| 2009 Human Rights Tulip presented to Iranian Shadi Sadr |  |
She received the Dutch government’s human rights prize as a tribute to her moral courage and perseverance in protecting and promoting the rights of her fellow citizens.
In his speech at the award ceremony, foreign minister Maxime Verhagen called Ms Sadr ‘an ordinary woman who has extraordinary deeds to her credit’ and is altering the face of the world. Her courage, the battle that she is waging and the work that she is doing all make her exceptional, said Mr Verhagen.
As a lawyer, journalist and researcher, Shadi Sadr dedicates herself to defending the rights of Iranian women. In 2004 she founded Raahi, an organisation that does research on improving women’s rights. It also provides free legal assistance, particularly in family law cases, to women in positions of acute difficulty. In addition, Ms Sadr is campaigning to abolish the practice of stoning to death in Iran. To this end, she co-founded the campaign ‘Stop Stoning Forever’.
In her acceptance speech, Ms Sadr reminded the audience that women and especially young women have stood in the front ranks of the recent demonstrations against the Iranian regime. She called on governments not to forget these demonstrators, to continue to raise human rights issues with the authorities in Tehran, and to bring those responsible for human rights violations to justice.
Ms Sadr’s peaceful efforts on behalf of others have had many negative consequences for her personally. She has received constant threats and her phone has been tapped. In 2005 the authorities banned her from leaving the country for a year. In March 2007 she was arrested and imprisoned. During the unrest surrounding the presidential election on 12 June she was forcibly arrested and jailed for 11 days.
Cisca Dresselhuys, chair of the jury that recommends candidates for the Human Rights Tulip, emphasised that when people like Ms Sadr call on the Netherlands, it will not look the other way, and that it will honour, encourage and support human rights defenders.
The award consists of a bronze sculpture of the Human Rights Tulip and a personal prize of €10,000. Ms Sadr may also submit a proposal for a project to the value of €100,000. This will enable her to intensify her work as a human rights defender and extend her network within the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.
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