The INVITATION ... an emperience in the Peace Dome

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates you meet in The INVITATION

Shirin Ebadi was born in Hamadan, Iran. Ebadi entered the law department of the University of Tehran in 1965, and participated in the entry exam for judges immediately after graduation in 1969. In 1975, she became the first woman in Iranian law history to head a legislative branch. Ebadi was assigned to a lower position, actually the same branch’s secretary, following the Iranian revolution in 1979, when conservative clerics insisted that judgement is forbidden to women in Islam. After protests by her and other female judges, they were assigned to a slightly higher position, that of “law expert.” She finally asked for early retirement when she could not stand her situation. Because of rejected applications, Ebadi was not able to work as a lawyer until 1993, when she was able to open a law office. During this transition she used the time to write books and articles which made her widely known. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women.


Shirin Ebadi

In the name of the God of Creation and Wisdom..

..I feel extremely honoured that today my voice is reaching the people of the world from this distinguished venue. ....This year, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a woman from Iran, a Muslim country in the Middle East.

Today coincides with the 55th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; a declaration which begins with the recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family, as the guarantor of freedom, justice and peace. And it promises a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of expression and opinion, and be safeguarded and protected against fear and poverty.

One has to say to those who have mooted the idea of a clash of civilizations, or prescribed war and military intervention for this region, and resorted to social, cultural, economic and political sluggishness ...in a bid to justify their actions and opinions, that if you consider international human rights laws, including the nations' right to determine their own destinies, to be universal, and if you believe in the priority and superiority of parliamentary democracy over other political systems, then you cannot think only of your own security and comfort, selfishly and contemptuously. A quest for new means and ideas ... to enjoy human rights and democracy, while maintaining political independence and territorial integrity .... must be given top priority.

©2003 The Nobel Foundation, reprinted with permission

2003

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THE INVITATION

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