Shirin Ebadi, human rights defender against hardliners
Friday,
October 10 , 2003 - © 2003 IranMania.com
TEHRAN, Oct 10 (AFP) - Shirin Ebadi, 56, is one of Iran's most prominent
human rights defenders, whose campaigning on behalf of women, children and
outspoken dissidents has earned her the wrath of the Islamic republic's
religious hardliners.
Prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution, she made headlines when she became the
country's first female judge. But she was stripped of her post when the new
ruling clerics decided that women were unsuitable for such responsibilities.
Rather than retire to a life of obscurity, Ebadi continued to lecture in law
at Tehran university and emerged as a vocal activist and lawyer dedicted to
women's and children's rights.
She was a major driving force between the reform of Iran's family laws,
notably on divorce and inheritance -- and also against a system where the "blood
money" -- compensation for an injury -- for women is half that for a man.
Ebadi also emerged as something of an unofficial spokesperson for Iranian
women, who demonstrated their political clout in 1997 by rallying around the
mild-mannered reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami and electing him president.
But it was involvement in investigating one of Islamic Iran's most
controversial cases -- the 1999 serial murders of writers, intellectuals and
dissidents -- that put her on a collision course with Iran's hardliners.
She served as lawyer for Dariush and Parvaneh Foruhar, a couple who were
among several dissidents who died in a spate of grisly murders that were
eventually pinned on "rogue" agents from Iran's intelligence ministry.
In June2000 , she was arrested along with another reformist lawyer, for
allegedly distributing a taped confession of a hardline vigilante militia member
involved in anti-reformist violence. She was held in jail for three weeks, and
then recieved a suspended prison sentence of five years and was barred from
practising law in a closed-door trial.
Her work has won her accolades from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International, and in 2001 she was awarded the human rights Rafto prize. She is
married and has two daughters, aged 20 and23.
The profile released by the Nobel Committee following Friday's announcement
said, "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."
"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."
©Copyright 2003, IranMania.com
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Peace Prize Is Awarded To Iranian
By Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post Foreign Service
PARIS, Oct. 10 -- An Iranian lawyer and human rights activist who has battled
her country's Islamic government for years on behalf of women, street children
and dissidents won this year's Nobel Peace Prize Friday. The win made Shirin
Ebadi the first Muslim woman to receive that honor.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which administers the prize, said Ebadi's
selection was intended to promote human rights and democracy in Islamic
countries and the world as a whole.
Analysts said the committee's decision, announced in the Norwegian capital of
Oslo, appeared aimed at showing support for moderate Muslims after the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which many people feel widened the chasm between
Islam and Christianity and promoted religious intolerance.
In Paris, where she was attending a conference on women, the soft-spoken
Ebadi said she was surprised, then happy, because "this gives me enough energy
to help me continue my fight."
"All real Muslims should be really happy with this prize," said Ebadi, 56.
She said that in her view there was no difference between Islam and human
rights.
Speaking at a packed news conference in the courtyard of the Paris-based
International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, she appeared, as always when
outside Iran, without a head scarf. That was an act of defiance, friends said,
against the Islamic government she so frequently opposes, which believes that
women must cover their heads as a show of piety.
"If I were living in a country where the rights of women were respected, I
wouldn't be as happy as I am today," she said.
At the news conference, in which she spoke mostly in Farsi, she called for
the release of all political prisoners held in Iranian jails. She also
criticized U.S. military intervention in Muslim countries. Asked about Iraq (news
- web
sites) and Afghanistan (news
- web
sites), she said in English, "In Iraq and Afghanistan -- especially in Iraq
-- people do not have water and electricity. And it is very important for
people. How can we talk about human rights and freedom?"
In Tehran, the news of the first Iranian winner of the prestigious prize drew
mixed official reaction, reflecting differences between the reformist government
of President Mohammad Khatami (news
- web
sites) and the powerful clerics who oppose him.
Reporting from Tehran, the Reuters news agency quoted the editor of the
conservative newspaper Resalat as saying, "This prize carries the message that
Europe intends to put further pressure on human rights issues in Iran as a
political move to achieve its particular objectives."
But Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a reformist, said he was "very happy
that an Iranian, and above all a woman, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a
sign of the very active presence of Iranian women on the social and political
scene." And in a remark apparently aimed at recent court rulings against
reformists, Abtahi added, "The fact that a lawyer has won this prize gives us
hope that the judicial system will change its methods."
Ebadi was born in a community 180 miles southwest of Tehran. She received a
law degree from the University of Tehran in 1971, and under the rule of the
pro-Western monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was appointed one of the
country's first female judges, serving as president of the Tehran city court.
But she was forced to resign after the Islamic revolution of 1979, which limited
women's role in public life.
She remained in the legal world as an activist lawyer, representing a
succession of people with human rights complaints. They included women subject
to domestic abuse, street children and the families of writers and other
intellectuals murdered in 1999 and 2000. She has also worked to identify people
who orchestrated attacks on students protesting for democracy in 1999.
At the same time, she wrote books and journal articles, many of them on human
rights, including a book about children's rights.
In 2000, she was sentenced to 15 months in prison and was prohibited from
practicing law after being convicted of defaming the Iranian authorities. The
sentence was reduced to a fine on appeal.
Throughout Ebadi's very public career, she maintained a private life,
marrying and raising two daughters. She traveled widely, visiting Washington in
1996 to receive an award from Human Rights Watch. At present she teaches law at
Tehran University.
In a statement, the Nobel committee said she is "a sound professional, a
courageous person, and has never heeded the threats to her own safety." The
committee said it hoped the prize would be "an inspiration for all those who
struggle for human rights and democracy" in Iran, in the Muslim world, and in
"all countries where the fight for human rights needs inspiration and
support."
