With the passage of a few weeks since the government in Tehran shut down the Tehran-based Center for the Defenders of Human Rights and attacked Nobel Peace laurete Shirin Ebadi' home and confiscated her documents, no new developments had occurred with respect to the Center's fate. We at Rooz sat down and talked with Ebadi to discuss this issue. Read on for the interview.
Rooz (R): Mrs. Ebadi, the UN's citing of your statements and reports is among the main reasons behind attacks orchestrated against you and the Center for the Defenders of Human Rights. What is your opinion on this matter?
Shirin Ebadi (SE): Human rights are an international issue that transcend national boundaries. Human rights principles override domestic laws of any country or even that of the country's constitution. For the very reasons that the Iranian government allows itself to speak against human rights violations in Palestine or Lebanon, other countries can comment on human rights violations in Iran. Most importantly, the United Nations Secretary General has the responsibility to supervise human rights conditions and developments in all countries on the basis of his duties. That duty caused the United Nations Secretary General to present a report on December 2008 to the United Nations General Assembly. That is not something that only concerns Iran. It happens with respect to all countries.
R: Do you support the decision to cooperate with the United Nations in preparing the report on Iran?
SE: Cooperating with the United Nations is not only a crime but actually the duty of every defender of human rights. On the other hand, I must point your attention to the fact that in 1998 a resolution was passed in the United Nations General Assembly to which the Iranian government gave a positive vote. This resolution, although not binding as other resolutions passed by the Security Council, has become integrated into the international norms of behavior because of the sheer number of countries supporting it. This resolution states that human rights defenders must enjoy judicial immunity and governments must cooperate with them. It also bars governments from limiting the activities of human rights defenders. In this connection, one duty assigned to the United Nations Secretary General is to oversee the implementation of resolutions passed by the United Nations. It is very natural for the Secretary General to issue a warning to the Iranian government after the government shuts down the office of Center for Defenders of Human Rights.
R: Some of your colleagues have indicated that the Center for Defenders of Human Rights' activities will continue. How would that be?
SE: All our activities, including the Committee for Defense of Free and Healthy election and reports issued in that connection, the National Peace Council, human rights educational seminars, women's rights workshops, news conferences, the quarterly reports on human rights violations in Iran, and our defense of ideological-political prisoners will continue as before. We have begun our activities at a different location. If they shut it down, we will pursue them at some other place. Human rights defenders are not confined to certain a place or location.
R: Mrs. Ebadi, a while ago you had filed a complaint against certain newspapers affiliated with the government. What is the status of your complaint?
SE: Kayhan newspaper and several other newspapers have been attacking me with all kinds of accusations for many years. Recently, they have accused me of a crime that is punishable by death based on Iranian laws. In other words, they have accused me of Ertedad ("infidelity"). Though I remained silent for many years in face of accusations, I did not see it appropriate to remain silent anymore and filed a complaint against IRNA news agency, Kayhan and several other newspapers that disseminated this information. However, with months having passed since the complaint, nothing has taken place yet.
