Fearless Women: Shirin Ebadi
She is small of stature, but radiates warmth, generosity and strength. She is the Nobel Peace Prize laureate that I was looking forward to meeting for the first time. And she is the Nobel Peace Prize laureate that all my colleagues were looking forward to meeting once again. For Shirin Ebadi makes quite an impression.
She is the lawyer, judge and human rights activist who eventually came to be harassed and terrorised out of her homeland, Iran. In 1975, she became the country’s first female judge. Up until 1979, she was employed as a judge at Teheran City Court. She had to quit her job when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power. Because she was a woman. But Shirin Ebadi did not give up. When she couldn’t be a judge, she became an advocate. As time passed, she took on many cases — for women who had lost their jobs. For women who had been raped and were punished for it by the courts. For women who had to accept that their husbands could have several wives. Countless cases of discrimination and unfair treatment. Eventually, she took on the cases of those who were charged and imprisoned for expressing themselves freely, organising and protesting against the regime. The cases of all those persecuted for their political opinions, and their families. In recognition for her efforts, Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.
You probably think that receiving the Nobel Peace Prize offers greater protection against abuse. And that is true, for some. For Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Peace Prize raised her profile. She became a recognisable face of opposition, of criticism, of those who dared. It made her more protected, but at the same time more exposed. For the last seven years, she has lived in exile, after criticising the Iranian authorities for their treatment of demonstrators protesting election results.
When she visits us, she has just published a new book about the period following the award of the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a book I warmly recommend. But she underlines, again and again, that this is not simply her story. It is the story of all human rights activists. Of all those who pay the price for trying to win something much bigger — respect for human rights and equal rights for all. I ask her if the pressure has eased now, after the nuclear deal with the USA. No, she replies, nothing will change. Any protest is brutally suppressed. The oppression continues. The regime’s regional game-playing continues. It is a game that the regime has benefited greatly from, she says. With increasing frequency, the regime refers to the situation in Syria to justify its actions to its own population. If you start protesting, we will answer in the same way as Assad in Syria. And you can all see how that went. Shirin Ebadi wonders whether the Norwegian authorities will raise such issues with their Iranian counterparts when they meet. And so do we.
Shirin Ebadi, the person, has lost everything she has worked for her whole life: her job, her status, her wealth, her marriage and her country. The family jewels she inherited from her mother have been seized. Her husband was lured into a “honey trap” by the Iranian secret service and forced to denounce her.
Is she bitter? No. Is she exhausted and ready to keep silent? No. She is magnanimous. She is bigger than that.
She continues her struggle for human rights and an Iran she can be proud of. An Iran that respects human rights. An Iran where men and women have equal rights. An Iran where people can express themselves freely. And she is in no doubt that Iran will be won back in the end. 70 per cent of the population are less than 30 years old. Many of them are educated. Many of them long for change. And the power, energy and courage of civil society in Iran is huge. Welcome back, Shirin Ebadi!
