Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi in 2015
Born (1947-06-21) 21 June 1947[1]
Hamadan, Iran
Residence London, England
Nationality Iranian
Alma mater University of Tehran[2]
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • Judge
Known for Defenders of Human Rights Center
Religion Shia Islam
Awards Rafto Prize (2001)
Nobel Peace Prize (2003)
JPM Interfaith Award (2004)
Legion of Honour (2006)
Signature

Shirin Ebadi (Persian: شيرين عبادى‎‎ Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's, children's, and refugee rights. She was the first ever Iranian to receive the prize, and thousands greeted her at the airport when she returned from Paris after receiving the news that she had won the prize.[3]

In 2009, Ebadi's award was allegedly confiscated by Iranian authorities, though this was later denied by the Iranian government.[4] If true, she would be the first person in the history of the Nobel Prize whose award has been forcibly seized by state authorities.[5]

Ebadi lived in Tehran, but she has been in exile in the UK since June 2009 due to the increase in persecution of Iranian citizens who are critical of the current regime.[6] In 2004, she was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the "100 most powerful women in the world".[7] She is also included in a published list of the "100 most influential women of all time."[8]

Life and early career as a judge

Ebadi was born in Hamadan, Iran. Her father, Mohammad Ali Ebadi, was the city's chief notary public and a professor of commercial law. Her family moved to Tehran in 1948.

She was admitted to the law department of the University of Tehran in 1965 and in 1969, upon graduation, passed the qualification exams to become a judge. After a six-month internship period, she officially became a judge in March 1969. She continued her studies in University of Tehran in the meantime to pursue a doctorate's degree in law in 1971. In 1975, she became the first woman president of the Tehran city court, and also the first ever woman judge in Iran.[9]

Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, conservative clerics insisted that Islam prohibits women from becoming judges and Ebadi was demoted to a secretarial position at the branch where she had previously presided. She and other female judges protested and were assigned to the slightly higher position of "law expert." She eventually requested early retirement as the situation remained unchanged.

As her applications were repeatedly rejected, Ebadi was not able to practice as a lawyer until 1993, while she already had a law office permit. She used this free time to write books and many articles in Iranian periodicals.[2]

Ebadi as a lawyer

Shirin Ebadi at WSIS press conference

Ebadi lectured law at the University of Tehran. She is a campaigner for strengthening the legal status of children and women, the latter of which played a key role in the May 1997 landslide presidential election of the reformist Mohammad Khatami.

As a lawyer, she is known for taking up pro bono cases of dissident figures who have fallen foul of the judiciary. She has represented the family of Dariush Forouhar, a dissident intellectual and politician who was found stabbed to death at his home. His wife, Parvaneh Eskandari, was also killed at the same time.

The couple were among several dissidents who died in a spate of grisly murders that terrorized Iran's intellectual community. Suspicion fell on extremist hard-liners determined to put a stop to the more liberal climate fostered by President Khatami, who championed freedom of speech. The murders were found to be committed by a team of the employees of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, whose head, Saeed Emami, allegedly committed suicide in jail before being brought to court.

Ebadi also represented the family of Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad, who was killed in the Iranian student protests in July 1999. In 2000 Ebadi was accused of manipulating the videotaped confession of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a former member of the Ansar-e Hezbollah. Ebrahimi confessed his involvement in attacks made by the organization on the orders of high-level conservative authorities, which have included the killing of Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad and attacks against members of President Khatami's cabinet. Ebadi claimed that she had only videotaped Amir Farshad Ebrahimi's confessions in order to present them to the court. This case was named "Tape makers" by hardliners who questioned the credibility of his videotaped deposition as well as his motives. Ebadi and Rohami were sentenced to five years in jail and suspension of their law licenses for sending Ebrahimi's videotaped deposition to Islamic President Khatami and the head of the Islamic judiciary. The sentences were later vacated by the Islamic judiciary's supreme court, but they did not forgive Ebarahimi's videotaped confession and sentenced him to 48 months jail, including 16 months in solitary confinement.[10] This case brought increased focus on Iran from human rights groups abroad.

