oD support open standards:

About Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian human rights lawyer who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. In 1975–79 she served as president of Tehran’s city court, but was forced to resign after the 1979 revolution. In the 1980s, she founded the Association for Children’s Rights, and was briefly jailed for her exposure of plans to assassinate dissidents. Among her books are The Rights of the Child: a study of legal aspects of children's rights in Iran (1994), and The History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (2000).

Articles by Shirin Ebadi

Monday 21st March

Shirin Ebadi: who defines Islam?

Shirin Ebadi, 21 March 2011

"Egyptian women are lucky in one way. They have witnessed the predicament of Iranian women and seen how the Islamic state has hijacked the Iranian revolution, changed the laws and reversed women’s gains. My advice to Egyptian women is “do not give way to a government that would force you to choose between your rights and Islam”. I believe that Iran was a lesson for the women in the entire region". Shirin Ebadi in conversation with Deniz Kandiyoti

Thursday 14th May

Obstacles to the progress of Human Rights in the World

Shirin Ebadi, 14 May 2009

Only by starting from common principles agreed upon by all, rather than limiting ourselves to the principles which only we believe in, will we make progress with human rights. Shirin Ebadi writes from the Nobel Women’s Initiative conference. Read now...

Monday 4th June

The meaning of peace in the 21st century

Shirin Ebadi, 4 June 2007

One of the important tasks of the 21st century is redefining social concepts. I would like to start redefining the word "peace". The main question here is whether peace means the absence of war. In other words, if a country is not involved in a war, do the people of that country live in a green peace?

Definitely no. This definition of peace belongs to a few centuries ago. In the twenty first century peace has to be defined otherwise. For example the devastating situation of Aids patients in the world, specifically in African countries is more dangerous than guns and bullets. Read more...

Sunday 5th September

America and human rights

Shirin Ebadi and Eleanor Roosevelt, 5 September 2004

Is the United States’s love affair with human rights over? In the seventh of our Letters to Americans series, the Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi writes a heartfelt letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, pioneer of American humanitarianism and commitment to the United Nations.