By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has said that today’s Noble Prize awarded to Narges Mohammadi, is an important reminder that women’s rights are facing a strong pushback in Iran and elsewhere.
According to the UN Scribe, the Prize is a tribute to all the women fighting for their rights at the risk of their freedom, health and even their lives.
He stated this via his verified X account (formerly known as twitter) @antonioguterres against the backdrop of the award
Today’s #NobelPeacePrize, awarded to Narges Mohammadi, is an important reminder that women’s rights are facing a strong pushback, in Iran & elsewhere.
This Prize is a tribute to all the women fighting for their rights at the risk of their freedom, health & even their lives.
Sundiata Post recalls that imprisoned Iranian activist, Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (today), in recognition of her tireless campaigning for women’s rights and democracy and against the death penalty. Mohammadi, 51, has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests by Iranian authorities and spending years behind bars.
Iranian women’s rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi was honoured “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”, said Berit Reiss-Andersen, head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
Recall that authorities arrested Mohammadi in November after she attended a memorial for a victim of violent 2019 protests. Mohammadi has a long history of imprisonment, harsh sentences and international calls for reviews of her case.
After Friday’s announcement, a ceremony will take place at the Oslo City Hall on December 10, the anniversary of founder Alfred Nobel’s death.
Mohammadi said in a statement to the New York Times that global support and recognition of her human rights advocacy makes her “more resolved, more responsible, more passionate and more hopeful”, according to a post on the X platform.
This was the fifth Nobel Prize to be awarded this week; on Monday the final Nobel Prize for economic sciences will be announced.
Mohammadi’s brother: ‘They will just crush people’
Mohammadi’s brother Hamidreza says he has not been in touch with his sister but the Nobel Peace Prize “means a lot to her”. He added, however, it is unlikely to make a difference in Iran.
“The prize means that the world has seen this movement, [but] the award will not affect the situation in Iran,” he said. “The regime will double down on the opposition, and it will have no effect on the regime. They will just crush people.”
Waiting for the announcement “was nerve-racking”, he added. But he knew immediately his sister won when he heard the committee’s chair Berit Reiss-Andersen saying three words in Farsi: “woman, life and freedom” – the slogan of recent demonstrations.
“I felt very great,” said Hamidreza Mohammadi, who lives in Norway.
Iran’s ‘hijab and chastity’ laws
For nearly all of Mohammadi’s life, Iran has been governed by a theocracy headed by the country’s supreme leader. While women hold jobs, academic positions and even government appointments, their lives can be tightly controlled.
Laws require all women to at least wear a headscarf, or hijab, to cover their hair as a sign of piety. Iran and neighbouring Afghanistan remain the only countries that mandate it.
Iran’s parliament last month passed a new “hijab and chastity” bill that lays out punishment for people who violate the country’s mandatory dress code rules.
For women, unacceptable covering has been defined as “revealing or tight clothing, or clothing that shows parts of the body lower than the neck or above the ankles or above the forearms”.
A human rights organisation that has closely worked on amplifying Mohammadi’s imprisonment, shared their congratulations on her Nobel Peace Prize.
Olive Moore, interim director at Front Line Defenders, said, “This Nobel Peace Prize is a resounding recognition of Narges Mohammadi and other women human rights defenders who – at great cost to personal liberty – have courageously advocated for Iranian women to enjoy the full range of human rights and freedoms.”
“Front Line Defenders has spent years advocating for an end to the Iranian authorities’ persecution and imprisonment of Narges Mohammadi. This Nobel Prize is a clear signal that the international community agrees – it is time to free Narges Mohammadi and all unjustly imprisoned human rights defenders.”
White Torture: ‘I will not stop campaigning’
Partly from her own experience and after interviewing 12 other female prisoners, Mohammadi wrote the book White Torture. Published in 2022, it examines psychological torture such as sleep deprivation and solitary confinement that Iranian prisoners endure.
She also describes inmates suffering harassment, beatings by guards, blindfolding and denial of medical treatment.