Ebadi has also defended various child abuse cases, including the case of Arian Golshani,[11] a child who was abused for years and then beaten to death by her father and stepbrother. This case gained international attention and caused controversy in Iran. Ebadi used this case to highlight Iran’s problematic child custody laws, whereby custody of children in divorce is usually given to the father, even in the case of Arian, where her mother had told the court that the father was abusive and had begged for custody of her daughter. Ebadi also handled the case of Leila, a teenage girl who was gang-raped and murdered. Leila’s family became homeless trying to cover the costs of the execution of the perpetrators owed to the government, because in the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is the victim's family's responsibility to pay to restore their honor when a girl is raped by paying the government to execute the perpetrator. Ebadi was not able to achieve a victory in this case, but she brought international attention to this problematic law.[3] Ebadi also handled a few cases dealing with bans of periodicals (including the cases of Habibollah Peyman, Abbas Marufi, and Faraj Sarkouhi). She has also established two non-governmental organizations in Iran with western funding, the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (SPRC) and the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC).[10]

She also helped in the drafting of the original text of a law against physical abuse of children, which was passed by the Iranian parliament in 2002. Female members of Parliament also asked Ebadi to draft a law explaining how a woman's right to divorce her husband is in line with Sharia (Islamic Law). Ebadi presented the bill before the government, but the male members made her leave without considering the bill, according to Ebadi's memoir.[3]

Political views

In her book Iran Awakening, Ebadi explains her political/religious views on Islam, democracy and gender equality

In the last 23 years, from the day I was stripped of my judgeship to the years of doing battle in the revolutionary courts of Tehran, I had repeated one refrain: an interpretation of Islam that is in harmony with equality and democracy is an authentic expression of faith. It is not religion that binds women, but the selective dictates of those who wish them cloistered. That belief, along with the conviction that change in Iran must come peacefully and from within, has underpinned my work."[12]

At the same time, Ebadi expresses a nationalist love of Iran and a critical view of the Western world. She opposed the pro-Western Shah, initially supported the Islamic Revolution, and remembers the CIA's 1953 overthrow of prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq with rage.

At a press conference shortly after the Peace Prize announcement, Ebadi herself explicitly rejected foreign interference in the country's affairs: "The fight for human rights is conducted in Iran by the Iranian people, and we are against any foreign intervention in Iran."[13][14]

Subsequently, Ebadi has openly defended the Islamic regime's nuclear development programme:

Aside from being economically justified, it has become a cause of national pride for an old nation with a glorious history. No Iranian government, regardless of its ideology or democratic credentials, would dare to stop the program.[15]

However, in a 2012 interview, Ebadi has stated: "The [Iranian] people want to stop enrichment but the government doesn’t listen. Iran is situated on a fault line and people are scared of a Fukushima type of situation happening. We want peace, security, and economic welfare, and we cannot forgo all of our other rights for nuclear energy. The government claims it is not making a bomb. But I am not a member of the government, so I cannot speak to this directly. The fear is that if they do, Israel will be wiped out. If the Iranian people are able to topple the government, this could improve the situation. [In 2009] the people of Iran rose up and were badly suppressed. Right now, Iran is the country with the most journalists in prison. This is the price people are paying."[16]

Ebadi also indirectly expressed her views on Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In April 2010, Associated Students of the University of California passed a bill calling for the University to Divest itself from what it saw as Israeli war crimes, by breaking ties with companies providing technology to the Israel Defense Forces. Shirin Ebadi, together with three other Peace Prize laureates, supported the bill.[17]

Regarding her views on the Shia religion in Iran, she has said, after the Arabs came, and Iran converted to Islam, "Eventually we turned to the Shiite sect, which was different from the Arabs, who are Sunni" noting Persians were still Muslims but "We were Iranian."[18]

