On October 6, it was announced that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to 51-year-old Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist in Iran, who has exemplified admirable dedication, despite tremendous personal tolls. She has spent the past thirty years resisting the current controlling religious regime, educating, advocating, and initiating acts of civil disobedience. Earlier this year she also won the PEN Americas Barbey Freedom to Write Award and was awarded the World Press Freedom Prize by the United Nations.
The Nobel Peace Prize, first awarded in 1901, recognizes an individual or collective each year that has taken immense strides towards social justice, human rights, and/or democracy, all of which are imperative for peace. Mohammadi is now the second Iranian woman and nineteenth woman in history to win the Prize.
In 2022, Iran suffered turmoil when widespread protests broke out, revolting against the Islamic’s Republic regime for their theocratic rule and cruel enforcement of the hijab for women. The compulsory hijab requires women over nine-years old to wear loose robes that cover their hair and body curves. Morality police patrolled the streets and the crackdown was heartbreaking. Brave and empowered protesters were met with custody and public executions.
When Mohammadi was born, in 1978, the Iranian Revolution was just beginning. Her uncle was a political activist and faced incarceration twice. Both her cousin and uncle were executed following the war.
Mohammadi links much of her passion for political prisoner rights to memories she has of her mother watching the television for news of incarcerated family members, stuffing fruit into red plastic shopping baskets for prisoners every week during the war, and showing undying support for her uncle throughout his imprisonment.
In college, Mohammadi was very involved in civic engagement, founding a political group for students called “Tashakkol Daaneshjooei Roshangaraan,” or the Illuminated Student Group. They worked to expound complex political issues. It was here her passion blossomed. It was also in college that Mohammadi met Taghi Rahmani, who was engaged in the Nationalist-Religous movement, calling for liberal reform against the Islamic Republic. After multiple years of working closely for human rights efforts, they married in 1999. While becoming an engineer for a building inspection company after college, Mohammadi also jumped at opportunities to spread her political values. She began writing as a journalist about human rights and women’s issues. In 2003, Mohammadi joined the Defenders of Human Rights Center in which she became deputy director, advocating for political prisoners. She works with the center’s founder, Shirin Ebadi, who was the first Iranian woman to be awarded the Nobel in 2003.
The Defenders of Human Rights Center was banned in 2008 shortly after the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who enforced the strict dress code and introduced the morality police. Mohammadi was jailed for her continued participation in the organization and her passport was confiscated. The government also forced her supervisor to fire her and barred her from working in engineering. Ebadi faced exile and Mohammadi’s husband and two children were forced to flee to France where she has been separated from them for the past eight years.
Following her 2013 arrest, Mohammadi began campaigning to cease the use of the death penalty. Since January of 2022, Iran has put over 860 prisoners to death. Between 2016 and 2020 Mohammadi was arrested multiple times and charged for anti-Islamic Republic efforts. These arrests influenced her to raise awareness on the issue of sexual abuse perpetrated against women in Iranian prisons.
Most recently, in 2021, Mohammadi was imprisoned and sentenced to ten years, being charged for spreading propaganda against the state. In total, the regime arrested her thirteen times and convicted her five times. Mohammadi has not let incarceration dampen her sentiment for human rights. She views prison as a way to publicize the repression of activism by the Iranian regime. For her efforts she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 but did not win it. Her nomination was then used against her in court during conviction in 2022.
However, through it all she has emerged unscathed and perseverant as ever. While imprisoned she remains in a position of leadership and sagacity. She impacted many incarcerated women around her through educational workshops and even dance parties. On the anniversary of Jina Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in the custody of the morality police, Mohammadi smuggled an essay to The New York Times. She closed the op-ed speaking on account of the protesters who acknowledged Amini’s death, “We are fueled by a will to survive, whether we are inside prison or outside … our struggle will continue until the day when light takes over darkness and the sun of freedom embraces the Iranian people.“ During the waves of protests in revolt following Amini’s death, Mohammadi organized acts of solidarity among inmates in support of protesters.
On October 15, 2022 a fire erupted in Evin Prison. The resulting chaos prompted Mohammadi and many other inmates to begin chanting “Death to the Islamic Republic” as security guards opened fire. It was a devastating event and resulted in eight deaths. However, Mohammadi’s resistance made a powerful impact, she told Agence France-Presse last month, “Prison has always been at the core of opposition, resistance, and struggle in my country, and for me it also embodies the essence of life in all its beauty.” She is currently being kept at Evin Prison in Northern Iran which is infamous for the mistreatment of its prisoners, particularly women. As Mohammadi has stated in her 2022 book White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Woman Prisoners, prisoners there are often subjected to floggings, waterboarding, electric shock, deprivation of medical care, and sexual violence.
The Iranian government has dismissed the prize, decrying it as yet another instance of the West meddling with the state of affairs and aiming to cause strife and conflict. Mohammadi’s family hopes that the international attention will persuade the Iranian government to release her but, it is expected that Iran will more likely buckle down on her captivity and possibly cut off more of her rights such as communication with family.
The chant that has echoed across the streets of Iran in the past year, “Women—Life—Freedom,” or “Zan—Zendegi—Azadi,” has been used to signify Mohammadi’s activism. Women, whom she fights for and identifies as one of; life, which she believes should be just and dignified; and freedom, the status all Iranian citizens should hold, a right to independence. The Norwegian Nobel Committee admires Mohammadi for seemingly not holding any regrets even after giving up so much personally. In an interview with Berit Reiss-Anderson, chairman for the Norwegian Nobel Committee, it was stated that “[Mohammadi] is the symbol of what it means to be a freedom fighter in Iran.” Mohammadi has remained an outspoken critic of the government and argues for Iran to transition into a democratic regime. She has vowed to stay in Iran for the rest of her life, even if that’s spent in captivity, believing that change can only come from within Iran. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has also acknowledged the many thousands of people who have involved themselves in the reform against Iran’s current regime and the discrimination and oppression of women that’s accompanied it. Reiss-Anderson expressed hope that the prize can encourage and inspire other women out there who want to make a difference.