An Iranian woman forced to resign as a judge after the Islamic revolution was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday, the first Muslim woman to win the honour.
Shirin Ebadi was recognized for her pursuit of human rights for women and children, and for her role in rebutting the argument that such freedoms are incompatible with Islam.
“Her principal arena is the struggle for basic human rights, and no society deserves to be labelled civilized unless the rights of women and children are respected,” the judges said. “In an era of violence, she has consistently supported non-violence.”
The judges citied Ms. Ebadi's approach to her religion as one element of their choice, calling her a conscientious but not dogmatic Muslim.
Iranian human rights activist and feminist lawyer Shirin Ebadi poses in Paris on Friday after winning the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. (Jack Guez/AFP)
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“With Islam as her starting point, Ebadi campaigns for peaceful solutions to social problems, and promotes new thinking on Islamic terms,” the judges said. “She has displayed great personal courage as a lawyer defending individuals and groups who have fallen victim to a powerful political and legal system that is legitimized through an inhumane interpretation of Islam.”
Ms. Ebadi, who has faced the wrath of religious conservatives in Iran and was convicted of slandering government officials, responded to the award by calling for greater freedom of speech in Iran.
Appearing at a press conference in Paris without the headscarf that women are obliged to wear in Iran, she also insisted that there need not be conflict between human rights and Islam.
“The religious ones should also welcome this award,” she said. “The prize means you can be a Muslim and at the same time have human rights.”
The reformist faction within the Iranian government officials applauded the decision, the French wire service Agence France-Presse reported, although the government was officially silent.
Ms. Ebadi said that she was grateful to hear that reformers had welcomed the award, saying that she was “a positive person, generally” and took heart from the reformers' support.
The Nobel decision was somewhat unexpected in spite of rumours that the judging panel was hoping to find a suitable Muslim to confer the honour on. There had been numerous reports that Pope John Paul II would be chosen for his opposition to the war in Iraq — which some said helped stem the notion that the war was actually a religious conflict between Christians and Muslims — though others argued that he had effectively ruled himself out of contention with his conservative views on abortion, contraception and women's and gay rights.
More than 150 people are believed to have been put up for the award this year. The exact number is unclear because the judges do not disclose the number of candidates, though the names of some are publicized by their nominators.
Ms. Ebadi was born in 1947 and received a law degree from the University of Tehran. She was one of the first female judges in Iran, serving as president of the city court of Tehran from 1975 to 1979, but was forced to resign her post after the 1979 revolution. She works now as a lawyer and teaches at the University of Tehran.
“This prize doesn't belong to me only — it belongs to all people who work for human rights and democracy in Iran,” she told Associated Press in Paris.
