Help a Nobel Laureate Protect Human Rights in Iran

Help a Nobel Laureate Protect Human Rights in Iran

In 2003 Shirin Ebadi became the first Muslim woman and first Iranian to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In August 2006, the Iranian government declared the organization she co-founded, the Center for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) illegal and threatened members of the Center with arrest.

Based in Tehran, the Center for the Defense of Human Rights is Iran’s leading human rights organization. The Center defends the rights of women, political prisoners and minorities by reporting violations of human rights and providing free legal representation to political prisoners. About 70% of political prisoners in Iran are represented by lawyers from the CDHR.

Responding to the news, Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch said: “The attempt to silence Shirin Ebadi’s Center is a huge setback for protecting human rights in Iran. If Ebadi is threatened for defending human rights, then no one who works for human rights can feel safe from government prosecution.”

Learn More!

• "I Will Fight as Long as I'm Alive" - an interview with Shirin Ebadi about the banning of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights.
• What's At Stake? Nobel Winner's Human Rights Center Banned by Iranian Government – article from Human Rights First.
• Iran: Government Outlaws Nobel Laureate’s Rights Group – press release from Human Rights Watch.

Take Action!

Send a message supporting Shirin Ebadi and the Center for the Defense of Human Rights to the U.N. and the president of Iran by using the handy form provided by the Feminist Majority Foundation.

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