Iranian police shut down the office of a human rights group headed by Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Sunday, the deputy head of the Human Rights Defenders Centre, Narges Mohammadi, told AFP. "They have sealed off the office and are telling us to leave the premises without resistance," Mohammadi said. "Mrs Ebadi is there too. We have no choice but to leave."
She said dozens of policemen had gathered in front of the group's office in northwest Tehran and that the officials had not "shown a judicial warrant but only provided the number of a warrant". She said policemen in uniform and plain clothes had raided the office and made an inventory of its contents. The group had been scheduled to hold a belated celebration marking the 60th anniversary of Human Rights Day on December 10.
The closure marks a toughened crackdown on rights campaigners by the Islamic republic, which Ebadi's group accuses of "systematically violating" human rights. "Freedom of expression and freedom of circulating information have further declined" since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to office in August 2005, the group said in its annual report in May. "The lack of a real and effective observance of human rights deepens the gap between the people and the government and breaks the pillars of peace, stability and development in the country," it warned at the time.
Founded by five prominent lawyers and headed by 2003 Nobel winner Ebadi, the group is a vocal critic of the human rights situation in Iran and has defended scores of prisoners of conscience, including high profile dissidents and student activists. The group holds frequent meetings on what it deems to be human rights violations. At one recent gathering, it renewed calls on Iran to stop executing people convicted of offences committed when they were minors.
In November, Ebadi criticised Iran's new Islamic penal code, saying it remained unfair to women and used an "incorrect" interpretation of Islam. In April, she said she had received death threats pinned to the door of her office building, warning her to "watch your tongue." Ahmadinejad subsequently ordered that Ebadi be protected and that the threats be investigated.
In 1974, Ebadi emerged as the first female judge in Iran, but after the 1979 Islamic revolution, the government decided that women were unfit to serve as judges. She chose to become a lawyer and devoted herself to human rights, women and children. Ebadi and her colleagues also represent the family of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died while in custody in 2003 after being detained for photographing a demonstration outside a Tehran prison.
Continued on Page 47
In talks in Tehran, which was held concurrent with an exhibition of agricultural products from ALBA member states in Tehran International Fairground, Iran's Commerce Minister Masoud Mirkazemi, Venezuela's Light Industry and Commerce Minister William Contreras and Nicaragua's Industry and Commerce Minister Orlando Solorzano agreed on cooperation in commerce, customs, investment, transportation, industrial and agricultural products as well as banking facilities. ALBA comprises of Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Cuba.
Mirkazemi said that Iran is interested in expanding cooperation with ALBA member states and it considers that all nations are entitled to economic growth and modern technologies. Trade exchanges among the three countries are not at a desirable level, he said.
Mirkazemi proposed the establishment of a shipping line linking the three countries, which was welcomed Venezuela and Nicaragua. Contreras, for his part, said that ALBA member states are committed to cutting its dependence on North and turn to the South, especially Iran. Expressing pleasure over development of commercial cooperation with Iran, he also said that the international financial crisis can be encountered by strengthening cooperation with friendly states and promoting economic infrastructures of developing countries.
Nicaraguan minister also commended Iran's achievements and voiced his country's readiness to develop cooperation with Iran. Nicaragua is interested in Iran's investment in Nicaragua's agriculture, animal husbandry and food industry, given its rich water resources.
Continued on Page 47
WADI KHALED -- Crossing back and forth from Lebanon into Syria is woven into the daily habits of Hassan Atiyeh and other residents of this remote border valley.
"If I don't go in the morning, I go in the evening," said Atiyeh, 27, a shopkeeper in the dirt-poor village of Knaisseh. "Anything we have here is from Syria--gas, diesel, bread. We can't live a moment without the Syrians."
Lebanon and Syria, which have never formally demarcated their frontier, agreed to work on this after forging diplomatic ties in October for the first time in their difficult history. They have also agreed to cooperate on border security, a hot issue partly because Syria's foes complain that weapons supplies for Hezbollah--which has re-armed since Israel's 2006 war with the Lebanese Shi'ite group--still transit Syrian territory.
Continued on Page 47
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Iranian police shut down the office of a human rights group headed by Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Sunday, the deputy head of the Human Rights Defenders Centre, Narges Mohammadi, told AFP. "They have sealed off the office and are telling us to leave the premises without resistance," Mohammadi said. "Mrs Ebadi is there too. We have no choice but to leave."
