Obama must press Iran on human rights

Kareem Shaheen

• Last Updated: November 04. 2009 9:46PM UAE / November 4. 2009 5:46PM GMT

Shirin Ebadi spoke at the opening of the Festival of Thinkers at the Emirates Palace hotel, Abu Dhabi. Delores Johnson / The National

ABU DHABI // On the eve of the anniversary of the Iranian hostage crisis, an Iranian lawyer, former judge and Nobel peace laureate criticised the handling of the post-election turmoil in the Islamic republic, and expressed her disappointment in the United States’ neglect of human rights issues in its negotiations with Iran.

“In principle, I am in favour of dialogue with the Iranian government,” Shirin Ebadi, who in 2003 became the first Muslim woman to win a Nobel prize, said in an interview. “But my issue with President [Barack] Obama and western countries is when you do engage in dialogue with the Iranian government, please do not merely concentrate on the issue of the nuclear programme. Please mention the violations of human rights in the country.”

Ms Ebadi expressed her opposition, however, to economic sanctions against Iran, saying they would not weaken the government and would instead harm ordinary citizens. “Iran is an oil-rich country. They have a lot of money as a result of it. Moreover, they have the support of China and Russia. So if there are sanctions imposed against Iran, they turn to them.

“Yes, they purchase goods at a more expensive price from Russia and China. The more money they spend, the more people in the country suffer because the prices go up for the consumers in Iran,” she said.

The United States has threatened to impose tougher economic sanctions on Iran if a deal on exporting uranium outside the country for nuclear enrichment falls through.

Ms Ebadi rejected the idea that talks focusing on nuclear issues alone yielded significant progress, pointing out that Iran had yet to sign off on any formal agreements.

The demand that the Obama administration place a spotlight on human rights issues was based on Mr Obama’s own election promises, Ms Ebadi said. “When Obama came to power, he put attention to human rights at the top of his agenda. That is why when he became president, one of the first things he did was order the closure of Guantanamo [prison] and that was a very good act. But on the international level he hasn’t shown the same sensitivity to the human rights situation.”

She referred to Mr Obama’s decision not to meet with the Dalai Lama when he was visiting Washington last month in order to maintain good relations with China.

“Obama seems to have forgotten that China supports the Myanmar regime, and Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for over 20 years by the junta in Burma,” Ms Ebadi said. “I had hoped that instead of taking the side of China, Obama would praise Aung San Suu Kyi and the Dalai Lama.”

Nevertheless, Ms Ebadi felt that Mr Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize on the basis of his decision to close Guantanamo and to pull US soldiers out of Iraq.

Regarding plans for yesterday’s opposition demonstrations, which marked the anniversary of the start of the Iranian hostage crisis in which 53 Americans were held in the US Embassy in Tehran for 444 days in 1979, Ms Ebadi said the opposition movement, which wanted engagement with the West, was trying to co-opt it.

Although the event has often been used to channel anti-US sentiment, “this anniversary date is being changed by the people”, to one that celebrates friendship with the US.

“They want to say that [Iranian president Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad should not use the excuse of hostility with America as an excuse to repress his own people.”

That repression takes many forms, like the criminalisation of criticism of the post-election protests by Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

“Unfortunately freedom of speech in Iran, in particular in the post-election period, has become very limited,” Ms Ebadi said.“I don’t agree with what Khamenei said. A crime should be determined by the law, and in our laws criticising the election results is not a crime.”

Despite the post-election turmoil, Ms Ebadi said her faith in the compatibility of Islam and democracy had not been shaken. “Islam accepts democracy. It’s dictators that are against democracy.”

She said the Iranian regime stands at a crossroads after losing popular support after the June elections, which the opposition believes was rigged to retain Mr Ahmadinejad’s presidency.

“When the popular base becomes weakened in a country, the regime is left with two options: it has the choice of listening to the people and reforming itself, or otherwise it will be toppled by the people,” she said.

“As to when this will happen, no one knows.”

kshaheen@thenational.ae