Since the victory of Hassan Rouhani in the 2013 Iranian presidential election, Shirin Ebadi in various occasions has expressed her worry about the growing human rights violations in her homeland. Ebadi in her Dec. 2013 speech at Human Rights Day seminar at Leiden University angrily said: "I will shut up but the problems of Iran will not be solved".[19]

In light of the increased power of ISIL, Ebadi communicated in April 2015 that she believes the Western world should spend money funding education and an end to corruption rather than fighting with guns and bombs. She reasons that because the Islamic State stems from an ideology based on a "wrong interpretation of Islam," physical force will not end ISIS because it will not end its beliefs.[20]

Nobel Peace Prize

On 10 October 2003, Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children.[21] The selection committee praised her as a "courageous person" who "has never heeded the threat to her own safety".[22] Now she travels abroad lecturing in the West. She is against a policy of forced regime change. Her husband, Javad Tavassolian, was an advisor to President Khatami.

The decision of the Nobel committee surprised some observers worldwide. Pope John Paul II had been predicted to win the Peace Prize amid speculation that he was nearing death. Some observers viewed Ebadi's selection as a calculated and political one along the lines of the selection of Lech Wałęsa and Mikhail Gorbachev, among others, for the award. Furthermore, they suggested that Ebadi's activities were not directly related to the goals of the prize as originally expressed by Alfred Nobel.

She presented a book entitled Democracy, human rights, and Islam in modern Iran: Psychological, social and cultural perspectives to the Nobel Committee. The volume documents the historical and cultural basis of democracy and human rights from Cyrus and Darius, 2,500 years ago to Mohammad Mossadeq, the Prime Minister of modern Iran who nationalized the oil industry.

In Iran, officials of the Islamic Republic were either silent or critical of the selection of Ebadi, calling it a political act by a pro-Western institution and were also critical when Ebadi did not cover her hair at the Nobel award ceremony.[23] IRNA reported it in few lines that the evening newspapers and the Iranian state media waited hours to report the Nobel committee's decision—and then only as the last item on the radio news update.[24] Reformist officials are said to have "generally welcomed the award", but "come under attack for doing so."[25] Reformist president Mohammad Khatami did not officially congratulate Ms. Ebadi and stated that although the scientific Nobels are important, the Peace Prize is "not very important" and was awarded to Ebadi on the basis of "totally political criteria".[25] Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the only official to initially congratulate Ebadi, defended the president saying "abusing the President's words about Ms. Ebadi is tantamount to abusing the prize bestowed on her for political considerations".

Post-Nobel prize

Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt meeting Ebadi in London, 3 February 2011

Since receiving the Nobel Prize Ebadi has lectured, taught and received awards in different countries, issued statements and defended people accused of political crimes in Iran. She has traveled to and spoken to audiences in India, the United States, and other countries; released her autobiography in an English translation. With five other Nobel laureates, she created the Nobel Women's Initiative to promote peace, justice and equality for women.[2]

Threats

In April 2008 she told Reuters news agency that Iran's human rights record had regressed in the past two years[26] and agreed to defend Baha’is arrested in Iran in May 2008.

In April 2008 Ebadi released a statement saying: "Threats against my life and security and those of my family, which began some time ago, have intensified," and that the threats warned her against making speeches abroad, and defending Iran's minority Baha'i community.[27] In August 2008, the IRNA news agency published an article attacking Ebadi's links to the Bahá'í Faith and accused her of seeking support from the West. It also criticized Ebadi for defending homosexuals, appearing without the Islamic headscarf abroad, questioning Islamic punishments, and "defending CIA agents."[28] It accused her daughter, Nargess Tavassolian, of conversion to the Bahá'í faith, a capital offense in the Islamic Republic. Her daughter believes "the government wanted to scare my mother with this scenario." Ebadi believes the attacks are in retaliation for her agreeing to defend the families of the seven Baha’is arrested in May.[29]

In December 2008, Iranian police shut down the office of a human rights group led by her.[30] Another human rights group, Human Rights Watch, has said it was "extremely worried" about Ebadi's safety.[31]

