reference

Home

Shopping

Articles

Local

News

Shirin Ebadi

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 professor of commercial law. The family moved to Tehran in 1948.

Ebadi was admitted to the law department University of Tehran in 1965 and upon graduation in 1969 passed the qualification exams to become a judge. After a six-month internship period, she officially started her judging career in March 1969. She continued her studies in University of Tehran in the meanwhile and received a master's degree in law in 1971. In 1975, she became the first woman to preside over a legislative court.

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, which made her widely known.

Ebadi as a lawyer

Ebadi now lectures law at the University of Tehran and 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 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, the only person (a conscript soldier) killed in the Iranian student protests of July 1999. In the process, in 2000 Ebadi was accused of distributing the videotaped confession of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a former member of the Ansar-e Hezbollah. Ebrahimi accused his former associates of attacking members of President Khatami's cabinet on orders of high-level conservative authorities. 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. This case brought increased focus on Iran from human rights groups abroad.

Ebadi has also defended various child abuse cases and 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).

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.

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."

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, remembers the CIA's 1953 overthrow of prime minister Mohammed Mosaddeq with rage, and feels anger toward family and friends who have emigrated to Western countries with better job opportunities. "I refuse to write letters to those who had left ... When someone leaves Iran, it's as though that person has died to me."

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."

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.

Nobel Peace Prize

On October 10 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. The selection committee praised her as a "courageous person" who "has never heeded the threat to her own safety". 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 selection of Ebadi by the Norwegian Nobel committee is thought by some observers in the last few years to represent an implicit criticism of American policy in the Middle East, in particular the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. George W. Bush has referred to Iran as a member of the axis of evil.

The decision of the Nobel committee surprised some observers worldwide - then Pope John Paul II was the bookies' favourite to scoop the prestigious award amid feverish speculation that he was nearing death. Some observers, mostly supporters of Pope John Paul II, viewed her selection as a calculated and political one, along the lines of the selection of Lech Wałęsa and Mikhail Gorbachev, among others, for the Peace Award. They claimed that none of Ebadi's previous activities were directly related to the stated goals for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize, as originally stated by Alfred Nobel, and that according to the will of Alfred Nobel the prize should have been awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".

She presented a book entitled, Democracy, human rights, and Islam in modern Iran: Psychological, social and cultural perspectives (2003,Bergen: Fagbokforlaget), 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 Muhammad Mossadeq, the popular 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. 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. Reformist officials are said to have "generally welcomed the award", but "come under attack for doing so." 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". 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

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; participated in the Nobel Women's Initiative along with five other Nobel Laureates.

Threats

In April 2008 she told Reuters news agency that Iran's human rights record had regressed in the past two years. 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. 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." 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.

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

Post-Nobel Prize timeline

2003 November - She declared that she would provide legal representation for the family of the murdered freelance photographer Zahra Kazemi.

2004 - During the World Social Forum- Bombay, January 2004 - Ebadi, speaking at a small girls' school run by an NGO, "Sahyog", proposed that January 30 (the day Mahatma Gandhi fell to a Hindu extremist's bullets) be observed as International Day of Non-Violence. This proposal was brought to her from school children in Paris by their Indian teacher Akshay Bakaya. 3 years later Sonia Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu relayed the idea at the Delhi Satyagraha Convention January 2007, preferring however to propose Gandhi's birthday October 2. The UN General Assembly on June 15 2007 adopted October 2 as the International Day of Non-Violence.

2005 Spring - Ebadi taught a course on "Islam and Human Rights" at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law in Tucson, Arizona.

2005 Autumn - Ebadi presented a lecture titled "The Role of Women in World Peace" in a Woman's Study Review held at The City University of New York (CUNY), Lehman College.

2005 - Ebadi was voted the world's 12th leading public intellectual in The 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll by Prospect magazine (UK).

2006 - Random House released her first book for a Western audience, Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope, with Azadeh Moaveni. A reading of the book was serialised as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in September 2006. American novelist David Ebershoff served as the book's editor.

2006 - Ebadi was one of the founders of The Nobel Women's Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace Laureates Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Wangari Maathai, Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Six women representing North America and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa decided to bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. It is the goal of the Nobel Women's Initiative to help strengthen work being done in support of women's rights around the world.

