Narges Mohammadi

Narges Mohammadi
نرگس محمدی
Born	(1972-04-21) 21 April 1972 Zanjan, Iran
Other names	Narges Safie Mohammadi
Education	Qazvin International University (BS)
Organizations	Defenders of Human Rights Center National Council for Peace
Movement	Neo-Shariatism
Spouse	Taghi Rahmani ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	2
Awards	Alexander Langer Award (2009) Andrei Sakharov Prize (2018) Nobel Peace Prize (2023)

Narges Mohammadi (Persian: نرگس محمدی; born 21 April 1972) is an Iranian human rights activist, writer, women's rights advocate, and the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, currently imprisoned in Iran. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2023 was awarded to the imprisoned Iranian human rights advocate Narges Mohammadi. More than 20 years of fighting for women’s rights made her a symbol of freedom and standard-bearer in the struggle against the Iranian theocracy. In 2003, she joined the Defenders of Human Rights Center, founded by that year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi. In the years that followed, Narges Mohammadi helped imprisoned activists, led a campaign against the death penalty and criticized the regime’s use of torture and sexualized violence. Narges Mohammadi has faced severe penalties for her activism; she has been sentenced to a total of 35 years and three months in prison, along with 154 lashes. She has endured 135 days in solitary confinement and has spent a total of 10 years in jail to date. Mohammadi has been a vocal proponent of mass feminist civil disobedience against the hijab in Iran and a vocal critic of the hijab and chastity program of 2023. In May 2016, she was sentenced in Tehran to 16 years' imprisonment for establishing and running "a human rights movement that campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty." She was released in 2020 but sent back to prison in 2021, where she has since given reports of the abuse and solitary confinement of detained women.

In October 2023, while in prison, she was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize "for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran condemned the decision.

Early Life

Narges Mohammadi was born in 1972 and graduated in applied physics from the International University in Qazvin. When she was a student, she and five other students founded an independent student organization called “Roshangaran”, which met with opposition and threats from the university and the governmental student organization. Not only did the Ministry of Science refuse to grant license to “Roshangaran”, but the insistence to continue their activities resulted in her being arrested twice. She also started a women’s mountain climbing group in the university.

Narges started journalism from 1996 by writing articles about student’s and women’s movement in Payam Hajar magazine, where she became a member of the editorial board. Publication of her articles in other newspapers led to her membership in the journalists’ union. After graduation, she founded an independence organization with a number of other graduates from the International University, Azad University and Medical University in Qazvin province. The Ministry of Interior refused granting license to the organization, but they continued their collective social and political activities. In addition, she continued mountain climbing and climbed most of the mountains in Iran, including Damavand, Alam Kooh, Dena, Shir Kooh, Shah Alborz and Taftan. In 1999, she married Taghi Rahmani, a political activist who had spent 11 years of his life in prison.

Narges Mohammad (Left) and her family

She knew Taghi Rahmani when he was teaching Civil Society courses, students were quite numerous at his lectures. Now they have two twins. Right after their marriage Rahmani was arrested. Only after a two-year custody he could come to know the accusations which had been leveled against him. He spend one thirds of his life in prison because of his critique against the theocratic regime. On the other hand, his repeated arrests have induced Narges Mohammadi to pay particular attention to the situation of the convicts, especially those for crimes of opinion, who are secluded - quoting her words - in the violation of "the most basic principles of law, with illegal imprisonments, without stating the accusation, without evidence, without a sentence, prohibiting the counsel for the defence to have the files of their clients". Because of these criticisms and after her husband's arrest, she was imprisoned in 1998 and sentenced to 1 year imprisonment. Nevertheless, this experience has given her a new strength to assist the dissidents imprisoned and their families.

Narges Mohammad and her twins, Ali and Kiana

Mohammadi went on to work as a journalist for several reformist newspapers and published a book of political essays titled The reforms, the Strategy and the Tactics. In 2003, she joined the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi; she later became the organization's vice president.

