Iranian Nobel Prize Winner Says Rights Abuses Increasing

Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Prize winner (file photo) (RFE/RL) 31 December 2005 -- An Iranian human rights group led by Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi protested on 31 December at "numerous" rights violations in Iran, including arbitrary arrests and the detention of activists and journalists.

In a quarterly report, Ebadi's Defenders of Human Rights Center called the violations of the past three months "obvious."

It said "the prosecution of activists and journalists in incompetent courts has not stopped but increased, leading to very long jail sentences in Tehran and in Kurdistan."

Ebadi's organization also hit out at the Islamic regime for banning political and women's rights Internet sites.

Earlier in December, the European Union condemned Iran for continued human rights abuses and said greater respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms was essential if Iran's relations with the EU are to improve.

(AFP)