wfn.org | Baha'i News: Baha'is call for the reopening of human rights center in Iran

["Brad Pokorny" <bradpokorny@comcast.net>]

Baha'is call for the reopening of human rights center in Iran

>Baha'i World News Service

http://news.bahai.org <http://news.bahai.org/> 

>For more information, contact: news@bahai.org

GENEVA (23 December 2008) - The Baha'i International Community today
expressed grave concern over the closing by the Iranian government of Shirin
Ebadi's Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran and called for its
reopening.

"The closing of Ms. Ebadi's office is a blow to human rights for the whole
of Iran," said Diane Ala'i, a representative of the Baha'i International
Community to the United Nations in Geneva.

"The spokesperson of Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that
the reason behind the closure was that the Center has no license. But it
would be a simple matter to give them one. Otherwise, the fact that the
Iranian government would shut down the office of its most famous human
rights defender, who is Iran's only winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the
first Muslim woman so recognized, can only be perceived by the world at
large as further evidence that the government has no regard for rights and
freedoms.

"Ms. Ebadi and her colleagues are engaged in defending numerous individuals
and groups in Iran, and the closure of the Center will certainly interfere
with their efforts and impede the adequate legal representation that they
are committed to providing," she said.

Among those being defended by Ms. Ebadi and her organization are the seven
Baha'i leaders who are currently being held without charge in Evin prison in
Tehran. The seven were arrested in March and May in an ominous sweep that
was reminiscent of when Baha'i leaders in the 1980s were rounded up and
executed.

"Regardless of the attempts against human rights defenders in Iran, Mrs.
Ebadi and her colleagues are courageously pursuing their work. For the good
of the country, we call upon the Iranian authorities to resolve the
administrative issue, and to allow the Center to reopen immediately," said
Ms. Ala'i.

For more information, go to http://news.bahai.org

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