jail, so he would go on a hunger strike and make Iran lose face.

You write about seeing your name on a death squad's hit list. Do you feel in danger? I still receive threatening letters and e-mails. A letter I recently received accused me of working against Islam and against Iran. Instead of a signature, [the writer] taped a dead roach to the bottom of the letter.

You discuss the strength of your Muslim faith in your book. Do you have a favorite Koranic verse? There is a verse that says God swears by time. Anything you gain in life, you pay for with your time. Time is the most important thing that has been given to man. This inspires me because it reminds me how short our time here is.

Where in the Muslim world can one see your model of how women should be treated? Let me answer this in another way: nowhere in the world is there a place where women are treated as they should be. Even in America you have not had a female President, and the number of women in the Cabinet is much lower than the number of men. Women are suppressed both in Islamic countries and in the West. But the reason they are more suppressed in Islamic countries is not because of religion but because of the patriarchal culture in Eastern countries.

You write about your responsibility for all domestic aspects of your household. Unfortunately, in the East women have to accept all the responsibility at home. Many husbands still complain when their wives work outside the house. My husband has the virtue of not complaining about my job. I divide my time so I can attend to both my profession and my work at home. Also remember that I am an Iranian woman. I have learned how to be patient.

You have described yourself as stubborn. Does your husband find it exasperating to argue with you? My husband and I rarely argue. I want to tell you something interesting: I believe so strongly in equality that I have even filled my family life with it. My husband and I have two daughters. The elder looks like her mother but has chosen her father's profession--she is an engineer. My younger daughter looks like her father, but her character is like mine. For this reason she is becoming a lawyer. So you can see we have divided our world equally. There is nothing to fight about.

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What should the West do about Iran's nuclear program? I can say what it shouldn't do. It should not attack Iran militarily. People may criticize the government, but if there is a military attack on Iran, they will defend their own country.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to be using the issue to foster nationalism. A government that is in danger from the outside will take any chance to accelerate nationalism inside the country. But nuclear power is not a daily concern of the people. They want jobs, they want houses, they want health, they want more freedom.

What do you do to relax? Every night before I go to sleep, I read a novel for at least an hour. This is how I try to forget the aggressive work of the day. Right now I am reading The Zahir by Paulo Coelho. I like the way Coelho looks at world issues.

What else do you think the West needs to know about Iran? The West should realize that more than 65% of our university students are women. The West should understand that Iran has more than 2,500 years of civilization. The West should know that there are thousands of women like Shirin Ebadi.

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Millions of Iranian women were sidelined by Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, but few fought back the way Shirin Ebadi did. She had become Iran's foremost woman jurist by the 1970s, but Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's theocracy stripped her of her judgeship in 1980. Her steely tenacity enabled her to take on a new role as a human rights lawyer battling for justice in Iran's revolutionary courts -- a fight that won her the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and brought her face to face with the terror her clients confronted. In the fall of 2000, as she studied a dossier about the premeditated killings of dissidents that was made available after a judicial investigation, her gaze fell on a chilling sentence: "The next person to be killed is Shirin Ebadi."

Her new memoir, Iran Awakening , is a riveting account of a brave, lonely struggle to take Islamist jurists to task for betraying the promises of their own revolution. Life was supposed to improve for Iranians after the despotic rule of the U.S.-backed shah. But rather than protect its citizens, the new government set upon a cruel track. Ebadi's tale is told from the perspective of an ordinary mother and an extraordinary lawyer determined, despite the ruthless reign of the ayatollahs, to do what is right.

In her dealings with the grim and arbitrary judicial machinery in Islamist Iran, Ebadi demonstrates that her own patriotism is beyond reproach. She faces her foes with cunning and the quiet calculation of a superb chess player. The resulting book (written with the help of Azadeh Moaveni, a Time magazine correspondent) sometimes reads like a police thriller, its drama heightened by Ebadi's determination to keep up the quotidian aspects of her family life. She goes through the daily rituals of washing dishes and mincing fresh herbs before dinner, preparing meals ahead of time as she maps out her game plan to embarrass the regime.

Iran Awakening is not a literary work but an insider's view of the merciless daily grind that drives women to struggle, submission or suicide. Ebadi's reactions are sometimes movingly normal, as when she tries to insulate her two daughters from the terror by doing something as different as taking them skiing -- which, it turns out, requires this 40-something mom to get permission from her own mother.

