Shirin Ebadi: 'If you want to help Iran, don't attack'

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Sunday June 15, 2008 16:02 by pat c

Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi opposes any aggression by US Imperialism and also speaks on how repression in Iran has been stepped up. Full text at link.

With the international community fixated on Iran's nuclear ambitions, Ebadi says there is dwindling scrutiny of human rights in her homeland, and Ahmadinejad, has taken advantage of this to increase repression."Since the world started focusing on the nuclear programme, the human rights situation in Iran has worsened every day," says Ebadi, who won the Nobel prize in 2003. Dozens of activists have been prosecuted and condemned to prison, the lash or both. Arrests, detention and judicial harassment are increasing, with journalists, lawyers, students and trade unionists particularly targeted.

"The morality police interfere more in people's everyday lives," she says. "They recently announced they would carry out inspections in private homes and companies. In Tehran there was also a plan to target hooligans on the streets, but it led to a lot of innocent young people and women being arrested."

Ebadi recently took her campaign to the mid-west United States, where she found sympathy among ordinary Americans upset by bellicose rhetoric about Iran. She is perturbed at how contestants in the US presidential race have cited their preparedness to attack Iran. In April, Hillary Clinton said she would "obliterate" the country if it attacked Israel.

"It is very concerning," she says. "Undoubtedly a military attack on Iran would worsen human rights in the country. Look at Iraq - now the fundamentalists have a pretext for their extremism. No one talks about freedom of speech or human rights. People just want a safe shelter. Do you think that since the US troops arrived in Iraq that the Iraqi people have become prosperous? As a human rights activist I tell the people of the world that if you want to help people in Iran the solution is not to launch an attack."