August 16, 2006

IRANIAN DISSIDENT & NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE
SHIRIN EBADI
TO SPEAK AT UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO

SAN DIEGO – The adage that you’re never a prophet in your own country is an ominous one for Nobel Laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi. She won the Peace Prize in 2003 for her work in behalf of women and children in her homeland of Iran. Her work there has landed her in jail and she faces that prospect again with word that the Iranian government is threatening to shut down her Defender of Human Rights Center in Tehran and arrest her.

She currently is on a speaking tour in Japan and is scheduled to speak at the University of San Diego Thursday, September 7, with a timely topic: Iran Awakening: Human Rights, Women and Islam.
     
Shirin Ebadi, one of only 33 women worldwide and the first Iranian to win a Nobel Prize (out of 758 awarded), is convinced Iran’s action to close her center stems from publication of her memoir: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope, 2006.  “Of course, members of the center and I do not intend to shut down the Center and we shall continue our activities. However, there is a high possibility that they will arrest us. The government’s action in this regard is illegal.”
            
About 70 percent of Iran’s political prisoners are represented by Ebadi’s Center, which does not charge for its services. And human rights violations within Iran are reported by the Center.
            
In 1969, Shirin Ebadi became the first woman judge in Iran but with the Islamic Revolution in 1979, which relegated women to a lesser role in its society, she was demoted from chief judge of the Tehran City Court to a job as a clerk in that court. She resigned and battled for the right to practice law. During the time she was fighting for her right to be a lawyer, she wrote several books and founded the Association for Children’s Rights in Iran.
            
In 1992, after winning her private law license, she took on many high-profile cases involving freedom of speech and political freedom. She argues that Islamic law can be interpreted to support democracy and human rights.
            
In presenting her with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, the Norwegian government cited her “efforts for democracy and human rights…especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.” In the presentation it was noted that “Ebadi is a conscious Moslem. She sees no conflict between Islam and fundamental human rights.”
            
Shirin Ebadi’s appearance at the University of San Diego is a joint presentation of the Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series and the University of San Diego School of Law’s Jane Ellen Bergman Memorial Lecture Series. Her lecture is sponsored by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego. The Institute offers programs that advance scholarship and practice in conflict resolution and human rights.
            
Shirin Ebadi, who speaks through a translator, will hold a press conference Thursday, September 7, on the campus of the University of San Diego.

The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice is dedicated to fostering peace, cultivating justice and creating a safer world by working to improve the lives of those caught in the web of armed conflict and human rights abuses. The IPJ offers programs that advance scholarship and practice in conflict resolution and human rights.

The USD School of Law is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider and certifies that this activity is approved for .75 hours of general credit.

The University of San Diego is a Catholic Institution of higher learning chartered in 1949; the school enrolls approximately 7,400 students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service. The establishment of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies will bring the University’s total number of schools and colleges to six. Other academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Education, Law and Nursing and Health Science.