The description of her own imprisonment -- she was jailed in June 2000 for videotaping the testimony of a key witness in the case of a young activist killed during the previous year's student riots -- offers a rare glimpse inside Tehran's notorious Evin prison. One guard, assuming that any female inmate must be a prostitute, asks the dignified dissident whether she is there "for a moral offense," which reduces her to hysterical laughter. Her mirth soon fades. "It was so odd to me, how the rhythm of prison life became familiar," she writes. "The personality quirks of the guards, the dank, dusty smell of the cells, even the howls of the addicts seemed normal to me after a couple of days."

Despite her opinion of the ruling mullahs, Ebadi continues to believe that Islam, or a progressive version of it, is compatible with modern democracy. Not everyone will agree with her, but her passion to prove the point is formidable.

Returning home three years ago as a Nobel laureate, she was greeted at Tehran's airport by a mostly female throng, including a group of students singing "Yar-e Dabestani," the adopted anthem of Iran's "young pro-democracy organizers," a sorrowful, bittersweet yet galvanizing song used to lift spirits at sit-ins and gatherings. Its lyrics ask, "Whose hands but mine and yours can pull back these curtains?"

Those curtains are far from lifted. "I am not free enough to write what I want to write," Ebadi said in a recent interview. But she adds: "I am willing to be tried in any court for what I said in this book." It is being published in 16 languages. But not Farsi, the language of Iran. ·

[RedWine]

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi bemoaned the conditions of her fellow women in the Islamic republic and its restrictions on civil rights.

"If I wanted to talk about all women's rights violations in Iran, it would take weeks, and it all begins with the law," she told a press conference.

"Where do these laws come from which are burdening women like this? A 12-year-old girl can go to prison but she cannot have a passport," said Ebadi, who is a lawyer.

Under the Islamic laws in force in Iran, the testimony of a woman is worth half that of a man, and she is subject to the criminal law from the age of nine as opposed to 15 for boys.

Ebadi, who was speaking at the Office to Consolidate Unity, a reformist student movement, condemned a police raid in Tehran last month to break up a women's demonstration calling for equal rights.

Seventy people -- including 42 women -- were detained during the June 12 protest, which demanded reforms in Iran's legal code and the removal of discriminatory clauses against women.

Rights organisations condemned the use of violence to suppress the demonstrators, some of whom were beaten up.

"The rally was peaceful. Is the duty of the police to restore order or to attack people? What would have happened if some innocent women could say what they wanted," asked Ebadi.

"The black stain in Iran is having so many political prisoners. The first step of democracy is freedom of expression. In no democratic country, are women looked at as a lesser being," she said.

Ebadi also condemned the continued detention of former MP Ali-Akbar Mussavi Khoini, who was arrested during the demonstration, and protested that she had not been allowed to see him as her lawyer.

She ridiculed official claims that intellectual Ramin Jahanbeglou, who was arrested in May, had been involved in a US-backed plan to launch a "velvet revolution" in Iran.

"They say he wanted to start a velvet revolution. Where are they selling all this velvet?" Ebadi asked, before winding up the press conference with the hope that "the victory of the feminist movement will open the way for democracy".

[RedWine]

Iranian rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has criticized the Islamic republic's judiciary for denying access to a detained former reformist MP.

Ebadi took the job of defending Ali-Akbar Mussavi-Khoini after he was arrested -- along with around 70 others -- for participating in a demonstration on June 12 calling for equal rights for women.

"As Mr Mussavi-Khoini's lawyer, I went to the Revolutionary Court where my client's case is being investigated in order to meet him. But I was denied access to him," Ebadi told the ISNA news agency Friday.

"According to the law, the attorney for the accused should be present during interrogation and investigation, so I hope (the authorities) pay more attention to the law and do not interrogate people without legal representation," she added.

Mussavi-Khoini is currently being held in Tehran's Evin prison.

According to Ebadi, Mussavi-Khoini has been without legal representation for nearly three weeks.

Ebadi also said that lawyers from the Defenders of Human Rights Center -- the group she runs -- were also following the cases of people allegedly beaten up by police during last month's demonstration.

[donsaeid]

شيرين عبادي: بنام فرهنگ دینی به حقوق ملت تجاوز می*شود

شيرين عبادى كه از طرف آمريكايي*ها «بانوي صلح ايران» لقب گرفته اخيرا در همايشي با عنوان «اخلاق جهانى» در شهر توبينگن آلمان حضور داشته و در سخنراني خود از سياست غيردموكراتيك كشورهاى اسلامى در رعايت موازين حقوق بشر انتقاد كرده است. وي كه با عنوان «نقش اسلام در استحکام اخلاق جهانی» سخن مي*گفته، تعریف خودويژه از مفهوم حقوق**بشر از سوی ادیان گوناگون را منجر به نابودی حقوق بشر دانسته است.

