Declaration by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the Pressure Placed on the Lawyer Shirin Ebadi
- On: 31.12.2008
The Iranian ambassador in France was summoned to meet the Presidency of the Council of the European Union that clearly expressed the unacceptable nature of the threats against the lawyer Shirin Ebadi and her colleagues whose offices in Tehran were searched on 29 December, a few days after the closure of the Human Rights Defenders Centre led by Mrs Ebadi.
The Presidency reminded the Iranian ambassador that the Iranian government is accountable for Mrs Ebadi’s safety, which is an issue of real concern within the European Union.
The Presidency urged the Iranian government to authorise the re-opening of the Human Rights Defenders Centre, grant the centre the legal status it has sought for many years and, more generally, fulfil the international human rights commitments that it undertook by signing and ratifying several international conventions, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- Updated: 31.12.2008