©Copyright 2003, Washington Post (DC, USA)
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Shirin Ebadi wins Nobel for peace
C R
JAYACHANDRAN/TIMESOFINDIA.COM
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
NEW DELHI: Iran's first woman judge and a leading figure in the struggle for
women's and children's rights in the country, Shirin Ebadi has won the Nobel
Peace Prize for 2003.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award this Nobel Peace Prize to
Ebadi for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially
on the struggle for the rights of women and children.
Ebadi won from a record field of 165 candidates including Pope John Paul and
former Czech President Vaclav Havel.
This year's prize is worth $1.3 million.
"As a lawyer, judge, lecturer, writer and activist, she has spoken out
clearly and strongly in her country, Iran, and far beyond its borders. She has
stood up as a sound professional, a courageous person, and has never heeded the
threats to her own safety," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.
Her principal arena is the struggle for basic human rights, and no society
deserves to be labelled civilized unless the rights of women and children are
respected. In an era of violence, she has consistently supported non-violence.
It is fundamental to her view that the supreme political power in a community
must be built on democratic elections. She favours enlightenment and dialogue as
the best path to changing attitudes and resolving conflict.
"Ebadi is a conscious Muslim. She sees no conflict between Islam and
fundamental human rights. It is important to her that the dialogue between the
different cultures and religions of the world should take as its point of
departure their shared values," it said.
It is a pleasure for the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize
to a woman who is part of the Muslim world, and of whom that world can be proud
- along with all who fight for human rights wherever they live.
During recent decades, democracy and human rights have advanced in various
parts of the world. By its awards of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel
Committee has attempted to speed up this process.
"We hope that the people of Iran will feel joyous that for the first time in
history one of their citizens has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and we
hope the Prize will be an inspiration for all those who struggle for human
rights and democracy in her country, in the Moslem world, and in all countries
where the fight for human rights needs inspiration and support," the Nobel
committee said.
The prizes are presented to the winners on December 10, the anniversary of
Nobel's death in 1896 in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. The peace prize is
presented in Oslo.
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).
In 1997 Ebadi had told Norwegian news agency NTB that Iran's existing system
had to change.
"After the revolution many things went wrong. For example, we received a
series of discriminatory laws. Now an increasing number of people want changes,
and this is seen in the election of Mohammad Khatami as president. The time has
come for reforms," Ebadi had said
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.
In 2001 Ebadi won the Rafto Prize for her long battle for human rights and
democracy in Iran. She has also been recognised by Human Rights Watch for her
efforts.
©Copyright 2003, The Times of India (India)
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Iranian rights activist wins Nobel Peace Prize
OSLO÷The Iranian
human-rights activist and feminist lawyer, Shirin Ebadi, was awarded the 2003
Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo Friday, becoming the first Muslim woman to win the
honor in the prize's 102-year history.
Ebadi, 56, was given the prize "for her efforts for democracy and human
rights," particularly for women and children in her country, which has been
under Islamic rule since its 1979 revolution, the Nobel Committee said.
In a reaction broadcast on Norwegian radio, Ebadi said her win was "very good
for me, very good for human rights and very good for democracy in Iran."
She added that she was "very glad and proud" and hoped the fame the prize
brought would help her work in her country.
The profile released by the Nobel Committee following Friday's announcement
said, 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.
"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."
In 1974 Ebadi became Iran's first woman judge, but lost that post in the
revolution five years later when Islamic clerics took over and decreed that
women could not preside over courts.
Rather than retire to a life of obscurity, Ebadi continued to lecture in law
at Tehran University and emerged as a vocal activist and lawyer dedicated to
women's and children's rights.
She was a major driving force between the reform of Iran's family laws,
notably on divorce and inheritance÷and also against a system where the "blood
money"÷compensation for an injury÷for women is half that for a man.
Ebadi also emerged as something of an unofficial spokesperson for Iranian
women, who demonstrated their political clout in 1997 by rallying around the
mild-mannered reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami and electing him president.
But it was involvement in investigating one of Islamic Iran's most
controversial cases÷the 1999 serial murders of writers, intellectuals and
dissidents÷that put her on a collision course with Iran's hardliners.
She served as lawyer for Dariush and Parvaneh Foruhar, a couple who were
among several dissidents who died in a spate of grisly murders that were
eventually pinned on "rogue" agents from Iran's intelligence ministry.
In June 2000, she was arrested along with another reformist lawyer, for
allegedly distributing a taped confession of a hard-line vigilante militia
member involved in antireformist violence.
"My problem is not with Islam, it's with the culture of patriarchy," Ebadi
told Britain's Guardian newspaper in June. "Practices such as stoning have no
foundation in the Koran."
Ebadi spent time in jail for attending a 2001 conference on Iranian form in
Berlin. She has maintained a high profile in her feminist struggle, also by
writing many books and articles.
"Any person who pursues human rights in Iran must live with fear from birth
to death, but I have learned to overcome my fear," she told the Christian
Science Monitor newspaper in 1999.
Her work has won her accolades from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International, and in 2001 she was awarded the human rights Rafto prize. She is
married and has two daughters, aged 20 and 23.
Ebadi was selected from a field of 165 candidates for the prize, among them
Pope John Paul II and former Czech president Vaclav Havel.
--Agence
France-Presse
©Copyright 2003, Agence France-Presse (France)
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The Manila Times (Philippines):
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2003/oct/11/top_stories/20031011top8.html
THE NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE
Biography
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.
Oslo, 10 October 2003