وی از سیاست کشورهایي كه آنها را «غیردمکراتیک اسلامی» مي*خواند انتقاد کرده و مي*گويد: تلاش آنها برای ارائه تعریف جداگانه از حقوق*بشر عملا منجر به تحریف اسلام و سوء استفاده از آن می*گردد. شيرين عبادی گفت: متاسفانه حکومت*های غیردمکراتیک اسلامی غالبا از این بهانه استفاده می*کنند و عنوان می*کنند که چون مردم آنها مسلمان هستند، بنابراین حکومت باید مجری قوانین شریعت اسلامی باشد و رعایت قواعد حقوق*بشر تا جایی ممکن است که با شریعت اسلامی سازگار باشد.»

شیرین همچنین مي*افزايد، که کشورهای غیردمکراتیک اسلامی تحت لوای اسلام عملا اقدام به توجیه خودکامگی و سیاست*های مستبدانه خود می*کنند. عبادی، البته سوء استفاده از مذهب را تنها محدود به اسلام ندانست و از سرکوب دگراندیشان توسط کلیسا در قرون وسطا یاد کرد!

عبادی در ارتباط با سیاست کشورهای غیردمکراتیک اسلامی در ارتباط با رعایت مسایل حقوق*بشر مي*گويد: «کسانی که به بهانه اختلاف فرهنگ و نسبیت فرهنگی از اجرای قواعد حقوق*بشر سرباز می*زنند، در حقیقت متحجرانی زورگو هستند که بر ماهیت دیکتاتوری خود ماسکی از فرهنگ زده و بنام فرهنگ ملی یا فرهنگ دینی قصد تجاوز به ملت خود را دارند.»

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Iran has declared as "illegal" a human rights group headed by Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and vowed to prosecute its continued activities, local media has reported.

"As the group calling itself 'Defenders of Human Rights Center' has not obtained a permit from the interior ministry, its activities are illegal and the violators of this decision will be prosecuted," interior ministry was quoted as saying by the centrist Shargh newspaper Saturday.

But Ebadi, quoting Iran's constitution, responded that her center did not require a permit.

"Non-governmental organizations that observe the law and do not disrupt public safety do not need a permit. So the... Center does not need authorization".

She added the group had nonetheless applied for a permit, which the interior ministry would not issue and would not explain why it refused.

"We will protest the interior ministry decision and we will try all legal options to obtain our rights," Ebadi said, adding that this "move is not in Iran's national interest".

Formed by six prominent lawyers and headed by Ebadi, the group has been an active advocate of human and minority rights in the Islamic republic for the past four years.

Defending high-profile dissidents and prisoners of conscience, the group usually criticises the Islamic regime for what it sees as "violations of human rights".

One of the center's members, Abdolfattah Soltani, has been sentenced to five years in jail on charges of disclosing confidential information and opposing the regime.

Soltani represented journalist Akbar Ganji as well as the family of the Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi, who was killed in custody in 2003. Ebadi's group on Tuesday demanded an independent probe into the "suspicious" death of a jailed dissident, student activist Akbar Mohammadi, who died in prison on Sunday following a hunger strike.

[RedWine]

Iran: Government Outlaws Nobel Laureate’s Rights Group

(New York, August 9, 2006) – The Iranian government should immediately reverse its threat of prosecution against Iran’s most prominent independent human rights organization, Human Rights Watch said today.


On Thursday, August 3, the interior ministry announced that the Center for Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), co-founded by the 2003 Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, was an illegal organization. “Any activity by this center is illegal, and violators of this decision will be prosecuted,” an interior ministry statement said, claiming the CDHR “had not obtained the proper permit.”

“The attempt to silence Shirin Ebadi’s Center is a huge setback for protecting human rights in Iran,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. “If Ebadi is threatened for defending human rights, then no one who works for human rights can feel safe from government prosecution.”

CDHR was co-founded four years ago by Ebadi, a lawyer based in Teheran. CDHR applied for a permit when it was founded in 2002, but never received a reply from authorities, despite numerous follow-up attempts. A permit is not required by law, but the Ministry of the Interior has imposed the practice of obtaining one.

Responding to the announcement, Ebadi stated, “Under Iran’s constitution, nongovernmental organizations that obey the law and do not disrupt public order do not need a permit.”

Human Rights Watch said the government’s threat, and the continued withholding of a permit for the CDHR, is a blatant attack on the legitimate exercise of fundamental rights and independent voices in Iran, and should be of concern to all who support peaceful democratic progress in Iran.

