Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi spoke to Rooz about the condition of imprisoned Kurdish human rights activist Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand. In Ebadi’s view, “The government is not friendly towards human rights organizations. It views them with anger and suspicion.” Read the excerpts:
Rooz (R): Mrs. Ebadi, more than three months have passed since Mr. Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand’s arrest. As her attorney, do you have any information about the case and charges against him?
Shirin Ebadi (SE): I have no information about his charges at all. I have not been allowed to read the case files or meet with Mr. Kaboudvand.
R: Have Nasrin Sotudeh and Mr. Seifzadeh, who were Mr. Kaboudvand’s previous attorneys, been able to read the case files or meet with their client?
SE: They were not allowed to read case files or meet the client either, even though the Constitution of the Islamic Republic states that everyone has the right to seek counsel and stand a fair trial. When they take that right away, they are in effect violating the constitution of this country.
R: Mr. Kaboudvand has been involved in promoting human rights through publishing, reporting and interviewing. Why should they treat a completely peaceful activist in this manner?
SE: Unfortunately, his arrest violates not only domestic laws, but international human rights norms as well. In 1999, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution asking member nations to permit peaceful activities of human rights defenders. Therefore, it is against the U.N. resolution to detain and interrogate someone for publishing reports on human rights violations. I repeat, it violates both, the Iranian Constitution and international treaties.
R: The family and friends of Mr. Kaboudvand announced that government officials had threatened them that they would be confronted unless they remain silent. Why should they remain silent?
SE: In my opinion, silence is added injustice for an innocent person who is already in jail. If an innocent person is in prison and does not have access to an attorney, it is the responsibility of lawyers and his family to inform people in Iran and abroad of his or her innocence.
R: Mrs. Ebadi, can it be illegal under domestic laws to establish a human rights organization that acts solely to improve human rights conditions, and is neither an opposition nor a revolutionary group?
SE: Sadly, the government is not friendly towards human rights organizations. It views them with anger and suspicion. I can point to how the government treated the Center for the Defense of Human Rights [“Kanun-e Modafe’an-e Hoghugh-e Bashar”], the first independent human rights organization founded after the revolution. We began our activities about 5 years ago. Even though the constitution clearly states that organizations and parties that do not disrupt public order do not require permits, we went to the Ministry of Interior and completed our application. Article 10 (of the Constitution) Commission on Political Parties approved our permit too but, unfortunately, with the change of government our permit was not issued to us. Later on, they announced that we were illegal. My question to the Ministry of Interior is this: Why do you treat independent human rights organizations, whose main responsibility is to report on human rights conditions, so harshly and unlawfully?
