The awarding of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Iran’s Narges Mohammadi is an “important reminder” that women’s rights in Iran and elsewhere in the world are facing a “serious setback”, the UN Secretary General said on Friday.
According to António Guterres, this strong backlash is felt at several levels, including the persecution of women human rights defenders.
“This Nobel Peace Prize is a tribute to all women who fight for their rights, risking their freedom, their health and even their lives,” Guterres said, quoted in an official statement.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Human Rights Watch (HRW) also opined that by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Narge Mohammadi, the Nobel Committee recognizes the “immense contributions, selfless sacrifices and courage and resilience” she activist and other Iranian human rights defenders “demonstrate daily in their fight for a brighter, rights-respecting Iran.”
“For more than two decades, Narges Mohammadi has been a crucial member of Iranian civil society, organizing under intense repression to promote human rights and equality, and to seek accountability for serious violations.” said Tirana Hassan, executive director of HRW, quoted in a statement.
In this sense, the NGO called on the Iranian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally release” Narges Mohammadi and other human rights activists in prison.
In recent years, the regime in Tehran has detained Narges Mohammadi thirteen times. She has been convicted five times and is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence.
The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Iranian activist on Friday in the name of “the struggle of women in Iran against oppression”, as announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
According to the committee, the choice of this activist, vice-president of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, was also due to “her struggle to promote human rights and freedom for all”.
In 2022, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Ales Bialiatski, from Belarus, and the human rights organizations Memorial, from Russia, and the Center for Civil Liberties, from Ukraine.
Source: DN
