2004 - 2005: Shirin Ebadi

Dr. Shirin Ebadi

The seventh annual University of Alberta Visiting Lectureship in Human Rights was delivered by Ms. Shirin Ebadi on Thursday, October 21, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Alberta Universiade Pavillion (Butterdome).

About Dr. Shirin Ebadi

Ms. Shirin Ebadi was born in 1947. She received a law degree from the University of Tehran. In the years 1975-79 she served as president of the city court of Tehran, one the first female judges in Iran. After the revolution in 1979 she was forced to resign. She now works as a lawyer and also teaches at the University of Tehran.

Both in her research and as an activist, she is known for promoting peaceful, democratic solutions to serious problems in society. She takes an active part in the public debate and is well-known and admired by the general public in her country for her defense in court of victims of the conservative faction's attack on freedom of speech and political freedom.

Ms. Ebadi represents Reformed Islam, and argues for a new interpretation of Islamic law which is in harmony with vital human rights such as democracy, equality before the law, religious freedom and freedom of speech.

Ebadi is an activist for refugee rights, as well as those of women and children. She is the founder and leader of the Association for Support of Children's Rights in Iran. Ebadi has written a number of academic books and articles focused on human rights. Among her books translated into English are The Rights of the Child: A Study of Legal Aspects of Children's Rights in Iran (Tehran, 1994), published with support from UNICEF, and History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (New York, 2000).

She has been involved in a number of controversial political cases and is currently working for the family of Zahra Kazemi. A Canadian-Iranian journalist, Kazemi died in 2003 while in the custody of Iranian officials, who had arrested her for taking photographs near Tehran's Evin prison. Iranian courts acquitted the sole defendant in the case, but Ebadi said she would appeal the decision, vowing, "I will pursue this case until my last breath."

With Islam as her starting point, Ebadi campaigns for peaceful solutions to social problems, and promotes new thinking on Islamic terms. She has displayed great personal courage as a lawyer defending individuals and groups who have fallen victim to a powerful political and legal system that is legitimized through an inhumane interpretation of Islam. Ebadi has shown her willingness and ability to cooperate with representatives of secular as well as religious views.

Shirin Ebadi won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize from a record field of 165 candidates, including Pope John Paul and former Czech President Vaclav Havel. Ms. Ebadi is only the 11th woman to win since the prize was set up in 1901, and is the first Iranian to win the prize.

Source: nobelprize.org