In 2006, she gave birth to her twin children, Ali and Kiana. When Narges Mohammadi’s activist husband resolved in 2012 to leave Iran to escape yet another jail sentence connected to his political activities, she stayed behind with her twins, Ali and Kiana.

Kiana and her twin brother Ali last saw their mother nine years ago when they left Iran to join their father, the political activist Taghi Rahmani, in exile in Paris.

Imprisonment

1998: Narges Mohammadi was first arrested for the first time in her life due to her criticisms of the Iranian government, resulting in a year of imprisonment.

1999: She lost her job during the mass seizure of newspapers but subsequently passed her qualification exam and was employed at Iran Engineering Inspection Company as an engineering inspector, where she worked on large industrial projects including the Petropars Project.

2001: Her activities for the release of the political prisoners and her fight against solitary confinement resulted in her arrest in. Her first experience of solitary confinement was during this arrest, when she was held in the solitary cells of the Eshrat Abad barracks of the IRGC. Consequently, she was sentenced to one year in prison.

2003: After Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize, Narges Mohammadi began working closely with her at the Human Rights Defenders Center of Iran founded by Shirin Ebadi. She became a member of the supervisory council of the Human Rights Defenders Center and continued to work in the research committee of Association for the Defense of Prisoners’ rights. She and her colleagues at the Human Rights Defenders Center established independent human rights institutions, including the Committee for the Defense of Free and Fair Elections, the Committee for Abolishing Death Penalty for Children, and the National Peace Council, which, with the membership of 82 political, social, civil, cultural, trade union and human rights leaders, is unique in the history of Iran.

April 2010: She was arrested in 2010 and, after being held in solitary confinement, she was sentenced to 11 years in the preliminary court, which was later reduced to 6 years in the appeal court.

July 2011: initially sentenced to 11 years in prison. Months after an appeal court in Tehran reduced Mohammadi's 11-year jail sentence to six years after finding her guilty on charges of "Spreading propaganda against the ruling system", "Acting against national security" and "Membership of Iran's Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC)".

On April 21, 2012, Mohammadi was summoned to Evin prison to serve her sentence. She was then released on bail on July 30, 2012 following the severe deterioration of her health. Mohammadi has developed an undiagnosed epilepsy-like disease since her previous arrest in 2010 when she was kept in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin prison for a month. Her illness makes her lose control over her muscles temporarily during the day. Taghi Rahmani Told Guardian on 2012 : "More than the kids, right now I worry about Narges's illness. She has muscular paralysis, which is exacerbated under stress and pressure. I don't know what prison would do to her."

In 2014 After a speech criticizing Evin Prison’s horrific treatment of prisoners went viral on social media, several new charges were brought against Narges Mohammadi, including “spreading propaganda against the system,” “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security,” and “membership of an illegal organization whose aim is to harm national security” for her work with Legam, an organization that campaigned against the death penalty in Iran.

In May 2015, Mohammadi was arrested again and sentenced to 16 years in prison: five years for “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security,” one year for “spreading propaganda against the system,” and 10 years for “membership of an illegal organization whose aim is to harm national security.” Under legislation adopted in 2015, a person sentenced to several jail terms is required to serve that with the most severe penalty—in this case, 10 years, added to her previous six-year sentence. At the time of her arrest, intelligence officials are reported to have said that she was being arrested to continue serving her previous six-year sentence. Her trial was subject to several postponements without any explanation provided by the court. Evidence used against Mohammadi included media interviews she had conducted, her connections to human rights defenders, as well as her activities against the death penalty, including her work with the campaigning group, Step by Step to Stop the Death Penalty. It also included her meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy Catherin Ashton in March 2014.

On September 19, 2016, Mohammadi attended Branch 36 of Tehran’s Appeal’s Court in order to appeal her sentence; however, she was informed that the court had already reached its verdict to uphold the sentence, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

January 2019: Mohammadi declares a three-day hunger strike in protest of the lack of adequate medical care she is receiving. According to a UN statement, Mohammadi requires follow-up treatment for a gall-bladder operation and suffers from a pulmonary embolism, related blood clots, bleeding, and repeated seizures.

