Iran: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour meets human rights activists In Tehran

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has met in Tehran with several human rights activists, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi. The September 3 meeting was held at the UN office in Tehran.

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Ms.Ebadi told Radio Farda that police used force to prevent the families of some political prisoners gathered in front of the UN office from meeting the High Commissioner. They had brought letters in which they described the conditions in which their relatives are being held.

Ms. Ebadi said she informed Arbour about their demands. "I gave her the name of the people who wanted to meet her and I informed her about the problems of the families who wanted to meet her," she said. "I also gave her their letters."

Ms. Arbour reportedly also met with some of the members of a women's rights campaign that aims to gather 1 million signatures against laws in Iran that they say are discriminatory. Ms. Arbour has traveled to Iran to attend a Non-Aligned Movement conference on human rights and cultural diversity.