Petrelis Files

Iran Bans Nobel Peace Laurete Ebadi's Human Rights Group

More bad news on the human rights front from Iran:

Iran has banned a rights group led by the country's 2003 Nobel Peace laureate, Shirin Ebadi. The Interior Ministry said on August 2 that Ebadi's four-year-old Center of Human Rights Defenders failed to obtain a valid operating permit and warned that any related activities could be prosecuted. The center has been an ardent voice for human and minority rights in Iran since its inception. Ebadi, who has been among the Iranian leadership's fiercest critics [...]

Read the full story here.

A reminder is in order at this point. Mrs. Ebadi last year condemned Iran's hanging of two gay teens in Mashad, and she called for an end to the country's practice of executing minors:

Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Saturday condemned the hanging of two teenagers accused of raping younger boys in northeastern Iran, a punishment that also prompted protests by the international community and rights groups [...]

Click here to read the entire Associated Press wire story.