Declaration by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the Pressure Placed on the Lawyer Shirin Ebadi

31 December 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.