December 2019: Mohammadi again declares a hunger strike, joining other female inmates to protest the violence with which Iranian state forces met protestors in mid-November. Within the next few days, she is lured to the office of Gholamreza Ziayi, warden of Evin Prison, supposedly to meet with her attorney. Mohammadi is instead informed of her imminent exile to a prison in Zanjan, a city 211 miles northwest of Tehran, “with shocking and extreme violence.” The statement from Evin Prison denies claims that Mohammadi was beaten.

February 4, 2020: In protest of the current regime, Mohammadi makes an appeal from jail, urging the public to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections in Iran.

February 22, 2020: While she is still imprisoned on previous charges, judicial authorities announce the lodging of two new criminal proceedings against Mohammadi, for making statements against the death penalty and organizing a sit-in in protest of the 2019 killings of protesters. Separate charges of “disrupting order in prison” and “defaming” prison officials are also filed for her speaking up about torture and abuse during her prior prison sentence.

June 2020: Mohammadi requests temporary release to seek medical treatment for her pre-existing lung disease, but is denied.

July 13, 2020: Mohammadi pens a letter from Zanjan prison, writing that she and 11 other individuals detained in close quarters have been denied basic medical care despite suffering from symptoms of COVID-19.

July 16, 2020: A news bulletin from state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting releases a video allegedly showing Mohammadi receiving medical attention in the Zanjan Prison clinic. Mohammadi later reveals in a diary entry that the broadcasted video had been heavily edited to remove footage of her coughing and the full extent of her exchange with the warden. She also says that she was given an injection and intravenous drip in preparation to stand on her feet.

July 22, 2020: Sixteen United Nations Human Rights experts call on the Iranian government to release Mohammadi and other arbitrarily detained individuals. In their statement, the UN experts recognize the danger of detaining individuals with symptoms of COVID-19, and urge authorities to free Mohammadi and others at risk “before it is too late.”

September 18, 2020: Mohammadi pens another letter from Zanjan prison that calls upon “all freedom fighters in the world for help” in the fight against the death penalty, detailing the violent repression of protesters. Published on September 21, 2020 by the Defenders of Human Rights Center, the letter references the Iranian authorities’ leverage of the death penalty against protesters in the streets and in prisons.

October 8, 2020: Mohammadi is released after enduring eight and a half years of her ten-year prison sentence on the charge of “forming an illegal group.” Her release reportedly comes as a result of a law that “allows a prison sentence to be commutated if the related court agrees.”

February 27, 2021: Mohammadi refuses to appear in court on charges levied against her in February 2020 in response to her advocacy of human rights while in prison and her allegations of physical assault and sexual harassment by prison authorities. Mohammadi announces that she has filed a formal complaint regarding the abuse allegations.

May 19, 2021: Only six months after her release in October, a court again convicts Mohammadi of propaganda, defamation, and “rebellion” crimes for her statements against the death penalty, her speaking up about torture and abuse during her prior prison sentence, and her organization of a sit-in in protest of the 2019 killings of protesters. Tried in absentia, Mohammadi is informed that Branch 1177 of the Tehran Criminal Court has sentenced her to 30 months in prison, two fines, and 80 lashes.

May 27, 2021: The European Union calls upon Iran to review Mohammadi’s case under international human rights law and to take into consideration her deteriorating health, describing her case as “a worrying development.”

June 8, 2021: The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, partnering with International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture, together announce an urgent appeal for Mohammadi’s case.

June 12, 2021: Mohammadi is violently confronted and briefly detained by unidentified state agents in Shiraz.

June 17, 2021: Mohammadi experiences a second confrontation when traveling with fellow activists to the city of Shazand to visit the family of an imprisoned human rights lawyer, Mohammad Najafi. She is refused entry into the city by unidentified agents, who then force her into a car, drive her around for hours, and “confront her with violence.”