The CDHR has provided pro-bono legal counsel to hundreds of dissidents, journalists and students facing prosecution for exercising fundamental freedoms, such as peacefully protesting against or criticizing government policies. Lawyers from the CDHR have taken the lead in representing many high-profile victims of human rights abuses. For example, Ebadi and her colleagues represented the family of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in June 2003 in Tehran’s Evin prison. Last year, CDHR also provided legal representation for Iran’s most prominent dissident, Akbar Ganji, who was imprisoned for six years.

On July 16, 2006, the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced Abdulfatah Soltani, a co-founder of CDHR, to five years in prison on charges of disclosing confidential information and opposing the state. The government accused him of disclosing charges brought against some of his clients to international diplomats. Soltani appealed the court’s ruling and is awaiting the appeals court’s decision.

In January 2005, the Revolutionary Court issued a summons for Ebadi without specifying charges. The authorities withdrew the summons after extensive protests both inside and outside of Iran. Ebadi has received frequent anonymous death threats. She has repeatedly informed authorities of these threats, but no arrests or other measures to enhance her security have resulted.

As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obligated to uphold freedom of association. The Iranian constitution explicitly endorses the right to form organizations, which specifically states that “no one may be banned from participating in such organizations.”

The government of Iran also has an obligation to protect Ebadi and other human rights defenders. The U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which the General Assembly adopted by consensus in 1998, declares that individuals and associations have the right “to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” to “develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance,” and to “complain about the policies and actions of individual officials and governmental bodies with regard to violations of human rights.” It further says that states “shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of [human rights defenders] against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actions” as a consequence of their legitimate effort to promote human rights.

Human Rights Watch called on the Iranian government to allow human rights defenders to carry out their peaceful activities without harassment and fear of prosecution.

“A government, like Iran’s, which professes to respect human rights, should welcome independent monitoring organizations like the CDHR, rather than seek to muzzle them,” said Whitson of Human Rights Watch.

[RedWine]

Iranian lawyer and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, who was dealt a serious blow earlier this month when authorities outlawed her legal center, has vowed to never give up her fight to defend human rights.

"When it comes to human rights, there is no victory," Ebadi, 59, told AFP from her small office in Tehran.

"The only thing that matters is to continue defending them. I will go on this way until the end."

On August 5, the interior ministry declared the Defenders of Human Rights Center outlawed because it had not obtained a government permit, saying "its activities are illegal and the violators of this decision will be prosecuted."

The group has advocated human and minority rights in the Islamic republic for the past four years, defending high-profile dissidents and prisoners of conscience, and often criticizing the Islamic regime for what it sees as "violations of human rights".

Ebadi, who founded the center in 2002 with four fellow lawyers, was unswayed by the regime's tough talk, vowing to "protest the interior ministry decision" and "use all legal avenues to obtain our rights."

The center's offices have not been shut down by authorities, and its lawyers have not yet reported any difficulties in operating due to the ban.

"We asked for registration as a legal organization four years ago. We have received no answer, no explanation, which is illegal," she said.

Resolute and self-confident, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner has relentlessly pursued her vision of justice in the battle for human rights, even when solutions have appeared more distant than ever.

She is currently involved in five cases, among them the cases of women who say they were beaten and detained by police forces after demonstrations that the authorities said were illegal.

"None of the five cases have led to any definitive result yet. I do not have much hope in the Iranian courts," she said.

However, "the important thing is to file lawsuits to show that we care to follow law."

In 1974, Ebadi emerged as the first female judge in Iran, but after the 1979 Islamic revolution, the government decided that women were unfit to serve as judges. So, she chose to become a lawyer and devoted herself to human rights, women and children.

Gender equality is of paramount importance to Ebadi, who laments Islamic law which grants more importance to men than women in a number of areas.

"If I were run over by a car, I would receive half the compensation given to a man. In criminal cases, a woman's testimony is worth half a man's."

While she admits "our work was not easy under the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (reformist leader 1997-2005)," a period when she was imprisoned for defending students' rights, the rise to power of conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not made her work any easier.

"Today, life is a little bit harder. Censorship is stronger, for example. Each time a new edition of a book is about to be published, it has to be submitted for approval by the authorities... the 'red lines' that the media are not allowed to cover have expanded."

Increased censorship coupled with the regime's lack of transparency means that even as she attempts to legally free political prisoners, she acknowledges that she does not know the span of the problem because she does not know the exact number of political prisoners in Iran.

"The government does not speak. Neither do the families, out of fear."

But she is all too aware that one of her fellow lawyers, Abdolfattah Soltani, is among them.

In July, Soltani received a five-year jail term on charges of disclosing confidential information and opposing the regime.

He had represented two defendants charged with spying on the country's nuclear program. Soltani's verdict was issued even though he and his lawyers were never informed of any hearing.

