EBADI: ISLAMIC TENETS SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS

By Safa Haeri

PARIS 12 Oct. (IPS) Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian to win the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for 2003 reiterated on Sunday that “all principles and tenets of Islam serve to promote humanitarian values and human rights”.

In her first interview with the official Iranian news agency IRNA, Mrs. Ebadi, a female judge before the victory of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 added that Islam is “definitely” against terrorism and violence, stressing that those advocating such practices were
absolutely not Muslims.

The interview, granted to IRNA in the French Capital where she was on a private visit when she was informed about the Prize being attributed to her by the Norwegian Nobel Academy was seen by Iranian political analyst as the first indication from the authorities that they have “taken act” of the issue.

So far, none of the top Iranian ruling clerics, including Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i, the leader of the Islamic Republic or President Mohammad Khatami, the promoter of the “dialogue among civilisations” described routinely by the Western press as a “moderate” have had a single word and the public media, that are controlled by the conservatives, reported the news briefly and with hours of delay, a clear sign of their visible anger to see a female Iranian human rights activist winning the Prize.

Even IRNA, which is close to the Iranian reformists, failed to mention that Mrs. Ebadi is an Iranian, stating only that she was “the first Muslim woman” to ever get the much envied Prize.

“Even though some reformists tenors and even a high-ranking government official in Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the Vice-president for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs have congratulated Mrs. Ebadi, but her sounding and surprise victory has visibly taken the conservatives aback”, one Iranian analyst told Iran Press Service.

“However, the IRNA interview shows that they are trying to find a way to put up with the event that has filled all Iranians except the hard liners with joy and pride”, he added speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Ebadi regretted that certain western states blame the sublime religion of Islam for acts of a few Muslims, whereas there are many Christians who indulge themselves in murder and terrorist acts, but Muslims never say they do so because of their religion”, she was quoted by IRNA.

Asked if the peace award had been granted to her for political reasons, the 56 years-old Ebadi said "I believe this is not a political matter and I am of the opinion that the world, through this award, has come to recognize the freedom-seeking campaign of Muslim women”.

“I have been selected to receive this award just as a Muslim woman”, Mrs. Ebadi went on, adding that Iranian women’s conditions have been "improving" over recent years.

Ebadi, however, admitted that the law prevailing in Iran regarding women’s rights “still needed to be revised with contradictions required to be removed”.

But in a press conference attended by more than 200 correspondents from all over the world, she defended secularism, saying that many grand ayatollahs agrees with her that religion must be kept separate from politics.

In an interview published by the influential French daily "Le Monde", the Iranian lawyer and activist said she hopes her prize will encourage human rights campaigners in Iran and in the world.

She also said Iranians are "profoundly disappointed" by Iran's Islamic Revolution and called for political, social, economic, and civil-rights reforms.

“Iran's Islamic Republic cannot continue if it fails to evolve and heed the people's desire for major reform”, she emphasised.

"It's very good for me, it's very good for human rights in Iran, it's very good for democracy in Iran," Ms. Ebadi said in a news conference at the headquarters of the International Federation of Human Rights. "This prize," she added, "gives me energy to pursue my combat for a better future”.

For years, Ms. Ebadi and two other women, Mehrangiz Kar, a more secular human rights and family lawyer, and Shahla Lahidji, an outspoken publisher specializing in books about women, were labeled the "Three Musketeers" because they were considered the country's most active proponents of women's rights. Ms. Lahidji has been pressured into silence; Ms. Kar now lives in the United States.

Ms. Ebadi was herself arrested and imprisoned in June 2000 with another reformist lawyer, Hojjatoleslam Mohsen Rahami, accused of distributing a taped confession of a member of a vigilante militia involved in violence against reformists.

After being jailed for three weeks, she was sentenced by a closed-door court to 15 months in prison and barred from practicing law for five years. Eventually, the sentence was suspended, and she was required only to pay a fine of about $200.

In her IRNA interview Mrs Ebadi also observed that the situation of women in most Islamic countries as "not favourable" and said the cause of contrasts in these societies is the culture of male-dominance. EBADI NOBEL PEACE 121003