Protest Threats against Iranian Nobel Prize Winner

Alert Issued: October 8, 2008

The Iranian regime has stepped up its campaign against human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. 

On October 1, 2008, while Ebadi was in Germany receiving the "tolerance prize" (toleranzpreis), the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) warned that Ebadi was exploiting the "patience and tolerance" of government authorities.  Such statements reflect government policy and expose Ebadi to broader risk.

In addition, after pressure from the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Malaysian authorities canceled a series of university lectures by Ebadi in that country.  The Iranian foreign ministry warned that permitting Ebadi to lecture in Malaysia will "damage the good relations" between the two countries.

For months Ebadi has been the target of campaigns in government media, leading her to state that if something were to happen to her, IRNA and Kayhan (a government-sponsored daily newspaper) should be held responsible.

These attacks put Ebadi and other human rights defenders at risk of violence and repression. Join us in demanding an end to the Iranian regime's attempts to intimidate and silence Ebadi. 

Background

Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, has devoted much of her legal career to defending the rights of women and children in Iran.  She was the first woman to preside over a legislative court in Iran, until she was forced to relinquish her post after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 
 
Ebadi is accustomed to criticism by media and government, and to heavy-handed attempts to silence and intimidate her.  The Iranian regime has banned the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, which she heads.  One of her associates, Abdolfattah Soltani, was arrested in July 2005 and imprisoned for nearly eight months. Ebadi has repeatedly been summoned to Court.

Attacks against Ebadi in government-sponsored media have increased over the past two to three months:

• On August 2, 2008, Kayhan published a commentary mocking Ebadi's criticism of a rise in executions in Iran.
• On August 3, 2008, Kayhan reported on Ebadi's receipt of an appreciation letter from a Baha'i Center headquartered in Israel, thanking her for her work in defense of Baha'is in Iran.
• On August 4, 2008, Kayhan published another commentary deriding Ebadi's criticism of the "national security" charges being brought against civil society activists.
• Starting on August 6, 2008, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) published a series of articles slandering Ebadi, and indicating that her daughter had embraced the Baha'i faith. 
• An August 11, 2008 article in IRNA cited a speech delivered by Payam Fazlinejad (affiliated with Kayhan) in which he not only referred to Ebadi's daughter's conversion, but also attacked the entire women's movement for promoting a pro-West and Zionist agenda.

The allegations regarding conversion are particularly serious due to the Islamic Republic's refusal to recognize the Baha'i faith as a religion.  In fact, it considers the adherents' belief in Bahaullah as God's last prophet as heretical to Islamic belief.  Further, conversion from Islam to another religion is considered apostasy.  By publicizing and disseminating rumors that Ebadi or her family members have left Islam to join the Baha'i faith, a highly sensitive issue, the regime is in effect fomenting controversy about Ebadi and exposing her to the possibility of serious harm, and possibly death. 

Though attacks on Ebadi's character are nothing new, the recent escalation of these rumors, being disseminated in government-controlled media (the current managing editor of Kayhan, Hossein Shariatmadari, is directly appointed by the leader of Iran), are troubling because they are seen as government-endorsed.  Some see similarities between these tactics and those used in the 1990s that were followed by the murder of prominent Iranian intellectuals.  Among them were Dariush Forouhar (leader of the banned Nation of Iran party) and his wife Parvaneh, found stabbed to death in their home in 1998. Ebadi has taken on their case.

The government's actions may provoke attacks on Ebadi or create a climate that would force her to either give up her work or leave Iran.  In the weeks before this round of criticism began, Ebadi by herself and through her group, the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, has spoken out on a number of issues in Iran, namely the spike in executions, and a Family Protection Law that was before the Parliament, with controversial provisions opposed by women's groups.  In addition, Ebadi has been representing a number of women who have been arrested in connection with the One Million Signatures Campaign.

Sample Letter

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

CC.

His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Head of the Judiciary
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Your Excellency:

I am writing to express my concern on behalf of human rights defender Shirin Ebadi.

I am disturbed to read about the criticism of Shirin Ebadi in government media, such as commentary published on October 1, 2008 by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) that Ebadi is testing the patience of the government, or the pressure that was put by the Iranian Foreign Minister on Malaysian officials, resulting in the cancellation of her speaking engagements in that country.

Earlier this summer, a series of articles published in IRNA and Kayhan demonstrated an organized campaign against Ebadi. These attacks included articles appearing in Kayhan on August, 2, 3, and 4, 2008 disparaging Ebadi for her criticism of the rise in executions in Iran, her receipt of a letter of recognition for defending detained Baha'is, and her criticism of "national security" charges brought against civil society actors.

When government-backed media sources openly disparage well-known defenders like Ebadi, they promote a climate of hostility and persecution towards all human rights defenders and activists.

The U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders protects the right of Ms. Ebadi to engage in her efforts to promote and defend human rights. The Iranian regime should respect the Declaration and adhere to its principles, as well as other international human rights instruments that protect defenders like Ms. Ebadi, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory and which are binding on the Iranian government.

I ask therefore that the campaigns against Ms. Ebadi stop, so that she may continue her peaceful, legitimate activities in pursuit of human rights.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.