This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Iranian activist and journalist Narges Mohammadi, who has been fighting for women’s rights in the country.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Iranian activist and journalist Narges Mohammadi for her “efforts to advocate for women’s rights in Iran, promoting human rights and freedom for all”, announced Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, today.
The award ceremony will take place at Oslo City Hall on December 10, where the Nobel Peace Prize laureate will receive a medal, certificate, and a prize of 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately $986,000). However, Mohammadi is unlikely to attend the ceremony as she is serving a prison sentence of over 10 years in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, on multiple charges, including illegal propaganda.
Iranian activist and journalist Narges Mohammadi. (Photo: Reuters).
At 51 years old, Mohammadi has fought for 30 years to bring fundamental change to Iran through education and other peaceful means. She is one of Iran’s leading human rights activists, advocating for women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty.
Mohammadi is also the deputy leader of the Center for Human Rights Defenders, a non-governmental organization headed by Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 2003. She is the 19th woman in the history of the Nobel Peace Prize.
According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Mohammadi has been arrested 13 times and has been sentenced five times, receiving a total prison term of 31 years. Even while in prison, she has vigorously protested the conditions of detention for female inmates.
When the protest movement “Women, Life, Freedom” erupted in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman detained by the “morality police” in Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly, she strongly supported the movement from within prison.
According to a post on her social media account, Mohammadi organized a protest to burn hijabs from inside Evin Prison on the anniversary of Amini’s death. She also conducts weekly workshops in prison for female inmates, educating them about their rights.
“If the Iranian authorities make the right decision, they will release Mohammadi so she can accept this award. This is what we hope for,” Reiss-Andersen stated after announcing the Nobel Peace Prize.
Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Mohammadi “highlights the courage and determination of Iranian women and how they inspire the world.”
Mohammadi’s family described this as “a historic moment for the fight for freedom in Iran.”
The Nobel Peace Prize is selected by a committee of five chosen by the Norwegian parliament. According to the will of the Nobel founder, the prize is awarded to individuals or organizations “that have made significant contributions to the promotion of fraternity between nations, the reduction or abolition of standing armies, and the organization and promotion of peace congresses.”
This year, the Nobel Peace Prize had 351 nominees, including 259 individuals and 92 organizations. This marks the second-highest number of nominations in the history of the prize and the eighth consecutive year that nominations have exceeded 300. The current record was set in 2016 with 376 nominees. The nomination list is kept secret for 50 years, but nominators are allowed to disclose their nominees.
The Nobel Peace Prize is always carefully considered due to the message it can send to the world. In 2022, the prize was awarded to human rights activist Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Memorial human rights organization in Russia, and the Center for Civil Liberties based in Ukraine.
The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, two journalists from the Philippines and Russia, for “their efforts to protect freedom of expression.” In 2020, the prize was awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts against hunger and its contributions to global peace.
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