Speech to Third World Forum 2004 16thlO 1/2004 WSF 2004 Speech by Shirin EBADI, Nobel Peace Prize

2003 I feel very happy and honoured to be here today, and to intervene at the opening session of the Third World Social Forum. This Forum is a symbol of hope in this changing world, tom by conflicts, violenc e, inequalities and injustice. This Forum gathers thousands and thousands of peo ple who, all over the world, believe that another world is possible, where globa lisation would not be synonym of inequalities and wild liberalisation, people wh o believe that the human being should be at the center of globalisation. Worldwide, 54 countries are poorer than they were in 1990. In 2002, nearly 1.2 b illion people lived in extreme poverty, defined as an income ofless than US$l pe r day. Asia bears the greatest number of people living in extreme poverty. Forty -two million people live with HIV 1 AIDS, and the number will surpass 100 millio n within a decade unless a massive response begins immediately. Extreme poverty is a violation of human rights since people are deprived from th e rights to healthcare, education, food or housing. It also results in further h uman rights violations since, without resources, many rights become pure theory - rights to a fair trial, freedom of expression and opinion, right to free and f air election. I believe that this situation is not ineluctable: remedy lies in a greater respect for human rights. By reforming international institutions, including the WTO, the IF Is or the UN Security Council, and making them more democratic, the gap between those who hav e and those who have not could be reduced. By ensuring the justiciability, and c onsequently the effectiveness of economic and social rights, we can make them a reality for the majority of the planet. By making all actors responsible for the human rights violations to which they contribute, including the transnational c orporations, human rights can concretise much more widely. These issues are on t he top of our agenda. The FIDH, to which I belong, will devote its next Congress to the issues of accountability, justiciability of rights and civil society par ticipation. Those elements are prerequisites for the democratisation of globalis ation. Women are the first victims of extreme poverty. In addition, they face discrimin ation in law and in practice in many countries in the world. We have to struggle against a patriarchal culture. Women and men should work hand in hand against t hat culture, which denies equal rights for women and men. In my country, Iran, p atriarchal attitudes are prevalent: many women are high level graduates, but men occupy the decisionmaking positions. The legislation discriminates against women as well: under cri minal law, a woman's life is worth half of a man's; the legal value of a woman's testimony is half of a man's testimony. Women and children are also the first victims of today' s wars. According to the UNDP, in 2002 more than 50 countries were either recovering from or embroiled i n war or natural disaster. In today's wars, 90 percent ofthose who die are civil ians. Conflicts are the occasion of extremely serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law. Injustice is often at their root cause. I would like to recall here the situation of Palestine. Violations of human righ ts and humanitarian law are perpetrated daily in the Territories occupied illega lly by Israel since 1967. The right of the Palestinian people to self-determinat

ion must be firmly reaffirmed. The situation can be solved only through a just a nd fair solution. There are people who want peace within the Israeli and Palesti nian civil societies. In that regard, any peace initiative based on the UN resol utions should be supported. The international community should urgently send a U N interposition force, as requested by the Palestinian people, in order to provi de a protection to the civilians. I deeply regret the absence of international i nitiative in that direction. This year is the tenth anniversary ofthe genocide in Rwanda. But the Great Lakes region is still tom by conflicts. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, eight ye ars of war led to the death of three millions people. Peace process are under wa y in the DRC and in Burundi, but the many human rights violations remain a sourc e of insecurity in the region. The illegal exploitation of natural resources in the DRC has been repeatedly denounced, in vain. Child soldiers is an important p henomenon in the region: it is easier to put a weapon in their hands than to pro vide them with schools and books ... Sustainable peace implies justice for the v ictims and the struggle against impunity. The International Criminal Court annou nced that the first case that it will examine will probably regard the situation in the DRC. And the Protocol establishing the African Court on human and people s' rights will enter into force by the end of this month. This is a great victor y for African human rights defenders and for the people of Africa. In Chechnya, war crimes and crimes against humanity are perpetrated on a daily b asis by the Russian army, without any sanction by the international community. S ince 2000, special operations have taken place, resulting in arrests, torture, e xtrajudicial executions and massive disappearances against civilians. Those viol ations are mainly perpetrated by the Russian armed forces, who benefit from a to tal impunity. The gap is increasing between the official position of the Russian authorities who pretend that normalisation is under way and the reality of a le ngthy war. The war on terror is used by the authorities as a justification for t he massive human rights violations and contributes to the absence of effective c ondemnation by the international community. Colombia is the prey of a conflict since forty years which opposes the State to guerrilla groups. The paramilitaries are responsible for the majority of the vio lations and often act with the complicity of the army. The only solution to that lasting conflict is the struggle against impunity and a negotiated peace. In that regard, I am concerned at raft law proposed by the Colombian government which would allow an amnesty e authors of crimes against humanity, be they paramilitaries or members of illa groups. I wish to visit Colombia soon in a gesture of solidarity with uman rights defenders of Colombia. the d of th guerr the h

I would like to take the opportunity bestowed to me by the organisers of this Fo rum to raise the issue of the growing number of terrorist attacks, and of the su bsequent measures that have been taken by some states during the past two years using September 11 and the war against terrorism as a pretext. Combating terrori st attacks is legitimate and necessary, on the condition to fully respect due pr ocess of law and the rule of law. However, under the guise of the struggle again st terrorism, some States, including the United States, consider legitimate to t ake measures which violate international human rights law. This is notably the c ase for the prisoners detained in the American base of Guantanamo. Afghanistan and Iraq are occupied, after armed interventions in violation of int ernational law. The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating every day, where t he fanaticism is on the rise again, and where a new civil war might burst at any moment. In Iraq, the situation is dim as well. The effective power should be tr ansferred as soon as possible to the Iraqi people. They must be allowed to take their fate in their own hands and to exploit the wealth of their country themsel

ves, for the benefit of the population appears irrelevant to certain states. In Iran, since about fifteen years, and notably on the occasion of the last thre e presidential and legislative elections, the large majority of the Iranian peop le, in particular youths and women, asserted its will that reforms take place in Iran in order to establish a democracy and respect for human rights. Unfortunately, the conservatives, who detain the non-representative bodies an, have put many obstacles and a serious crisis is presently in under way regard to the electoral lists for the forthcoming legislative election, in ary. I recalled several times that Islam should not be instrumentalised to ve the people of democracy and human rights. in Ir with Febru depri

More generally, the present context, which emphasises excessively on security is sues makes the defence of human rights more difficult. Human Rights defenders ha ve always been harassed, repressed, and sometimes killed because they are workin g for the respect of universally recognised human rights. I have myself, as a la wyer and a human rights defender, been in prison in my country for my activities in favour of human rights. There are still many prisoners of opinion in the Ira nian jails: they should be released. In the present context of war against terrorism, human rights defenders are conf ronted to a climate where defending the right to a fair trial, the presumption o f innocence or the prohibition of torture is considered as irrelevant by many st ates. The security issues bypass any other rights and principles. Their message of peace and justice is more difficult to channel in a climate of radicalisation, rising communautarism and g rowing repreSSIOn. Solidarity between human rights defenders throughout the world is crucial to enh ance their protection. The support of regional and international NGOs is also de terminant. I wish to end this speech by recalling the universality of human rights. Contrar y to what certain governments say, human rights are universal. Arbitrary detenti on, torture and discrimination hurt the human dignity of anybody, whatever his o r her country of origin, religion, descent, or any other ground.