Ebadi says her Nobel award has "opened many international doors" to her and has "also added more value to my words abroad."

But in Iran, the prize "was not a particular help, because the government ignored it, but it has certainly become a means to protect me," she said.

Ebadi said she had survived two assassination attempts before receiving the prize.

"Now, the authorities know that they will have to pay a very high price if I am arrested or assassinated."

In one victory she cited since receiving the award, she was able to secure the amendment of a child custody law so that it now "gives the custody of children under age seven to the mother after divorce and allows the court to decided on the situation afterwards based on the child's interest."

Ebadi, a self-described optimist who thrives on small victories, expressed surprise when asked whether she still believed she could contribute to change in Iran.

"Do you ask a long-distance runner whether he or she plans to stop before the race ends?"

[Sepideh_UK]

No U Dont!!!
Becuase no matter how much u ask them or even tell them , is not going to have any effect, which i think is a great decision.

[RedWine]

Urge Iran to reverse threat to Shirin Ebadi's human rights organization

Background
On August 3, 2006 the government of Iran declared the Center for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) illegal and threatened its president, Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi, and her staff with prosecution if they continued their human rights activities. The CDHR reports on violations of human rights in Iran, defends dissidents and political prisoners pro bono and supports the families of such prisoners. Read more background here.

Take Action
Urge the government of Iran to reverse the threat to the CDHR and other human rights defenders and allow them to carry out their activities, free from intimidation and prosecution, according to Iranian and international law.

Send a letter to the government of Iran.

Visit Human Rights First Defender Alert to send a letter through their website, or see a sample letter below. Use it or better yet, adapt it and send one in your own words. Copy, cut and paste and edit it, then send it from your own email program. Send it to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and cc Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Ambassador to the United Nations Javad Zarif.

Their email addresses are:
President Ahmadinejad : dr-ahmadinejad@president****
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki : matbuat@mfa.gov**** and Ambassador to the United Nations Javad Zarif: iran@un.int

If you can, print a copy and fax the Interior Minister, Hojjatoleslam Mustafa Pour-Mohammadi at fax: +9821 8896 6767.

Write or visit an embassy near you. A list of Iranian embassies world wide can be found here.

Please see below for this alert in Farsi.

# # #

Dear President Ahmadinejad,

I have recently learned that on August 3 the interior ministry announced that the Center for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), co-founded by Nobel peace laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi, was an illegal organization and violators would be prosecuted, as it had not obtained a proper permit. It is my understanding that under the Iranian constitution such non-governmental organizations operating peacefully and within the law are not required to obtain permission.

Your government also has an obligation to protect human rights defenders under the 1998 U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. It declares that individuals and associations have the right “to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” to “develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance.” As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, your government claims to respect human rights.

Now is an opportunity to take a stand for human rights, and I urge you to do so by reversing the threat to the CDHR and other human rights defenders and allowing them to carry out their activities, free from intimidation and prosecution, according to Iranian and international law.

Sincerely,

[RedWine]

Nobel Winner's Human Rights Center Banned by Iranian Government
Iran’s Interior Ministry has banned the country’s leading human rights group, the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, headed by 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. This is an attempt to silence the Center's criticisms of the state’s arbitrary detentions and murders.

In a statement to the international community, Ebadi wrote: "of course me and other members of the center do not intend to shut down the center and we shall continue our activities. However, there is a high possibility that they will arrest us. The government's action in this regard is illegal."

The Center provides free legal representation to prisoners of conscience, supports their families, and reports on human rights violations occurring in detention facilities. Therefore, closing down the Center will have serious repercussions for all human rights defenders in Iran.

Please join us in demanding that the Iranian government allow Iran’s most prominent human rights organization to continue working without hindrance in compliance with its own Constitution, the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and international treaties to which Iran is a state party such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

[RedWine]

Nine Nobel Prize laureates have sent a letter to the Iranian government asking it to retract its threat to prosecute Iran's most prominent independent human rights organisation founded by Dr. Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.

On Aug. 2, Iran's Ministry of Interior declared that Ebadi's Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) had failed to obtain a valid license and warned that the organisation would be prosecuted because its activities were "illegal." The DHRC has been a devoted and powerful voice for human and minority rights in Iran since its inception in 2001.

Two weeks later, the Dalai Lama (1989), Jody Williams (1997), Bishop Carlos Belo (1996), Wangari Maathai (2004), Betty Williams (1976), Rigoberta Menchú Tum (1992), Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (1980), Máiread Corrigan Maguire (1976), Elie Wiesel (1986), all Nobel Prize winners, sent a letter to Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressing their concern over the Interior Ministry's position.

