John AdoyiThe 2023 Nobel Prize for Peace has gone to jailed Iranian female activist, Narges Mohammadi, for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
According to Alfred Nobel’s will, The Prize for Peace should go to the person who accomplished “the most or the best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the promotion of peace congresses” and should be awarded by a committee of five persons, chosen by the Norwegian Parliament.
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The committee said Ms. Mohammadi “brave struggle has come with tremendous personal costs” noting that the Authoritarian regime in Iran has arrested her “13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes.”
Making reference to the 2022 Iranian protest of over 100 thousand persons that started after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in custody of the morality police due to her alleged wrong use of hijab, the committee said: “The motto adopted by the demonstrators – “Woman – Life – Freedom” – suitably expresses the dedication and work of Narges Mohammadi.”
Stating Ms. Mohammadi’s portfolio, the Nobel committee said as a young physics student in the 1990s, she started advocating gender equality and women’s rights. She worked as an engineer and a columnist for reformist newspapers. In 2003, she joined Tehran’s Defenders of Human Rights Center, founded by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. In 2011, Mohammadi was first arrested, receiving a long prison sentence for supporting jailed activists and their families.
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Two years after being released on bail, she passionately campaigned against the death penalty in Iran. Her anti-death penalty activism led to her re-arrest in 2015, resulting in more years of imprisonment. The committee said that did not stop her, instead she used her incarceration to oppose “the regime’s systematic use of torture and sexualised violence against political prisoners, especially women, that is practised in Iranian prisons.”
The committee called Ms. Mohammadi “a woman, a human rights advocate, and a freedom fighter” and explained that “In awarding her this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour her courageous fight for human rights, freedom, and democracy in Iran.”
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The Nobel committee also dedicated the 2023 Peace Prize to the Iranians who “demonstrated against the theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.” Reiterating that “Only by embracing equal rights for all can the world achieve the fraternity between nations that Alfred Nobel sought to promote.”
The Prize for peace is the 5th award since the Nobel committee started giving out Prizes since Monday, October 2. Out of the 104 Nobel Peace Prizes, 19 have been women, 27 different organisations have been awarded.
The 2022 Peace Prize was awarded to Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights Organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights Organisation Center for Civil Liberties for demonstrating “the significance of civil society for peace and democracy.”
Narges Mohammadi will on December 10 2023 receive her award, consisting of a diploma, a gold medal and $1 million.
The Nobel committee is hopeful that the Iranian Government will let her attend the award ceremony in December.
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