2006 May - Ebadi delivered the Commencement Address at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a speech at UC Berkeley.

2006 September - Her presentation of a lecture entitled "Iran Awakening: Human Rights, Women and Islam" drew a sold-out crowd at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series.

2007 April 12 - She gave a presentation on "Peace and Social Justice in a Global World: The Role of Women and Islam" at the Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO. She was the Keynote speaker at The Seventh Annual Atlas Week, a week for global awareness.

2007 April 30 - She gave a presentation on "True Islam: Human Rights and The Roles of Faith" at Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL. She also received an honorary doctorate from the university.

2007 May 1 - Shirin appeared at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, at the request of the Persian Students of Cal Poly to give a lecture which mainly dealt with Democracy, Women's Rights, and American relations in Iran.

2007 May 17 - Ebadi announced that she would defend the Iranian American scholar Haleh Esfandiari, who is jailed in Tehran.

2007 May 18 - Ebadi presided over the Commencement ceremony of The New School at Madison Square Garden in New York. She gave a speech in Persian which was translated by a translator and she also received an honorary PhD from The New School.

2008 March - Ebadi tells Reuters news agency that Iran's human rights record had regressed in the past two years.

2008 April 14 - 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.

2008 June - Ebadi volunteered to be the lawyer for the arrested Bahá'í leadership of Iran in June.

2008 7 August - Ebadi announced via the Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights that she would defend in court the seven Bahá'í leaders arrested in the spring.

2008 1 September - Ebadi published her book Refugee Rights in Iran exposing the lack of rights given to Afghan refugees living in Iran.

2008 16 October - Ebadi was a keynote presenter at Emory University School of Law for the Advancing the Consensus conference celebrating the 60th anniversity of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

2008 December 21 Ebadi's office of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights raided and closed.

2008 December 29 - Islamic authorities close Ebadi's Center for Defenders of Human Rights, raiding her private office, seizing her computers and files. Worldwide condemnation of raid.

2009 1 January - Pro-regime "demonstrators" attack Ebadi's home and office.

2009 24 February - Ebadi spoke on the "Empowering women" plenary session at ISFiT.

2009 12 June - Ebadi was at a seminar in Spain at the time of Iranian presidential election. "[W]hen the crackdown began colleagues told her not to come home" and as of October 2009 she has not returned to Iran. Martin Fletcher September 24, 2009

2009 16 June - In the midst of nationwide protests against the very surprising and highly suspect election results giving incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory, Ebadi calls for new elections in an interview with Radio Free Europe.

2009 24 September - Touring abroad to lobby international leaders and highlight the Islamic regime's human rights abuses since June, Ebadi criticizes the British government for putting talks on the Islamic regime's nuclear programme ahead of protesting its brutal suppression of opposition. Noting the British Ambassador attended President Ahmadinejad’s inauguration, she said, “`That’s when I felt that human rights were being neglected. ... Undemocratic countries are more dangerous than a nuclear bomb. It’s undemocratic countries that jeopardise international peace.`” She calls for "the downgrading of Western embassies, the withdrawal of ambassadors and the freezing of the assets of Iran’s leaders."

Publications

thumb|right|150px|Iran Awakening, Shirin Ebadi's memoir.
Books written by Shirin Ebadi which have been translated into English:

History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (New York, 2000, ISBN 0-933273-40-1)

The Rights of the Child. A Study of Legal Aspects of Children's Rights in Iran (Tehran, 1994)

Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope (New York, 2006, ISBN 1-4000-6470-8)

Democracy, human rights, and Islam in modern Iran: Psychological, social and cultural perspectives. (Bergen, 2003, ISBN 82-7674-922-4)

Refugee Rights in Iran (Saqi Books, 2008, ISBN 0863566782)

Lawsuits

Law suit against the United States

In 2004 Shirin 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 Shirin Ebadi. Nafisi said that the law infringes on the First Amendment. After a long legal battle, Shirin Ebadi won and was able to publish her memoir in the United States.

Law suit over non-publication

According to the Associated Press, on August 27, 2007, Shirin 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.