The Iranian regime has stepped up its campaign against Shirin Ebadi – read more here.

Recently they have pressured Malaysia to silence the Nobel Peace Laureate.

The Nobel Women’s Initiative joins the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran together with the Asian NGOs Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) to call on the governments of Iran and Malaysia to support free speech—and for Malaysia not bow to pressure from Iran to silence Dr Shirin Ebadi.

In September, the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked organizers of an event scheduled to take place in Malaysia next month to withdraw its invitation to Dr. Shirin Ebadi. Dr. Ebadi was to speak about her human rights work in Iran to an audience of Asian human rights defenders. The foreign affairs ministry told organizers that such a speaking engagement would “cause a disruption of good relations” between the governments of Malaysia and Iran.

The human rights groups called on the Iranian and Malaysian governments to respect their obligations under international human rights treaties and promote and protect freedom of speech, rather than collaborating to deny it.

The Nobel Women’s Initiative strongly support free speech as a fundamental freedom, and believes that dialogue between Dr. Ebadi and human rights defenders in Malaysia will be important to promoting and protecting human rights in Asia.

TAKE ACTION

Join Human Rights First’s demand to end the Iranian regime’s attempts to intimidate and silence Dr Ebadi and other human rights defenders.

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LEARN MORE

Malaysia U-turn on Ebadi Speech, BBC News, 24 October 2008.

Malaysia Bars Iranian Nobel Laureate Ebadi Amid Protests, Radio Free Europe, 23 October 2008.

Malaysia Bans Nobel Laureate from speaking, Nutgraph on AWID’s Women’s Rights in the News, 10 Oct 2008.

Learn more about our support of Iranian rights activists at our Iran Issue Page.