Seizure

Ebadi said while in London in late November 2009 that her Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma had been taken from their bank box alongside her Légion d'honneur and a ring she had received from Germany's association of journalists.[32] She said they had been taken by the Revolutionary Court approximately three weeks previously.[32][33][34] Ebadi also said her bank account was frozen by authorities.[32][35][36] Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre expressed his "shock and disbelief" at the incident.[32] The Iranian foreign ministry subsequently denied the confiscation, and also criticized Norway for interfering in Iran's affairs.[37][38]

Post-Nobel Prize timeline

Shirin Ebadi during a lecture - organized by University of Amsterdam, 7 November 2011

Lawsuits

Lawsuit against the United States

In 2004, Ebadi filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Treasury because of restrictions she faced over publishing her memoir in the United States. American trade laws include prohibitions on writers from embargoed countries. The law also banned American literary agent Wendy Strothman from working with Ebadi. Azar Nafisi wrote a letter in support of Ebadi. Nafisi said that the law infringes on the First Amendment.[56] After a long legal battle, Ebadi won and was able to publish her memoir in the United States.[57]

Lawsuit over non-publication

According to the Associated Press, on 27 August 2007, Ebadi was sued by a Canadian author and political analyst, Shahir Shahidsaless—who writes and publishes in Persian—in U.S. District Court in Manhattan saying she reneged on getting a publisher for a book she had requested him to write under her supervision, titled "A Useful Enemy". The initial suit was dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction of the court, and not the substance of the case, which was never tried. The case is currently being considered at the New York State Court.

