On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women, children and refugee rights. Reza Akvanian from HRA asked her about the work and contribution of HRA. Read the interview below.
It is approximately 15 years since the inception of the Human Rights Activists in Iran. How do you assess the impact of these activists on the improvement of Human Rights in Iran over the years?
“My assessment of the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) and the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), as an outsider looking in, is generally positive. Sometimes I see that others intentionally publish inaccurate information on their websites that is just for their benefits; HRANA is different. Of course, there are times that wrong information appears. However, with HRANA, it is not because of malicious intent. It is due to the difficulty of accessing first-hand resources.”
-In March 2009, the organization received a major blow, and many human rights activists were arrested and sentenced to prison terms. What was your analysis of such an approach at the time?
“Under the pretext of the controversial presidential election in 2009, the government completely restricted the political environment. Several members of human rights groups and independent activists were arrested, and many entities were closed. I am just talking about our group, The Defenders of Human Rights Center, because I can provide more detailed information in this regard. This center never had a political orientation and has never promoted a particular candidate. Our task is not encouraging people to participate in an election or vice versa. We think that people are free to choose their way.
The problem is that what we are facing as human rights activists is a limited political environment. The government even arrested two members of our group. Here, I want to mention Abdolfattah Soltani who was arrested, for the first time, just two days after the election. When he refused to go with the agents and required them to show their warrant for the arrest, strangely, he noticed that the date on their warrant was showing a day before the election. It means that they had distributed some blank, signed forms with a specific date on them, letting the agents write whatever name they wished.
Thus, you can see that elections are just excuses for the government to limit the political climate more and more.”
With the current situation in Iran, the increasing restrictions on information, arresting of human rights activists along with the expansion of social networks, what is your opinion about the future of human rights in Iran?
“Despite the heavy costs imposed on other human rights defenders and myself, I see a bright future for human rights in Iran. I remember at the beginning of the revolution, in 1979 and 1980, when the state media wanted to insult me, they called me “liberal feminist and American human rights activist.” I am now happy that even the government itself is in favor of human rights, even though they are the biggest violators of it themselves. This has been the greatest victory for human rights defenders to see that “human rights” have turned into a social value after 42 years of revolution in Iran.
For this reason, we can see that the government itself is boasting about human rights, although we know that it is just a false gesture. This is our victory, and it won’t stop.”
Nationwide protests have become more widespread in the country, and sometimes they are happening once or twice a year. Based on your experience in human rights and media, what ways do you find useful to improve the condition of human rights journalism in Iran?
“I believe that everything has a price. Freedom and democracy are also precious, and a nation will remain in bondage if it fails to pay the price. The question is what we can do to lower the costs of this price for people. First, the information must be provided correctly and accurately as much as possible. Second, it should be done in a way that won’t hurt ordinary people and third, the offered tactics should be effective. To brainstorm such activities with lower costs we need to be more creative, and this creativity can be different from place to place. For example, when the government used Friday prayers against the people, some consciously participated in the event and as soon as the Friday prayer leader wanted to start his speech, they turned their back to him. The title you could see in the social media about this incident was: ‘Back to the government, face the nation.’ It was a very original and creative way to express opposition. We need to show the people how to be more creative and find more non-violent solutions that can help them demonstrate their dissatisfaction. “
You have worked as a lawyer and a human rights activist in Iran for many years, and you received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for your hard work. A few years after receiving the Nobel Prize, all your belongings, including your home and that of your family, were confiscated as your tax payment for your prize. Your sister was also imprisoned. They threatened your husband and took “confessions” from him. They even seized your Nobel Prize for a while. In your memoir, “Until Freedom,” you described your life during the years since you received the Nobel Prize. In parts of this book, you have described the way the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran has treated you and your family members in the ninth and tenth governments. How do you assess the current situation of human rights activists in Iran as someone who has taken this path already? Has the government’s reaction toward the human rights activists and their families intensified in the last two decades? What advice do you have for human rights activists facing these kinds of problems?
“When the distance between people and the government gets farther and farther apart, the government gets more and more scared, and it intensifies its brutality. As we can see, the behavior of the government is becoming more violent day by day. They not only put more pressure on human rights activists, but they also treat their families in the same way. The government’s reaction to the families is not limited to arrests or threats; rather, it is sometimes insidious and is done in not only illegal but also immoral ways. For example, some women known as “swallows” are sent by security agents to the activists and their families to sweat the information out of them or make them feel disgraced.
I can tell you my own story as well. I need to say I am not the first person to be faced with this problem. Some of my clients had already said that this had occurred to them too. An important concern is how a human rights activist should deal with such issues. The government uses these methods to stop the activists and make them passive. When they see that this method doesn’t work, they just leave it and do something else. Another example is when someone is about to get arrested or be executed. In this case, the agents go to the families, threatening them or tempting them not to speak. They promise that everything will be okay. Sometimes people come to me desperately and ask me what to do. I ask them if the government is their friend or their enemy. The prime answer is that the government is not their friend. Then I ask them to just use their logic. I ask them if they can trust their enemy or not. I have always encouraged people not to be deceived by the promises of security agents. I encourage them to be informative. This would be better for their relatives and loved ones who are in prison. I ask them not to be afraid if someone is getting executed. I think they have to talk about it and not let the blood of their loved ones be trampled. I advise the human rights activists not to have the slightest hesitation about continuing their ways. I want them to continue their activities and at the same time, I tell them that they don’t need to feel guilty about what they do. I have noticed that the activists blame themselves. They think that their activities are causing misery for their families and other people. I tell them that this is not their fault. It is the fault of the government. I always advise them not to do what the government wants them to do. They should not become disappointed and feel guilty. They must keep on going with courage.”
What have been the hardest or sweetest moments in your work life and during your human rights activities?
“If you ask a mother of five children which of her children she loves most, her answer would be “all of them.” Each of the projects I have worked on has been full of both sweet and bitter moments. The most bitter time is when I see how justice has been trampled and the sweetest time is when I see the gates of the prison open, and a released prisoner comes out, and It puts a smile on his/her family’s faces.”
