Iranian activist wins Nobel Peace Prize for 'fight against women's oppression'

The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her "struggle against the oppression of women in Iran and for promoting human rights and freedom for all," the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced in Oslo. The publication told more about Mohammadi and her struggle CNN.

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Mohammadi, 51, was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison and is banned from seeing her husband and children. Her name has become synonymous with the fight for human rights in Iran, where nationwide protests erupted last year following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman detained by notorious morality police.

In awarding the Prize to Mohammadi, the Nobel Committee said it "recognizes the hundreds of thousands of people who, during the previous year, demonstrated against the policies of theocratic regimes aimed at discrimination and oppression of women."

“Her courageous struggle came at great personal cost. In total, the regime arrested her 13 times, convicted her five times and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes, Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said at the announcement ceremony. “At the moment, Mohammadi is still in prison.”

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Mohammadi said she would continue to fight for "democracy, freedom and equality" in a message her family gave to CNN that would be published if she received the award.

It is unclear whether Mohammadi is aware of his victory. Her friends and family said those held in Iran's notorious Evin prison are prohibited from receiving calls on Thursdays and Fridays.

In her statement, Mohammadi said she would remain in Iran to continue her activities "even if I spend the rest of my life in prison."

“Standing next to the brave mothers of Iran, I will continue to fight against the ongoing discrimination, tyranny and gender oppression by the oppressive religious government until I achieve women's liberation,” she said.

Taghi Rahmani, Mohammadi's husband, said the prize was awarded to "the entire people of Iran." Rahmani, an activist and former political prisoner who served a total of 14 years in regime prisons, lives in exile in France with his twin children.

“This award is not only for Narjes, it is for the entire people of Iran, for all participants in the movement in which Iranian women and men took to the streets, stood for months and fought to show that they will continue to fight for democracy and civil equality,” - said Rahmani.

Mohammadi's family says, "Although the years of her absence can never be made up for us, the reality is that the honor of recognizing Narges' efforts for peace is a source of solace for our unspeakable suffering."

“For more than eight and a half years she has not seen her children and has not heard their voices for more than a year. All this speaks to what she had to endure on the way to realizing her aspirations. So for us, who know that the Nobel Peace Prize will help her achieve her goals, this is a blessed day,” the family said in a statement.

Prisoner, but not silent

Despite his imprisonment, even the gloomy cells of Tehran's Evin prison could not suppress Mohammadi's powerful voice.

In an audio recording made at the prison and released to CNN ahead of the announcement, Mohammadi can be heard leading chants of “Woman, life, freedom,” the slogan of the uprising sparked last year by Amini’s death. Amini was arrested for allegedly wearing a headscarf incorrectly.

The audio from the prison is interrupted by a short automated message: “This is a phone call from Evin Prison.” Later, the women are heard singing in Farsi Bella Ciao, a XNUMXth-century Italian folk song that became an anthem of resistance to fascism and is now used by the Iranian freedom movement.

“This period was and remains the era of greatest protest in this prison,” Mohammadi said in written responses to questions relayed to her through intermediaries.

Mohammadi was one of 351 candidates to receive the Nobel Prize this year, the second-highest number in Nobel Prize history. She is the 19th woman to receive this award in the award's more than 120 years of existence.

Alexandra Matviychuk, a Ukrainian human rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, praised the committee's decision to award Mohammadi.

“We live in a very interconnected world. Right now, people in Iran are fighting for freedom. Our future depends on their success,” Matviychuk wrote on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.

At the press conference announcing the award, Reiss-Andersen emphasized: “Only by accepting equal rights for all can the world achieve the brotherhood between peoples that Alfred Nobel sought to establish.”

“The award to Narges Mohammadi continues a long-standing tradition in which the Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Peace Prize to those who work to advance social justice, human rights and democracy. These are important prerequisites for lasting peace,” she noted.

Woman, life, freedom

Henrik Urdahl, director of the Oslo Peace Research Institute, called Mohammadi's victory "a huge achievement for women's rights in Iran."

“Women in this country have fought for equality and freedom for generations, and the death of Mahsa Amini was a catalyst in the fight against oppression and violence,” Urdal said in a statement.

"Today's laureate, unjustly imprisoned in Tehran, sends a powerful message to Iran's leaders that women's rights are fundamental throughout the world," he said.

Mohammadi's recognition comes after a year of huge upheaval in Iran following Amini's death, which culminated in months of nationwide protests. Reiss-Andersen called the unrest "the largest political demonstrations against Iran's theocratic regime since it came to power in 1979."

They were brutally suppressed by the government.

“More than 500 demonstrators have been killed. Thousands were injured, including many blinded by rubber bullets fired by police. At least 20 people have been arrested and are in custody,” Reiss-Andersen stated.

Last month marked one year since Amini's death. Protests continue in many Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran, Mashad, Ahvaz, Lahijan, Arak and the Kurdish city of Senandaj.

Many demonstrators are chanting: “Woman, life, freedom!”, while others are shouting slogans against Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The long road to the Nobel Prize

Mohammadi, who earned a physics degree from Imam Khomeini International University in the 1990s, first worked as an engineer and then wrote columns for reformist Iranian newspapers.

In 2003, she joined the Iran Human Rights Defenders Center, an organization founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Mohammadi was first arrested in 2011 and convicted in part because of her membership in the Human Rights Center. After being released on bail two years later, Mohammadi began campaigning against the death penalty.

“Iran has long been among the countries in which the largest number of inhabitants are executed each year,” the committee admits. “Since January last year, more than 860 prisoners have been sentenced to death in the country.”

In 2015, Mohammadi was again arrested and convicted for her anti-death penalty activism. But her work continued inside Evin as she began to speak out against human rights violations committed against political prisoners.

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Last year, CNN reported on how Iranian security forces used rape to suppress protests that erupted after Amini's death.

With media access to Iran severely restricted, CNN traveled to the region near Iraq's border with Iran, interviewed eyewitnesses who had fled the country, and verified victims' accounts and sources both inside and outside Iran to confirm several reports of sexual violence against demonstrators.

One Kurdish-Iranian woman, whom CNN calls Hana for security purposes, claims she witnessed and was sexually assaulted while detained. “There were girls who were sexually abused and then they were transferred to other cities,” she said.

Since the anniversary of Amini's death, Iran has continued its crackdown on women's rights. In September, the country's parliament passed a new draconian law providing for much harsher penalties for women who violate the hijab law. The so-called hijab law, which will be in force for a three-year period, sets out various rules for wearing clothing, the violation of which can lead to up to 10 years in prison.

UN experts said the new law could amount to “gender apartheid.”

“The authorities appear to be governing on the basis of systemic discrimination with the intention of forcing women and girls into complete submission,” the experts said in a statement.

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