Honors and awards

Ebadi on Poletik, a weekly American television show

Books published

See also

References

  1. ↑ Daniel P. O'Neil (2007). Fatima's sword: Everyday female resistance in post-revolutionary Iran. ProQuest. pp. 55–61. ISBN 978-0-549-40947-2. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Karen L. Kinnear (2011). Women in Developing Countries: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-59884-425-2.
  3. 1 2 3 Ebadi, Shirin. Iran Awakening: One Woman's Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country. 10 April 2007. Print.
  4. ↑ Reuters (27 November 2009). "Iran Denies It Confiscated Ebadi's Nobel Medal". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  5. ↑ Norway says Iran confiscated Ebadi's Nobel Reuters 27 November
  6. ↑ "Shirin Ebadi: The Activist in Exile" Newsweek 30 March 2010
  7. ↑ Forbes.com: Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the World 2004
  8. ↑ Britannica Educational Publishing (1 October 2009). The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time. The Rosen Publishing Group. pp. 330–331. ISBN 978-1-61530-058-7. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Profile: Shirin Ebadi". article. BBC News. 27 November 2009.
  10. 1 2 "Autobiography". article. NobelPrize.org.
  11. ↑ http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-01-28/news/1998028066_1_ebadi-iran-arian
  12. ↑ Ebadi, Shirin, Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope, by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House, 2006, p.204
  13. ↑ Washington Post: Nobels With a Message, last retrieved on 12 October 2007
  14. ↑ Working for Change: Eyes off the prize, last retrieved on 12 October 2007
  15. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald: Sunnis fear US missteps will bolster Tehran's influence, last retrieved on 12 October 2007
  16. ↑ Shirin Ebadi Interview: Iran’s Voice of Reason on Nuke Talks Daily Beast
  17. ↑ "Statement of Support from Nobel Women Peace Laureates". 28 April 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  18. ↑ http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/iran-archaeology/del-giudice-text/6
  19. ↑ Video on YouTube
  20. ↑ "Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi on Nuclear Deal, Islamic State, Women's Rights". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  21. ↑ Nobelprize.org: The Nobel Peace Prize 2003, last retrieved on 12 October 2007
  22. ↑ bbc.co.uk: Nobel winner's plea to Iran, last retrieved on 12 October 2007
  23. ↑ Safa Haeri. "Iranian Muslim Women Are Free To Wear Or Not The Hejab: Mohammad Khatami". Iran Press Service,. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  24. ↑ "Iranians Celebrated With Joy Ebadi'S Nobel Peace Prize By Safa Haeri". Iran Press Service. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  25. 1 2 "Khatami advice to Nobel laureate, October 14, 2003". BBC News. 14 October 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  26. 1 2 "Iran to probe threats against Nobel laureate Ebadi". Reuters. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  27. 1 2 "BBC NEWS. Top Iranian dissident threatened". BBC News. 14 April 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  28. ↑ "Iranian press targets Nobel Prize winner Ebadi". Media.www.mcgilltribune.com. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  29. ↑ Safa Haeri (9 August 2008). "By Attacking Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, The Islamic Republic Revives Stalinian Methods". Iran-press-service.com. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  30. ↑ "Iran Shuts Down Nobel Winner's Rights Group". Voice of America. 21 December 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  31. 1 2 "Iranian raid on Ebadi condemned". BBC News. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  32. 1 2 3 4 "Shirin Ebadi Nobel Peace Prize medal 'seized by Iran'". BBC. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  33. ↑ Iran Confiscates Shirin Ebadi’s Nobel Peace Medal in Want of Tax Liability Archived 23 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  34. ↑ "Outrage after Iran seizes Nobel medal". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  35. ↑ "Iran confiscates Shirin Ebadi's Nobel Peace Prize". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  36. ↑ "Ebadi defiant despite Iran assets seizure". Bangkok Post. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  37. ↑ "Iran denies it confiscated Ebadi's Nobel medal". Reuters. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  38. ↑ "Tehran denies seizing Shirin Ebadi's Nobel medal". BBC News. 27 November 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  39. ↑ "Middle East: Iran: A Nobel Advocate". New York Times. 14 June 2004. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  40. ↑ Fathi, Nazila (19 July 2004). "Iran Stops Trial in the Murder of a Journalist". New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  41. ↑ Emily Pearce (15 March 2005). "Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner to speak at Vanderbilt's Senior Day". Vanderbilt News. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  42. ↑ Nobel Women's Initiative
  43. ↑ U.S. News Staff (17 May 2007). "News Desk – Politics & Policy". usnews.com. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  44. ↑ "Local Baha'is worry about their fellow believers in Iran" (Press release). The Chatham News. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  45. ↑ "In court I will defend the Bahais". Bahairights.org. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  46. ↑ "Iran's arrest of Baha'is condemned". CNN. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  47. 1 2 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (25 February 2009). "2008 Human Rights Report: Iran". United States State Department. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  48. 1 2 Moaveni, Azadeh (6 January 2009). "Iran's Nobel Laureate Has Become a Target of the Regime. Azadeh MOAVENI. JANUARY 6, 2009". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  49. 1 2 Martin Fletcher (24 September 2009). "Britain is appeasing Iran, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi says". The Times (UK)
  50. ↑ Iranian Nobel Peace Prize-Winner Ebadi Calls For New Elections 16 June 2009
  51. ↑ Iran tells Norway to stay out of Nobel medal row Associated Press 26 November 2009
  52. ↑ "Iran detains Nobel laureate's sister". CNN. 29 December 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  53. ↑ Shirin Ebadi statement Archived 28 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  54. ↑ Tricked into cheating
  55. ↑ Nobel laureate calls for freedom for 3 Iranian opposition leaders after year of house arrest| Associated Press| 26 January 2012
  56. ↑ All Things Considered (5 December 2004). "Iranian Nobel Winner Suing U.S. over Memoir". NPR. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  57. ↑ All Things Considered (19 December 2004). "Ebadi Wins Round with U.S. over Memoirs". NPR. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  58. ↑ Williams College: Honorary Degree Citation 2004, last retrieved on 5 May 2008
  59. ↑ A Different View, Issue 19, January 2008.
  60. ↑ "University Honors: Shirin Ebadi". Marquette University. Archived from the original on 3 November 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  61. ↑ http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/article/default.aspx?objid=83533
  62. ↑ http://www.lsuc.on.ca/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147487963

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