Donne senza confini

BOLOGNA GUESTS NOBEL PRIZE SHIRIN EBADI

Last 16 june in ex Saint Lucy church in the Street Castiglione in Bologna, a meeting has been organized by the section of Amnesty Bologna. Protagonist Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Prize for the Peace 2003.

I have not wanted to miss to the event and even though with some delay I have succeeded in taking part to the lecture on the human rights in Iran. I wanted to see who was the woman that has "taken" the Nobel Prize for the Peace to the favorite Pope Giovanni Paul II. Getting the prize, in reality, surprised Ebadi that at that time she was in Paris. The motivation of the assignment of the prestigious recognition from the Committee Nobel has been: "To Shirin Ebadi for her brave devotion to the defense of the fundamental liberties through her service of monitor of the human rights."

(Shirin Ebadi)
Shirin's life has not been easy because of her appointment for the respect of the human rights, considered a "optional" in a country as Iran. She was born in 1947, she has graduated in jurisprudence to the university of Teheran where she is still professor. Her career began in 1975 the first judge woman of Iran becoming but for a short time. With the triumph of the Islamic revolution and the taking of the power from Khomeini in 1979, she was forced to leave the charge. She became therefore teacher of rights to the university of Teheran but she has never stopped fighting for the human rights.
In June of 2000 the Ebadi has been arrested for having produced and spread a videocassette on the anti-student repression of July '99. And' persecutes being lawyer of the families of some writers and intellectuals killed in 1998.
Shirin Ebadi has founded the association for the rights of childs in Iran and she has defended the rights of the community "bahai", a religion been born in Iran in the XIX sec whose members are considered not Moslems and often persecuted.
For all this she has been honored some Nobel Prize for the Peace and graces to the prestigious recognition now she can turn for the world bringing her message of peace and to inform on her struggle for the human rights.
"And' correct to put an end to the injustice ", says Ebadi, "the international organisms cannot remain to look in presence of violation of the human rights."
Which tools do the international institutions as the U.N. have to make to respect the fundamental rights of the man? Shirin Ebadi affirms that the only way to export democracy in a country both that to support and to sustain the democratic strengths in the country in matter. In practice what it is not doing for Aung San Suu Kyi in the Myanmar, forced to the domiciliary arrests from over one year, leader of a democratic party that the military junta has declared out law. The U.N. visits her, to make sure on her conditions of health and to impose the embargo to a poor country.
And' evident that such system to operate not help democracy as the military intervention "to free" a country. In Iraq the new constitution has been compiled by the americans and the americans they will impose the directives before leaving the country to the Iraq ones. Currently, as Nobel Prize for the Peace Esquivel wrote, the western countries are operating against the democracy.
Few months ago, in Haiti, the President Aristide, elected by the people, he has been "changed" and the opposition has been armed from the western powers that have economic affairs in the island. The same is happened in Venezuela two years ago when the entrepreneur Carmona has tried to dismiss the President Chavez with the benediction of the United States. And' the war of "low intensity", as Esquivel defines it, to act in the shade (independently from the democratic reasons) to get what the great powers they want. And' this the democracy? A person asked to Ebadi if she is not afraid that also in Iran can be up to the same fate of Iraq. She doesn't exclude it since the pretexts for an american invasion would be many, but she is fighting so that the violation of the human rights doesn't become one of these pretexts.
The crucial battle of Shirin is to reform the Iranian legislation because "the islam is not synonymous of negation of the human rights and the rights of the women."
And' an ambitious objective, not even the Prime Minister Kathami, despite the appointments assumed during the electoral campaign, he has succeeded in his intent.
The insurmountable rock-cliff is the "Council of Guardians", the maximum institutional position whose function is to assure that the laws respect the precepts of the islam. The Council follows a very restrictive interpretation of the norms that regulate the political, social and moral behavior.
One of law introduced by Kathami and approved by the Parliament in 2002, it would have cancelled the power of the Council to select the candidates to the legislative elections. As it was predictable, Council has rejected the law as the proposal to stick to the Convention of the United Nations against the torture.
Shirin Ebadi wants to succeed where Kathami has failed, to show that the islam is a religion of equality. Forced interpretations of the Islamic precepts can provoke serious consequences for the population.
Some examples. In the last years it is growing the use of amazing substances in the Country and the United Nations have offered help furnishing dogs useful to "find" drugs. In Iran the dogs are considered impure animals. To legitimate the choice to religious level, a theological errand has had to send forth a judgment according to which the dogs can be used without reservations to such purpose.
Other matter. And' opposes the construction of clinics to take care of the increasing number of sick of Aids. To speak of the illness to the Country means to also speak of homosexuality, of drug and of a style of decadent life, considered matters censured. Obviously the problem of the aids remains and the Islamic authorities know very well it and in fact they are accepting the construction of such clinics but in "silence". An Iranian physician affirms, "in the developed countries if we want to resolve a problem it needs to try to give him visibility. In Iran the inverse one happens, if we want to resolve a problem it is had to avoid to speak to tall voice of it."

(Shirin Ebadi in Bologna during conference)
For this reason Ebadi had a difficult life in Iran as defender of women rights. When the Nobel Prize has been conferred her, the Iranian newspapers have minimized the event. Shirin Ebadi in Bologna has spoken of the actual situation of the iranian women, "a woman's testimony in the trial is not considered at the same level of a man. The woman that gets married cannot travel alone without the permission of her husband". Mrs Ebadi has succeeded in also getting important results during these years. It was forbidden to the women to practice the profession of judge, now it is possible. In case of divorce husband always get childrens. Shirin has succeeded in showing that islam didn't affirm anything to the respect and therefore the law on the trust has been modified.
"The Islamic religion", she concludes, "cannot be used against the women". After a long applause a young iranian woman express regard to Shirin Ebadi thanking her for the job that is completing for the iranian women. The girl hopes to be able to return in Iran to conduct the same life that conducts to Bologna and Shirin, despite the ambitious project, she wants to realize the dream of the young girl.

Federico Bastiani