Iranian Nobel Laureate and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi on Monday implored Muslim women to assume a wider role in their home countries through education and active participation in politics. "Women must fulfill their duty to society and not stay at home," she told participants in the Festival of Thinkers forum in Abu Dhabi. Ebadi said that young girls tend to become housewives after they graduate, which means that "their education is wasted." "Women should be educated... Education is... Read Full Story
Chinese dissidents are leading the odds of winning the Nobel Peace Prize this year, the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the 60th since the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Speculation on the chances of Chinese dissidents for the peace prize, announced this year on Friday, has been a yearly ritual. But this time there's a stronger current of expectation surrounding critics of China's long-standing communist regime. Emerging superpower China remains deeply... Read Full Story
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi in Renaissance-Theater in Berlin on Nov. 15th 2009 to speak about the human rights situation in Iran. Photo and videos by: Markku Rainer Peltonen Read Full Story
SEOUL (Reuters) - Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Tuesday called on the U.N. chief to visit Iran to receive a first-hand account of human rights abuses and warned against sanctions because they would hurt the Iranian people. Iran's June 12 election, which secured hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election, plunged Iran into its biggest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposed deepening divisions in its ruling elite and set off a wave of protests that... Read Full Story
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi urged Iran's government to release detained activists and citizens accused of involvement in the country's postelection unrest, saying the president must "listen to the people's voice." Hundreds of people in Iran have been detained following massive demonstrations protesting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 12 re-election. On Sunday, Iran's police chief acknowledged that some of the detained protesters were abused in custody, but said the death of some... Read Full Story
Iranian protesters have targeted Ebadi, even after her organization has condemned Israel’s overwhelming aggression against Gaza. She is accused of being soft on Israel. Right now, as Muslim sympathies for Palestinians are growing, Arab nations are increasingly nervous about keeping their hands out of the bloodbath. Weakened American influence on these nations could tip the balance from passive to aggressive. Ebadi is an example of misdirected anger based on a presumption. Because she... Read Full Story
Iranian Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi called Monday for intensified international pressure to help her country democratise and denounced the crackdown on opposition protesters. "I oppose military and economic sanctions against Iran as they will aggravate the situation," Ebadi was quoted as saying in an interview with South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper. "However, intensified international public opinion will contribute to Iran's democratisation." Ebadi, a lawyer and human rights... Read Full Story
Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and 44 other Nobel prize winners offered their support Monday for Iranian dissidents, including fellow Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, telling them: "Do not lose hope." The open letter, published as a full-page advertisement in The New York Times, was signed by Nobel laureates from several countries, including Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. "We, the undersigned Nobel laureates, strongly condemn the flagrant human rights violations in the wake of the... Read Full Story
Iran's judiciary has charged an aide to Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi with "propagating" against the nation's Islamic system, according to the official IRNA news agency. "Narges Mohammadi has been charged with propagating against the Islamic Republic of Iran's system," the agency quoted Iranian judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi as saying. Jamshidi confirmed reports that Mohammadi has been banned from travelling and said she is due to appear in court, though he did not say when. On May 10... Read Full Story
Shirin Ebadi , the Iranian (Muslim) Nobel peace laureate announced that she will defend the seven detained Baha'i leaders who have just been wrongly accused of "setting up an illegal organization in Iran that took orders from Israel and others to undermine the Islamic system." In an article published in Agence France Presse (AFP) , Ms. Ebadi announced: "In court I will defend the Bahais. Two colleagues of mine and I have accepted their case, although they were not able to see their families... Read Full Story
