Iranian Human Right Activist, Narges Mohammadi Wins Nobel Peace Prize 2023
In recognition of her efforts to end discrimination against women in Iran and to advance human rights and freedom worldwide, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award Narges Mohammadi with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023. Her valiant effort has come with huge personal sacrifice.
Thirteen times she was taken into custody by the dictatorship, and five times she was found guilty, leading to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes. Currently, Ms Mohammadi is still incarcerated.
Document Women earlier reported about Mahsa Jina Amini, a young Kurdish woman, who does in September 2022 while in the custody of the Iranian morality police. Her death provoked the largest political demonstrations against Iran’s theocratic leadership since it came to power in 1979. Under the motto “Woman – Life – Freedom”, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took part in peaceful rallies against the authorities’ violence and abuse of women.
In return, the regime crashed down brutally on the protests as more than 500 protestors were killed. Several were injured, including many who were blinded by rubber bullets fired by the police. At least 20,000 people were arrested and put in regime captivity.
The Norwegian Nobel committee believes that the motto picked by the demonstrators – “Woman – Life – Freedom” – perfectly expresses the devotion and work of Narges Mohammadi. They wrote in the official release:
"Woman. She fights for women against systematic discrimination and oppression."
"Life. She supports women’s struggle for the right to live full and dignified lives. This struggle across Iran has been met with persecution, imprisonment, torture and even death."
"Freedom. She fights for freedom of expression and the right of independence, and against rules requiring women to remain out of sight and to cover their bodies. The freedom demands expressed by demonstrators apply not only to women, but to the entire population."
Even as a young physics student in the early 1990s, Narges Mohammadi stood out as a leader in the fight for gender parity and women's empowerment. After finishing school, she worked as an engineer and a columnist for several progressive newspapers. She joined Shirin Ebadi's Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran, an organization for which Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2003. In 2011, Ms Mohammadi was imprisoned for the first time and condemned to several years of imprisonment for her efforts to support incarcerated activists and their families.
Ms Mohammadi immediately dove into an anti-death-penalty campaign after her bail was granted two years later. Iran has historically been among the countries that execute the biggest proportion of their population annually. Over 860 inmates have been executed in Iran since January 2022.
In 2015, Ms Mohammadi was re-arrested and sentenced to additional years behind bars due to her activism against the death penalty. Upon her return to prison, she began fighting the regime’s systemic use of torture and sexualised violence against political prisoners, especially women, that is conducted in Iranian prisons.
At the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, political prisoners got familiar with the protests of the past year. Once again, Ms Mohammadi assumed leadership. From prison she expressed sympathy for the demonstrators and planned solidarity actions among her fellow inmates. The jail authorities replied by implementing even tighter regulations. Ms Mohammadi was restricted from accepting calls and visitors. She nevertheless managed to smuggle out a story which the New York Times published on the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Jina Amini’s killing. The message was: “The more of us they lock up, the stronger we become.” From captivity, Ms Mohammadi has managed to ensure that the protests have not ebbed out.
The committee's release also read, "Narges Mohammadi is a woman, a human rights advocate, and a freedom fighter. In awarding her this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour her courageous fight for human rights, freedom, and democracy in Iran. This year’s Peace Prize also recognises the hundreds of thousands of people who, in the preceding year, have demonstrated against the theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women."
"Only by embracing equal rights for all can the world achieve the fraternity between nations that Alfred Nobel sought to promote. The award to Narges Mohammadi follows a long tradition in which the Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Peace Prize to those working to advance social justice, human rights, and democracy. These are important preconditions for lasting peace."