Twenty years after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi, ‘for her efforts for democracy and human rights’, and a year after the death of the young Mahsa Amini at the hands of customs police, this led to historic protests. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is once again targeting the regime in Tehran. Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, who is vice president of the organization founded by Ebadi and is imprisoned, is the winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and for her struggle for human rights and promote freedom for all.”
The announcement was made this Friday by the chairman of the Norwegian Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, who began by citing the theme of last year’s protests in Iran: “Woman, life, freedom”, saying it “appropriately expresses the dedication and work” of the 51-year-old Iranian activist. “Woman: she fights for women against systematic discrimination and oppression. Life: she supports women’s struggle for the right to a full and dignified life. Freedom: she fights for freedom of expression and the right to independence and against the rules that demanding that women cover their bodies,” said the chairman of the Norwegian Committee.
In an interview later published on the official website, Reiss-Andersen was asked what had changed in Iran between Ebadi’s award and now Mohammadi’s.. “The fundamental situation for women has not changed. But there is a difference. I feel that the intensity of last year’s demonstrations and the way the participants are even younger show such courage, that gives us hope that profound change is happening. way”, he claimed. The protests, which were violently suppressed by the regime, left more than 500 people dead and thousands arrested.
Ebadi herself responded in statements to Reuters, congratulating Mohammadi and “all Iranian women” on the award, which she said “will draw attention to the violations of women’s rights in the Islamic Republic, which has unfortunately proven that it cannot be reformed. ” The award comes just days after a teenager was hospitalized following a confrontation with customs police in Tehran’s metro for not wearing the Islamic veil. Armita Geravand, whose case is reminiscent of that of Mahsa Amini, is in a coma. Iranian authorities deny responsibility.
Still reflecting on the fact that twenty years later the Nobel Committee again focused on Iran, where nothing seems to have changed, Reiss-Andersen recalled: “It took three Nobel Peace Prizes for apartheid to fall in South Africa” . He was referring to Bishop Desmond Tutu, winner in 1984, and Nelson Mandela and Frederik de Klerk, who shared the prize in 1993, a year before the elections that marked the official end of the racial segregation regime. ‘Peace is not a quick fix. Sometimes it develops over decades. But this unique movement born in Iran last year is a worthy winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.” he said, emphasizing that the award also belongs to “the hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated against the Iranian regime.
Years of detention
Narges Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 122 years of history, and is also the fifth person to receive the prize while in prison. The activist, born in 1972 (seven years before the revolution) in Northern Iran, in a family from the Azerbaijani minority, studied physics, worked as an engineer and was a columnist for several newspapers. She became involved with the Center for Human Rights Defenders, the organization founded by Shirin Ebadi in 2003, and is currently its vice president.
According to the Nobel Committee, she was first arrested in 2011 for her efforts to help imprisoned activists and their families. In your book, White torture, a collection of interviews with other incarcerated women, however, said she was first detained while still in college. In 2013, after her release, she became involved in a campaign against the death penalty in Iran, and was arrested again in 2015. From then on, she devoted herself to denouncing the use of torture and sexual violence against prisoners, especially women. The last time she was arrested was on November 16, 2021, after which she was sentenced to solitary confinement for the fourth time in her life.
“Narges Mohammadi is a woman, a human rights defender and a freedom fighter. Her courageous fight for freedom of expression and the right to independence has come at enormous personal cost. The regime in Iran detained her thirteen times, convicted her five times and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes.”, the Norwegian Committee recalled. She is currently being held in the famous Evin Prison, where all Iranian political prisoners are held, for “spreading propaganda”.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian and British national held in the same prison until March 2022, told the BBC she was happy for her friend. “It makes me cry. She has done so much for all of us in Evin. Narges is an inspiration and a pillar for the women in the women’s section of Evin because of her fearless fight against violations of women’s rights, the use of solitary confinement and executions in the legal system in Iran,” he said. “This award goes to every Iranian woman who has been and continues to be a victim of injustice in Iran in one way or another.” he added.
Despite being detained, when demonstrations began last September after the death of Mahsa Amini (for not wearing the Islamic veil correctly), Narges Mohammadi expressed solidarity and organized actions among the detainees. “Prison authorities responded by imposing even more restrictions and banning her from receiving visitors or phone calls,” Reiss-Andersen said. ‘Still, he managed to get an article passed that he New York Times published on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death”, entitled “The more they hold us, the stronger we become”.
The same newspaper quoted a statement Narges Mohammadi issued after the award was announced, in which he pledged to remain in Iran and continue his activism even if it meant spending the rest of his life in prison. “I will never stop fighting for the realization of democracy, freedom and equality,” said according New York Times. “Certainly, the Nobel Peace Prize will make me more resilient, determined, hopeful and enthusiastic on this path and accelerate my steps,” he added. “Together with the courageous mothers of Iran, I will continue to fight against brutal discrimination, tyranny and gender-based oppression by the oppressive religious government for the liberation of women,” he concluded.
The family of Narges Mohammadi, who lives in exile in Paris, paid tribute to him. “I am very proud of my mother, very happy,” Ali Rahmadi, her 17-year-old son, said at a news conference with his father and twin sister. He hasn’t seen his mother in eight years. Tagui Rahmani, the husband of the activist who has also been arrested, says the price is for everyone who fights in Iran. “Their voices will not be silenced,” he said, arguing that the Nobel Prize “will give them more power to express themselves.”
The fact that Narges Mohammadi is being held means that she cannot attend the awards ceremony on December 10 in Oslo. The Norwegian Committee called on Tehran to do the right thing and release the activist. The prize, in addition to a gold medal and a diploma, amounts to 11 million Swedish crowns (about 950 thousand euros).
Tehran talks about ‘political action’
The choice of Narges Mohammadi for this year’s Nobel Prize was cheered around the world – from Washington to Brussels, via Lisbon, but not in Tehran. “We have learned that the Nobel Committee has awarded the Peace Prize to an individual found guilty of repeated violations of the law and commission of criminal offenses. We condemn this biased and political action,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser said. .
For UN Secretary General António Guterres, this Nobel Prize is an “important reminder” that women’s rights in Iran and elsewhere in the world are facing a “serious setback”. “This Nobel Peace Prize is a tribute to all women who fight for their rights, risking their freedom, their health and even their lives,” the Portuguese added.
US President Joe Biden called for the immediate release of the prize winner. “This award is a recognition that although she is currently unjustly detained in Evin Prison, the world still hears the voice of Narges Mohammadi calling for freedom and equality. said in a statement. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter that the award “recognizes the courageous and noble struggle of Iranian women who challenge oppression” and who “inspire women around the world.”
Source: DN