"As we understand, the work of the DHRC, as a civil and peaceful association, is legal according to the Iranian Constitution," the letter said. "We urge you to reconcile the discrepancy of the 'permit' that the Iranian government declares is necessary for the organization to function yet seems inconsistent with the Iranian constitution which states that non-governmental organizations that observe the law and do not disrupt public safety do not need a permit."

Under the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, individuals and associations have the right "to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms," and to "complain about the policies and actions of individual officials and governmental bodies with regard to violations of human rights."

It further says that states "shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of [human rights defenders] against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actions."

Ebadi's centre is a member of the International Federation for Human Rights and was awarded a prize by the Human Rights National Commission in France. In addition, Dr. Shirin Ebadi was recognised with a Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work to protect human rights.

As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obligated to uphold a commitment to freedom of association. The DHRC has made every effort to be in compliance with Iranian law and applied for a permit in 2002, which Iran's Ministry of Interior would not issue or explain why it refused.

Hadi Ghaemi, a Human Rights Watch researcher, told IPS that the Iranian government's threat to arrest Shirin Ebadi and lawyers associated with her centre is a serious attack on fundamental rights in Iran. "The government is basically demonstrating its intolerance of independent advocates who are trying to promote and protect human rights under the law," he said.

"It can also be viewed as an attempt to undermine the country's legal system, because if the government disallows human rights lawyers from public advocacy and threatens them with prosecution, then the lawyers have no security in defending their clients in the courtroom," he added.

A few days after the government's announcement, Ebadi sent an email message to human rights activists and media correspondents, asking them to publicise the government's threat and gather public support for her centre.

"The Government of Iran announced that this Center is illegal and provided we continue our activities, they shall arrest us," she wrote. "Of course I and the other members of the center do not intend to shut down the center and we shall continue our activities. However, there is a high possibility that that they will arrest us."

"The government's action in this regard is illegal," she wrote. "This Center has been established and working for more than four years now. I believe this decision of the government has been triggered by my memoir being published. In any case, I am happy that my memoir has been published, for the truth must be told."

Mohammad Seyfzadeh, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Mohammad Sharif, and Abolfatah Soltani, all well-respected lawyers in Iran, are among the co-founders of the DHRC.

Over the years, Ebadi and her colleagues have taken on prominent cases like that of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who was murdered while in prison in 2003; killings of dissidents and writers in 1998; the student uprising in 1999; arrests of bloggers and journalists in 2004; and the imprisonment of Iran's most prominent dissident, Akbar Ganji.

Ganji, who spent six years in jail and was released only recently, told IPS that it is unlikely that the Islamic government would actually arrest Dr. Ebadi.. However, he said that threatening human rights organisations into silence is part of the government's goal to create a monolithic society.

"They are against any kind of critical voices. They perceive opposition voices as part of an attempt to create a Velvet Revolution (like that in Czechoslovakia in 1989, as well as Ukraine and Georgia). For this reason, the Islamic regime is trying to shut down non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as DHRC," said Ganji, who was represented by Ebadi for the six years of his detention.

"Everybody involved in political and social activism is facing the risk of arrest and prosecution in Iran today. Dr. Ebadi and her colleagues should continue their activities. They do not need governmental license for their peaceful activities since it's not against the constitution," he said.

Ganji emphasised that activists around the world can support Ebadi and her colleagues by condemning the government's action against human rights NGOs. Such condemnations would make it harder for the government to impede the work of social activists within Iran.

Hussein Bastani, an Iranian journalist and political activist, worked with Dr. Ebadi in 1993, when they were both members of the Association for Defending the Rights of the Child. He told IPS that Dr. Ebadi was mostly engaged in non-political cases, yet even so she was threatened from time to time by anonymous callers who considered her position on the discriminatory laws regarding women and children to be "anti-Islamic".

"During the years I worked with Shirin Ebadi, I have two memories that never leave my mind. First, when it was proven that her name was on the 'list of terror'. This was a list of Iranian intellectuals who were killed in 1998 by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence," he said.

"Four were murdered before this list came to light. Second, when, during a telephone conversation in 2000, she told me she was summoned to court, and would probably be sent to prison the next day. I didn't agree with her. I couldn't imagine that someone like her would be arrested... but the day after; I heard the news of her imprisonment."

The restrictive policies against human rights NGOs mean that journalists and political and social activists are now more vulnerable in the face of government charges. The premature death of Akbar Mohammadi, a student activist who died in Evin prison in July, and the recent threats against Dr. Ebadi's centre are an ominous sign for those who fight for human rights in Iran today.

