Since Mahsa Amini’s murder on September 16, 2022, Iran has been engaged in a bloody struggle to defend its rights and freedoms. In this struggle, imprisoned Iranian human rights activist, Narges Mohammadi has risked it all for the world to hear and see the horrific circumstances Iranian women have to suffer. Recently, it has been announced she has won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her “tremendous personal cost” for her country. Ms Mohammadi is currently serving a 10-year long prison sentence in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran.
Alongside her 10-year sentence, she has been arrested 13 times, convicted five times and sentenced to 31 years in prison in total in her fight against women’s oppression in Iran.
She smuggled out a letter to the Nobel Peace Prize committee, not only expressing her extreme gratitude but how grateful the Iranian women fighting this terrible battle are.
“This year’s selection of the Nobel Laureate for Peace, the announcement for which started with the slogan of the revolutionary movement of Iranian protesters, is a commendable action by the Nobel Committee and marks a turning point in empowering protest and social movements worldwide as key forces for fundamental change in contemporary human societies which finds direction and purpose through the selection of a human rights defender.”
In Oslo, Norway the ceremony took place. Berit Reiss-Anderson, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee, said that the award deserved to go to Ms Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
She started her speech with the powerful “woman-life-freedom” motto stemming from the protests sweeping across Iran. She went on to describe this award as a prize of recognition of the hundreds and thousands Iranians fighting back for the past year against “the theocratic regimes policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.”
“If the Iranian authorities make the right decision they will release her so she can be present to receive this honor, which is what we primarily hope for,” Ms Reiss-Anderson said, in hope for Mohammadi’s release so she can attend the Nobel Peace prize ceremony on December 10th.
Ms. Mohammadi’s son, whom she hasn’t seen in eight years, tells BBC that he is overjoyed and proud of his mother.
“It took a few moments for me to come to terms with it so in the beginning I was just very happy and proud of my mum just like I am always, like yesterday and the day before that. This award belongs to the Iranian people. It is because of the protests.”
In 2020, BBC talked with Ms. Mohammadi explaining why she is so dedicated to pressing forth women’s rights in Iran.
“In my opinion, supporting human rights efforts and actions aimed at achieving freedom and justice anywhere in the world, whether in Iran or any other country, is very important and very heart-warming,” she said.
Last December, she wrote again to BBC, now in her prison cell, explaining in troubling detail the types of physical and sexual abuse Iranian women endure under captivity. In this statement, she explained that most assaults happen during protest which was triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022, which occurred under police custody. However, these protests have largely subsided due to the Iranian authority cracking heavily down on them.
As of last year, Ms. Mohammadi was included in the BBC’s 100 Women; A list of 100 unshakeable women who influence and inspire the world internationally. Thus, giving these women more of a voice each and every year.
She also wrote an inspiring book titled White Torture, published November of 2022, which documents the experiences of different Iranian women prisoners, including herself. “I declare once more that this is a cruel and inhumane punishment,” she wrote. “I will not rest until it is abolished.”
“A must-read for anyone concerned with human rights in Iran. A gripping, moving and utterly shocking account,” researcher Kylie Moore-Gilbert said in a statement.
Narges Mohammadi has received several human right award pieces down the years of this protest, but now that she has received the biggest peace award in the world, this gives her an entirely new level of recognition. IRANIANS WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR WOMEN, FREEDOM AND LIFE.
