Shirin Ebadi: Peace Hero

A peace hero resembles the fairy tale knight in shining armor, who not only rescues the princess but saves all of humanity from a tragic situation. Such has been the life of Shirin Ebadi. She not only set a precedent for her own country and people, but left a glorified example for all of humanity to follow. For me peace is not constricted to the unifying of two nations but also to the unification of ideologies, which, is something Shirin Ebadi has been trying to achieve. 

Born in the city of Hamedan (Northern Iran) on July 2nd 1947, Shirin Ebadis family was both academicals and practicing Muslims. She moved to Iran at the age of one and grew up in the country’s capital. She describes her childhood as one filled with fun and great kindness. Her father, a pioneer of lecturing in Commercial Law, passed away in 1993. But his influence geared Shirin Ebadi to pursue law on her own. She graduated from Tehran University with a degree in Law after three and a half years. Soon after she took the entrance exam for the Department of Justice, and began apprenticeship. She officially served as a judge in 1969 and went on to obtain a doctorate of honors in private law from Tehran University in 1971.

Since then she served multiple position in the Justice Department and became one of the first woman to become a judge in the history of Iran. Unfortunately, after the Iranian Revolution, many female judges were removed from their posts simple because it was considered un-Islamic.  She was made a clerk in the very court she once presided over. After protests, women were made ‘experts’ but not given back their positions. Shirin Ebadi resigned early and her application to practice law was turned down. During her time of unemployment she was housebound. In this moment of angst she penned down several books and articles that were published in Iranian journals.   

Shirin Ebadi began her private law practice after obtaining her license in 1992. Since then she has begun her crusade against the prevailing injustice towards women and children in particular. She represented journalists, women, and children and fought for public justice for anyone who felt oppressed. She also represented serial murder victims. Her work brought Iranian justice into the limelight abroad thus earning her the merit of opening up new avenues for improving social justice in Iran. Apart from seeking justice in courts, she established the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (SPRC) and the Human Rights Defenders Centre. Her most famous and recent case is of Canadian photojournalist, Zahra Kazemi who was raped, tortured and murdered in Iran.

"In the last 23 years, from the day I was stripped of my judgeship to the years of doing battle in the revolutionary courts of Tehran, I had repeated one refrain: an interpretation of Islam that is in harmony with equality and democracy is an authentic expression of faith," she wrote in her book, Iran Awakening.

She further said that, "It is not religion that binds women, but the selective dictates of those who wish them cloistered. That belief, along with the conviction that change in Iran must come peacefully and from within, has underpinned my work."

She has received awards for her outstanding bravery and pursue of justice. She received an official Human Rights Watch observer in 1996 and she was also the Recipient of the Rafto Human Rights Foundation prize for human rights activities of Norway in 2001. Her book ‘The selection of The Rights of the Child’ was awarded Book of the Year by the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry. In 2003 she received the Nobel Peace Prize. Nobel award committee said she had been chosen because "as a lawyer, judge, lecturer, writer and activist, she has spoken out clearly and strongly in her country, Iran, and far beyond".

Outspoken, controversial, Shirin Ebadi is one of the most fascinating women today. She has battled for the sake of others while upholding her own values and morals. Shirin Ebadi is a mother, a wife and a social activist. Her cry for justice has stirred human rights sentiments in Iran and many students flock to her for advice and wish to continue in her shadow.

Due to her increasingly controversial nature in Iran, she was forced to flee the country in 2009. Shirin Ebadi claimed to receive death threats and her husband was also harassed. Even so she has not stopped her work and continues to attract international support for victims of intolerance in Iran. She has sought amnesty in UK where she teaches and holds seminars in various parts of the world.

I chose Shirin Ebadi because her voice stands out as a lone defender of human rights in Iran. Also, being against the Iranian system of governance, she still believes in change from within rather than through foreign intervention. Dr. Ebadi doesn’t believe in a forced removal of a government. She wishes people to overcome tyranny and oppression themselves. This according to her is a true struggle which she hopes Iran will one day win.