*Omid Memarian is an Iranian journalist and civil-society activist. He has won several awards, including Human Rights Watch's highest honour in 2005, the Human Rights Defender Award.

[RedWine]

Denied potential
Winning a Nobel prize is the last thing on mind of a person whose country has been attacked and exploited, either ideologically or physically, by internal and external forces for centuries
I have to say that quite simply, you cannot compare apples with oranges! Any qualitative or quantitative comparison has to be made in its appropriate context or else it is bound to fall short of achieving the very purpose that it was created for and as such, I found your comparison to be at the very best naïve, superficial and one-sided.

Surely, based on the statistics that you have provided the Jewish population have made higher academic achievements than Muslims, but if one closely examines the data, one would realize that most of the achievements have been made after World War II, when most of the Jewish population had migrated to America, Australia or western European countries and as such have had the opportunity to flourish their talents and abilities in peaceful and “democratic” countries, free from conflict, poverty and other impediments that prevent a person, being a Jew, Christian or Muslim, from fully realizing their true potentials.

That does not mean Muslims are less capable and/or have a genetically predisposition gene for being violent. Contrary to the Jewish population, most Muslims do not live in peaceful countries, as they have live in extreme poverty and other horrific situations which leave little or no room for flourishing one’s true potentials, let alone winning a Nobel prize!

This, of course, by no means justifies and/or excuses Muslims from not doing anything to improve their conditions. Undoubtedly Muslims could and should learn a lesson or two from Jews, namely internal solidarity and economic empowerment. But doing so requires a moment of peace and this, unfortunately, is a luxury that most Muslims have not had the opportunity to experience.

A political and historical analysis of Muslim nations would reveal that historically most Muslim countries either though existence of internal enemies –namely having dictator and totalitarian regimes ruling their everyday lives- or external enemies - namely foreign exploitation and colonialism- have had little chance to flourish their talents.

Further, you mentioned earlier, the Muslims constitute 20% of the world’s population, as opposed to Jews who only contribute 0.02%. Just because there are more Muslims than Jews, it does not mean that they should have more Nobel winners! Winning a Nobel prize is the last thing on mind of a person whose country has been attacked and exploited, either ideologically or physically, by internal and external forces for centuries.

The right to self-determination and autonomy is a very basic Human Rights, which most Muslims do not enjoy. Most Muslim nations, for the reasons mentioned above are not powerful economic players in the global market, they do not have the world’s biggest share of GDP, they do not control media ownership and most importantly they do not have highly “sophisticated” and “presentable” spoke-people articulately defending them in front of cameras to provoke sympathy. Hence they resort to “yelling and chanting in streets” as you have mentioned – but it is the only way that they can project their voice and be heard. Powerless and desperate people, resort to powerless and desperate means.

At the end of the day, we are all, regardless of our religions, humans, and not members of different species. Surely, everyone loves to live in a peaceful county where they can fully realize their true potentials and win as many Nobel prizes as possible, but the reality is that most people do not enjoy such luxuries and until they can acquire that, they will and should do all they can to achieve autonomy, peace, respect and equality in a global scale. I am certain, that everyone else would have done the same, if placed in a similar condition, regardless of their religion and faith.

[RedWine]

These amazing bodies have spend the recent year on dialogue of many emails, faxes... exchanged that have brought them together as one body standing for world peace. That's true. The 10 Nobel Peace Laureates have gathered together for the first time in the history of the United States to set out the action plan for the next ten years on the 12 themes they have picked as most crucial to present to the United Nations starting with their first U.N. meeting next week.

BBC World is planning two months of coverage of the laureates, started Sept. 1. The network also will run a 13-part documentary in 2007 that will follow each of the peace prize winners as they put their plan into action and head to the U.N. with them over the next 10 years!

I have had the honor and privilege of serving as one of the 300 mentors for the 3,000 high school students who have arrived from 31 different countries of the world! I’ve also had the honor and privilege of meeting with the laureates to discuss the call to action, to learn and receive their guidance as well as inspiration to keep moving forward with a dream for a better world. A dream fallowed by realistic action as Shirin Ebadi best put it in her speech tonight.

This weekend close to 3,000 “Peace Jammers” have gathered to fallow and uphold the call for action by each of the laureates.

About the Nobel Peace Laureates
Peace Jam is an international education program built around leading Nobel Peace Laureates who work personally with youth to pass on the spirit, skills, and wisdom they embody. The goal of Peace Jam is to inspire a new generation of peacemakers who will transform their local communities, themselves, and the world.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his courageous leadership in efforts to find a nonviolent solution to the conflicts over the policy of apartheid in South Africa.

