8/10/2010
Police Shut Down Iran's Main Human
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Iran Shuts Down Rights Center
Police Close Offices of Group Led by Nobel Peace Laureate Hours Before Commemoration
By Thomas Erdbr/nk TOOLBOX
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 22, 2008 . Resize Print Sm ail
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TEHRAN, Dec. 21 - - Iranian authorities on Sunday
closed the office of the country's main human rights COMMENT
organization, headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner
ShirinEbadi. 19 Coments I View All))
COMMENTS ARECLOSED
Dozens of plainclothes detectives and local police
officers entered the Center for the Defense of Human WHO'S BL000ING power Ld i, sphere
Rights in Tehran and shut it dovin hours before a Links to this article
ceremony was to take place commemorating the 60th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Sponsored Links
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‘The general human rights activities of this www.GoSo rUSA.com
nongovernmental organization are the reason for this
illegal reaction,” the center's leadership said in a Bu,j a link here
statement. Center officials speculated that the closure ‘was in part a response to a United
Nations resolution issued Thursday that expressed “deep concern” about the human rights
situation in Iran.
Iran has been protesting for months against the resolution, ‘which'was put forward by
Canada. In October, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a special human rights
report that called on Iran to address concerns such as “amputations and corporal
punishment.”
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Fisurs 1NVE.' TMENTC
Ebadi's organization assisted the United
Nations in compiling the report. ‘Many
international organizations quote our
reports, including the report by the
secretary-general, ‘which resulted in a
resolution against the government of the
Islamic republic of Iran,” the center's
statement read.
An Interior Ministry commission that issues
permits for political organizations said the
center ‘was carrying out illegal activities,
such as publishing statements, writing letters
to intemational organizations and holding
news conferences, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported.
The commission, according to the news agency, accused Ebadi's center of distributing
propaganda against the state. The report also cited repeated warnings delivered to the
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8/10/2010 Police Shut Down Iran 's Main Human
center and said the building had been sealed on the order of Tehran s top prosecutor. See All of Slate>)
In a telephone interview, Ebadi called the closure of her organization's office ‘illegal” and
“unacceptable.” She vowed to reopen the center, saying that “the police actions are against
the law”
Ebadi acknowledged that the human rights center did not have a permit to operate but said
authorities had blocked its legalization.
Since its founding, the organization has taken on 5,000 pro bono cases defending
politically active women, journalists and students, said spokeswoman Nargess
Mobammadi.
On Sunday, guests were arriving for the ceremony when police officers escorted Ebadi
and her colleagues from the building. They had refused to leave their offices for more than
an hour.
‘This was supposed to be one of the fewhappy events for activists in Iran,” said Asieh
Amini, a journalist who focuses on human rights issues and who was one of about 300
invited guests. Amini said plainclothes officers took video of the guests.
The human rights center was financed with the $1.4 million Ebadi received when she was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. After death threats were pinned to the door of her
home in April, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose policies Ebadi opposes,
promised to investigate. No findings were made public.
In addition to its human rights work, the center has a committee on fair elections. The
office of Ebadi's other organization, which focuses on mine-clearing and is in the same
building, was also closed Sunday.
Iran has a history of anesting and pressuring dissidents who question the country's record
on human rights and democracy.
On Sunday a special prize for oppressed dissidents was supposed to be given to Taghi
Rahmani, an opposition figure who had been arrested several times, on charges of
committing crimes against national security. Rahmani was to be honored for his work
promoting human rights in Iran.
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