Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: DoctorZIn
Today: October 10, 2003 at 3:24:14 PDT
Excerpts From Nobel Peace Prize Citation
By The Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Excerpts from the citation of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded Friday to Shirin Ebadi of Iran for her human rights activism:
---

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 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.
---

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. Her principal arena is the struggle for basic human rights, and no society deserves to be labeled civilized unless the rights of women and children are respected. In an era of violence, she has consistently supported nonviolence. It is fundamental to her view that the supreme political power in a community must be built on democratic elections. She favors enlightenment and dialogue as the best path to changing attitudes and resolving conflict.
---

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 Muslim world, and in all countries where the fight for human rights needs inspiration and support.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-eur/2003/oct/10/101002177.html
14 posted on 10/10/2003 6:31:47 AM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife ("Life isn't fair. It's fairer than death, is all.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies ]


To: Pan_Yans Wife
Shirin Ebadi, human rights defender who enraged Iran's hardliners

TEHRAN (AFP) Oct 10, 2003
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 June 2000, 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 and 23.

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."
http://www.spacewar.com/2003/031010092015.x896w7j9.html
15 posted on 10/10/2003 7:07:00 AM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife ("Life isn't fair. It's fairer than death, is all.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson