Shadi Sadr is a lawyer, founder, and one of the directors of the Justice Organization for Iran. Ms. Sadr, who works as an active legal advocate and is a member of the Volunteer Lawyers Network, has received at least 6 prestigious awards for her human rights activities.

On the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, we approached this human rights activist and asked him about the constructive difference that contributes to the sustainability and continuity of a human rights organization. Shadi Sadre, referring to the fact that sustaining a 10-year presence in the field of human rights is the most important success that the group of activists has achieved despite all the ups and downs, says, “Groups and organizations in this field can endure when this work is not just a job for them, but a part of their life.”

How would you describe the human rights activists in Iran and if you could highlight one positive characteristic of this group’s performance, what would it be in your opinion?

Describing the activist group after 10 years, I must say that your news agency, HRANA, is a well-established agency in the field of human rights and one of the main sources of news in this area. The 10 years of experience and continuous work, as well as the volume, diversity, and breadth of news produced throughout the day, make it easy to say that there is no other example like HRANA. I believe that the activist group is closely tied to HRANA and can be considered a part of it. In fact, we do not see the human rights activist group as a separate entity from HRANA, at least not today while we are here.

The most important feature is continuity of work. Maintaining a 10-year presence in the field of human rights is, in my opinion, the most significant achievement that this group has accomplished, with all the ups and downs it has faced; we know some of these ups and downs and we don’t know others. Despite all the difficulties that have existed, currently exist, and will continue to exist, this organization has persevered and continued its main task of delivering human rights news.

As you mentioned, the ups and downs, challenges, and difficulties for activists and, in general, the civil society, groups, or human rights organizations in Iran are very high, and this very issue leads to the discontinuation of many of these groups. With this explanation, what constructive difference do you think can contribute to the sustainability and continuity of a human rights organization? Specifically, what difference can you mention for the group of human rights activists in Iran?

I, who was outside of this group, do not exactly know the reason for this longevity and continuity. It is like a fruit garden where its trees produce good fruits, but the gardener is someone else and I only see its fruits and can benefit from them, and ultimately say how delicious, fresh and juicy they are; the reason for the gardener’s success is that I do not know what soil, fertilizer and water he has used to produce these fruits and what method he has used. This is an internal matter and it is natural that this group itself can better explain these reasons; how it has been able to fight its challenges, what challenges it has succeeded in overcoming and what challenges it has failed to face.

However, if I were to judge from the outside, despite never having been in contact with all the members of the human rights activists group and not knowing them all, the few individuals I do know, their most important characteristic is their high motivation to do something for others and continue their work despite all the challenges. This, in my opinion, is more important than anything else; individuals who have this motivation and, as a result, the commitment to sacrifice their own comfort and basic needs, and make the voice of human rights violations heard by everyone and move forward with their work.

Without people who have such motivations, perhaps no group can survive. As I mentioned, this issue is very important and as we go on, especially in the field of human rights and especially in the field of human rights in Iran, this issue becomes even more important. There may be many theoretical criticisms of this statement, but in practice, I have seen that groups, organizations, and collections whose main members have never experienced serious human rights violations in the Islamic Republic, ultimately either become weak, do not survive, or leave this field. The reason is that the field of human rights in Iran is not a field that you can enter for business; many enter this field for business, but it is not possible to stay and do well in this field. Usually, those who can stay are those who have personal concerns and have experienced human rights violations in Iran and in a way, have sacrificed themselves for the sake of human rights violations and want to make the world a better place for others in similar situations.

This feature exists in the individuals that I know from the group of activists, and of course, since I do not know all of them, I cannot judge all of them.

Mrs. Sadar, if you want to speak to your colleagues and companions in this group about the past decade, what would it be?

First of all, I congratulate you on your 10 years of perseverance in the field of human rights. We all know that it is not an easy task and keeping a collective work sustainable, especially in this field, is even harder than starting it and forming a new group.

Given my background in journalism, allow me to make a general recommendation; because I am familiar with news and also understand the importance of speed in news reporting. It is very important that when working in a news agency or newspaper, news reaches the audience quickly. Here, considering that this work is a human rights issue and involves people’s lives, in my opinion, when we are working as human rights activists, we should always keep in mind that speed and accuracy do not weigh the same, and accuracy weighs more than speed because we are dealing with people’s lives.

Thank you for dedicating your time to the peace line.

“این عکس یک پاییز زیبا در کوهستان است”

This photo is a beautiful autumn in the mountains.

Recent Activities of Human Rights Activists on the Streets in Iran and Distribution of the Monthly Peace Line Magazine – Photo from the Collection Archive