July 20, 2021: Mohammadi is briefly detained for five hours alongside other activists for allegedly taking part in a rally outside the Interior Ministry in support of protesters in Khuzestan.

September 28, 2021: Mohammadi receives notice that her May 2021 sentencing, including 30 months in prison, two fines, and 80 lashes, “has become final and enforceable.” Despite having received an official court summons to execute her sentence, Mohammadi declares she will not report to prison, and that if taken by force, she will continue to protest her sentence. Mohammadi also states that she has received official notice regarding an additional complaint filed against her by Evin prison.

September 29, 2021: Mohammadi participates as the featured speaker at a virtual film screening and discussion with Stanford University to discuss her new documentary film, White Torture: The Infamy of Solitary Confinement in Iran, adapted from her eponymous book series about the treatment of prisoners in Iran.

October 8, 2021: Mohammadi appears in a video presented by the human rights organization Abdorrahman Boroumand Center to discuss women facing the death penalty in Iran.

November 16, 2021: Authorities arrest Mohammadi in the city of Karaj during a ceremony honoring a civilian protester who was killed by the state two years ago. Held in solitary confinement at Evin Prison, she is sentenced to 30 months in prison, 80 lashes, and a fine.

December 28, 2021: According to her husband, new allegations of conducting espionage for Saudi Arabia have been added to Mohammadi’s charges, as she continues to be held in solitary confinement.

December 29, 2021: Security forces reportedly conduct a search of Mohammadi’s house, confiscating several books, including White Torture, Mohammadi’s two-volume investigation into the inhumane treatment of prisoners in Iran.

January 19, 2022: Mohammadi is transferred to Iran’s Qarchak Prison.

January 23, 2022: Mohammadi is handed a new sentence of eight years in prison and 70 lashes. According to her husband, the sentencing occurred in a trial that lasted only five minutes. Mohammadi later confirms in a phone call to her husband that she has also been sentenced with a two-year exile in Iran, a two-year ban on “activities in institutions and parties,” and a two-year ban on “presence and activity in social networks and interviews.”

February 17, 2022: Mohammadi is hospitalized for shortness of breath. According to her husband, a doctor finds in a medical examination that one of Mohammadi’s coronary arteries is blocked.

February 19, 2022: Despite serious health concerns, Mohammadi is transferred back to Qarchak Prison, “without recovering,” her husband says.

February 22, 2022: Mohammadi is conditionally released on a medical furlough to undergo heart surgery after posting a collateral bail set at 500 million tomans.

March 1, 2022: UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor and other UN experts release a statement condemning Mohammadi’s detention and calling for her medical furlough to be extended, saying that she should not have been imprisoned in the first place.

March 8, 2022: While on medical leave, Mohammadi receives a summons by authorities to return to prison on April 12, 2022. In response, she issues a public statement expressing her refusal to return to prison.

March 16, 2022: BBC Persian publishes a top-secret memo from the Intelligence Ministry’s Director of Information and Legal Affairs to the judiciary discussing how to discredit dissenters and critics of the Islamic Republic. The leaked document contains suggestions of how to deal with Mohammadi specifically.

April 5, 2022: Mohammadi and her husband Taghi Rahmani are the subjects of targeted Twitter attacks in response to the publication of a Washington Post article in which Mohammadi, being interviewed by former Iranian prisoner Jason Rezaian, called for international sanctions on human rights abusers in Iran.

April 12, 2022: Mohammadi is rearrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents at her home and transferred back to Qarchak Prison. The person who had posted her collateral bail, she told Radio Farda before her arrest, was also now expecting their home to be seized because of Mohammadi’s refusal to go back voluntarily.

April 19, 2022: Mohammadi is refused her heart medications.

May 31, 2022: A prisoner convicted of murder in the Qarchak prison where Mohammadi is being held sent her and another prisoner death threats, saying, “I will kill you and I will become famous for this.”

June 23, 2022: Mohammadi is hospitalized for arrhythmia and shortness of breath. She is returned in less than a week to Qarchak prison, where prison authorities confiscate her medications, exacerbating her condition.