President Oscar Arias, current President of Costa Rica, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the years of conflict and war in Central America.

Rigoberta Menchú Tum was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her work as a peaceful advocate of native Indian rights in Central America and for her leadership among indigenous peoples worldwide.

The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his nonviolent efforts to resolve the Tibetan conflict and for his worldwide role as a man of peace and advocate for the environment.

Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent leadership of the democratic opposition in Burma, following the principles of Gandhi. She has been under house arrest since 1989.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire & Betty Williams were presented with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for their efforts to create a grassroots movement to end the violence in Northern Ireland.

Jody Williams of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work in creating an international treaty to ban landmines and for the clearing of anti-personnel landmine fields.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980 for his leadership for human rights and true democracy for the people of Latin America.

José Ramos-Horta was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his sustained efforts to end the oppression of the East Timorese people.

Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts for democracy, peace, and women's rights in the Middle East.

This morning we were blessed with his holiness The Dalai Lama's key note. It was an intimate and beautiful moment for each one of us. We asked questions, and he answered. Some with humor, some with deep breaths of sympathy while reflecting on the sad events of the world at the current time. The Dalai Lama kept true to his young spirit by making us laugh with the details of his life such as enjoying fixing his clocks since he does not know anything about fixing computers! He also kept true to his humanitarian spirit by sharing his thoughts on love, compassion at heart, respect and tolerance for all religions, all cultures and all people of the world.

Among the highlights of the night was of course Ms. Shirin Ebadi's voice in Farsi that shook in a very very deep place in my heart and went through my head twice as her translator repeated everything in English. Her words were amazing and the crowd was deeply moved, standing still clapping for her.

The Archbishop Desmod Tutu and The Dalai Lama both hugged Shirin Ebadi when she bowed down giving The Dalai Lama a beautiful Buddhist curtsey.

[donsaeid]

عبادي: آمريكا در برخورد باايران "معيار دوگانه" اعمال مي*كند


شيرين عبادي با اشاره به آنچه سياست آمريكا در استقرار دمكراسي در خاورميانه خوانده مي*شود، گفت آمريكا در اين خصوص در قبال ايران معيارهاي دوگانه اعمال و از نظام*هاي غيردمكراتيك حمايت مي*كند.



به نقل از خبرگزاري فرانسه از اسلو، عبادي كه امروز در ديدار از اسلو نروژ در جمع خبرنگاران سخن مي*گفت،* يادآور شد: «آمريكا بر اساس معيار دوگانه درباره ايران عمل مي*كند. به دوستان آمريكا در منطقه نگاه كنيد. كه هستند؟ پاكستان، عربستان، بحرين و كويت. هيچكدام از آنها دمكراسي پيشرفته*اي ندارند.»
وي كه پس از ديدار با "يوناس گار استور" وزير امور خارجه نروژ صحبت مي*كرد،* ادامه داد: «آمريكا حتي به پاكستاني كه سلاح هسته*اي دارد، نزديك*تر است. پرويز مشرف از طريق دمكراتيك روي كار نيامد ولي از دوستان آمريكا است.»
عبادي با اشاره به تهديد غرب براي تحريم احتمالي ايران در صورتي كه غني*سازي اورانيوم را متوقف نكند، گفت: «تحريم*هاي اقتصادي ايران به مردم آسيب وارد خواهد آورد.»
عبادي از اين كه شركت*ها و گروه*هاي بين*المللي فعال در زمينه نفت در ايران حضور دارند ابراز خرسندي كرد و گفت: «درخواست ما اين است كه لطفاً به هر طريق كه شده قراردادهاي اقتصادي خود را امضاء كنيد. اين كار به مردم كمك مي*كند.»

[RedWine]

خبرگزارى آسوشيتدپرس از پاريس گزارش داد: ژاك شيراك رييس*جمهور فرانسه پس از اعطاى اين نشان به شيرين عبادي، برنده*ى ايرانى جايزه*ى صلح نوبل سال 2003 ميلادى به وى گفت: فرانسه تمايل دارد از كار شما كه آن را به طور كامل به دفاع از حقوق، عدالت، شرافت و آزادى اختصاص داده*ايد، قدردانى كند.

وى افزود: شما با شجاعت و غرورتان از يك ديدگاه ويژه*ى ايرانى كه سازگارى ميان ارزش*هاى اسلام و دموكراسى و حقوق بشر را تاييد مي*كند، دفاع مي*كنيد.

رييس*جمهور فرانسه گفت: فرانسه تلاش شما را ارج مي*نهد.

نشان لژيون دونور عالي*ترين نشان نظامى و غيرنظامى فرانسه است كه پيش از اين به مل&#