[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

[stefania]

Nobel Prize Winner Says Protests Not Path for Rights Reforms

October 23, 2003
The Associated Press
Brian Murphy



TEHRAN, Iran -- Street protests and clashes are not the way to force Iran's Islamic rulers to loosen their hold on power, but the system could be reformed from within, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said Thursday.

Her comments in an interview with The Associated Press offered a sense of how Ebadi, once little known outside Iranian human rights circles, may exert her influence following her surprise Nobel win Oct. 10.

Ebadi, a lawyer and rights activist, has dashed hopes by some reformers she might lead pro-democracy demonstrations or take other high-profile steps to pressure the regime.

Instead, Ebadi called such militant action a step backward and appeared content with trying to gradually soften Iran's ruling clerics and their interpretations of Islamic justice.

"I am not the leader of any group," Ebadi said. "I just give service to people who need help. ... Winning this prize is not going to change anything I've been doing."

She promised to continue rights campaigns and legal defenses for alleged political prisoners and others.

"I completely believe that you can do some changes within this system," she said in one of her few interviews since returning to Iran last week. "The time for violent overthrows is over all over the world. It belongs to the past century."

"People going onto the streets – breaking windows, setting fires and sometimes killing – doesn't change anything," she said through an interpreter. "It just means some people go to jail."

Ebadi, though, acknowledged the volatile reality: the deep frustration of many Iranians who perceive themselves helpless to challenge the all-encompassing power of the country's non-elected theocracy.

Mainstream reform leaders must maintain some momentum – through the courts, parliament and international bodies – or could lose their supporters to groups urging revolt, she warned.

"It is very important that disappointment doesn't infect the pro-reform movement," Ebadi said, sitting in her small law office still filled with flowers from her Nobel celebration. "We have to give them hope that we will win. The most worrisome point is when a dangerous disappointment sets in. ... That's when it can turn violent."

The Nobel announcement, which came while Ebadi was in Paris for a conference, was widely interpreted as a message to the entire Islamic world to work for expanded human and political rights. Some Iranian hard-liners denounced the award as Western interference.

Ebadi, 56, was greeted on her return to Tehran by more than 5,000 supporters in the largest pro-reform gathering since student-led protests in June.

Ebadi demanded that Iranian leaders free all "political prisoners," including journalists and activists jailed for alleged crimes against the Islamic establishment. She said there has been no response from the leadership.

She also has taken over "complete supervision" of the legal representation for the family of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died July 10 about three weeks after being detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during protests. An intelligence agent is charged with the alleged beating death.

Ebadi she may not personally appear in court and could turn over the duties to colleagues.

Ebadi added that she would "never" seek elected office, although her voice could be important in deciding who will try to succeed reformist President Mohammad Khatami in 2005.

"A defender of human rights must always be among the people and be the voice of those who cannot be heard," she said. "The targets of human rights reform are governments. If a rights defender enters the government, then they are part of the system they are criticizing."
_________________
Referendum AFTER Regime Change

"I'm ready to die for you to be able to say your own opinions, even if i strongly disagree with you" (Voltaire)

[haleh]

what's your take.. I'll read the rest when I have a chance.. but I say
PROTEST PROTEST PROTEST CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE!!!!
_________________
Haleh -
There can only be ONE Iran, a FREE one.

[stefania]

Dear, it's not me saying that..

what you mean?
_________________
Referendum AFTER Regime Change

"I'm ready to die for you to be able to say your own opinions, even if i strongly disagree with you" (Voltaire)