News

(11 June 2010) An Iranian state television program defamed human rights lawyer and Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi in a heavily edited program on 10 June, and an associate and spokesperson for Ebadi’s organization was detained, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today.

On the very same day, the Islamic Republic agreed to a recommendation to respect the rights of human rights defenders at the conclusion of the Universal Periodic Review of Iran’s human rights practices at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“It is emblematic of Iran’s contempt for human rights that, on the day its human rights record was examined by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Ebadi was smeared on state TV and her associate arbitrarily detained,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson.

“These baseless attacks on Ebadi and her colleagues on the eve of the anniversary of the election demonstrate her indispensible role in exposing Iran’s grave human rights violations on the international stage,” he added.

Ebadi’s husband, Javad Tavasolian, was arrested in July 2009, and subjected to physical and psychological abuse. He was videotaped while in detention and coerced to make defamatory statements about her. He informed Ebadi about his ill-treatment after his release.