“They will put me in jail again, but I will not stop campaigning until human rights and justice prevail in my country,” Mohammadi wrote.
As a journalist, she has also penned many articles arguing for social reform in Iran and published an essay collection, The Reforms, the Strategy, and the Tactics.
Mohammadi became the 19th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, but who are the others:
1905 – Bertha von Suttner: “For her audacity to oppose the horrors of war.”
1931 – Jane Addams: “For their assiduous effort to revive the ideal of peace and to rekindle the spirit of peace in their own nation and in the whole of mankind.”
1946 – Emily Greene Balch: “For her lifelong work for the cause of peace.”
1976 – (joint) Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan: “For the courageous efforts in founding a movement to put an end to the violent conflict in Northern Ireland.”
1979 – Mother Teresa: “For her work for bringing help to suffering humanity.”
1982 – Alva Myrdal: “For their work for disarmament and nuclear and weapon-free zones.”
1991 – Aung San Suu Kyi: “For her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.”
1992 – Rigoberta Menchu Tum: “In recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples.”
1997 – Jody Williams: “For their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines”.
2003 – Shirin Ebadi: “For her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.”
2004 – Wangari Muta Maathai: “For her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”
2011 – (joint) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkol Karman: “For their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”
2014 – Malala Yousafzai: “For their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”
2018 – Nadia Murad: “For their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”
2021 – Maria Ressa: “For their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
‘Victory is near’: Mohammadi says global support makes her ‘more hopeful’
Mohammadi has said in a statement to the New York Times that global support and recognition of her human rights advocacy makes her “more resolved, more responsible, more passionate and more hopeful”, according to a posting on the X platform.
She said she would never stop striving for democracy and equality, even if that meant staying in prison.
“I will continue to fight against the relentless discrimination, tyranny and gender-based oppression by the oppressive religious government until the liberation of women,” the newspaper quoted her as saying in a statement.
“I also hope this recognition makes Iranians protesting for change stronger and more organised. Victory is near.”
Iran’s jailed women’s rights advocate Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in a boost for anti-government protesters.
The prize honoured all those behind recent unprecedented demonstrations in Iran and the award-making committee called for the release of Mohammadi, 51, who has campaigned for women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty.
Dan Smith, head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think tank, said while the prize could help ease pressure on Iranian dissidents, it would be unlikely to lead to her release.
Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the 122-year-old prize and the first one since Maria Ressa of the Philippines won the award in 2021 jointly with Russia’s Dmitry Muratov.
“Narges Mohammadi received her prize from the Westerners,” the Fars news agency reported, adding that she “had made headlines multiple times due to her acts against the national security”.
Iranian authorities have yet to comment on the award.
Prize will embolden Mohammadi’s fight, husband says
Mohammadi’s award will further encourage her struggle and the movement she leads, her husband has told Reuters.
“As a young physics student Mohammadi distinguished herself as an advocate for equality and women’s rights. In 2011 she was arrested for the first time and sentenced to many years of imprisonment for her efforts to assist incarcerated activists and their families.
“After her release on bail, this year’s peace laureate Mohammadi immersed herself in a campaign against use of the death penalty. Her activism against the death penalty led to her re-arrest in 2015, and to a sentence of additional years behind walls.
“Last year’s wave of protests became known to the political prisoners held inside the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. From captivity, 2023 #NobelPeacePrize laureate Mohammadi has helped to ensure that the protests have not ebbed out.”
The activist “is the most determined person I know”, said her husband Taghi Rahmani, who has been a refugee in France since 2012 with their two children, twins now aged 17.
“She has three causes in her life – respect for human rights, her feminist commitment and justice for all the crimes that have been committed,” Rahmani said of his wife.
Her family said on her official Instagram page, which they maintain while she is behind bars, that the honour belongs to all Iranians, “especially the courageous women and girls of Iran who have captivated the world with their bravery in fighting for freedom and equality”.