July 20, 2022: Mohammadi is transferred from Qarchak to Evin Prison according to reports.

August 2022: On August 5, Mohammadi writes about concerning conditions at Evin prison in a letter, which was later published on her Instagram page. She writes that several people in prison have tested positive for COVID-19 and others are symptomatic but have not been tested. She continues that “self-isolation is impossible,” due to the large number of people jailed. On August 22, she also signs onto a letter criticizing the poor conditions at Evin prison and high-risk of COVID-19 infections. On August 30, Mohammadi’s lawyer reports that she has been given new, additional charges. In an interview with BBC Persian, Mohammadi’s husband says he believes the new charge is motivated by her writing open letters.

October 9, 2022: Mohammadi is sentenced to an additional fifteen months in prison for “propaganda against the state.” Additionally, she is sentenced to collect garbage for four hours a day in “uninhabited areas” of Iran after her prison sentence ends. For two years after her sentence, she is subject to a travel ban; a ban on joining political parties or organizations; and must report to the police.

December 3, 2022: Mohammadi writes a letter to the UN urging for an investigation of cases of sexual violence against female prisoners in Iran.

March 2, 2023: In a letter from prison posted on her Instagram page, Mohammadi vows to testify on the abuse of political prisoners in Iran.

March 8, 2023: Mohammadi issues a message for International Women’s Day, encouraging activists.

April 25, 2023: Mohammadi is threatened with eight additional charges and is summoned to the prosecutor in prison. She had recently sent a message to an online conference called “Conversation to Save Iran.” The following day, authorities visit the women’s ward of Evin Prison to hand Mohammadi additional charges, but she refuses to meet with them, saying that the entire process lacks legitimacy.

October 6, 2023: Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her extensive fight for women’s rights and broader human rights. Due to her ongoing imprisonment, her twins, Ali and Kiana, accepted the prize on her behalf.

Latest conviction in Jan 2024:

Since 2021, this is Narges's 5th conviction, with 3 of them being due to her activities from inside prison.  Her total 5 convictions amount to 12 years & 3 months of imprisonment, 154 lashes, 4 months of travel ban, 2 years of exile, & various social & political prohibitions.

The Revolutionary Court sentenced Narges Mohammadi to endure fifteen months in prison, 2 years of exile outside Tehran and neighboring provinces, a two-year travel ban, a two-year ban on membership in social-political groups, and a two-year ban on using a smartphone.

Narges Mohammadi faced charges of spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic regime, and she declined to take part in any of the interrogations or trial sessions in court.

This trial occurred in her absence on December 19, 2023, at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. It was initiated following a complaint from the Ministry of Intelligence, and the verdict was promptly issued in her absence during that session.

In the summons I received on 5 November 2014, it is stated that I must turn myself in 'for charges', but there is no further explanation about these charges.

— Narges Mohammadi

On 5 May 2015, Mohammadi was once again arrested on the basis of new charges. Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced her to ten years' imprisonment on the charge of "founding an illegal group" in reference to Legam (the Campaign for Step by Step Abolition of the Death Penalty), five years for "assembly and collusion against national security," a year for "propaganda against the system" for her interviews with international media and her March 2014 meeting with the EU's then High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton. In January 2019, Mohammadi began a hunger strike with the detained British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Evin Prison to protest being denied access to medical care. In July 2020, she showed symptoms of a COVID-19 infection, from which she appeared to have recovered by August. On 8 October 2020, Mohammadi was released from prison.

In March 2021, Mohammadi penned the foreword to the Iran Human Rights Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran:

The execution of people like Navid Afkari and Ruhollah Zam in the past year, have been the most ambiguous executions in Iran. Issuing the death penalty for Ahmadreza Djalali is one of the most erroneous sentences and the reasons for the issuance of these death sentences need to be carefully examined. These people have been sentenced to death after being held in solitary confinement and subjected to horrific psychological and mental torture, that is why I do not consider the judicial process to be fair or just; I see keeping defendants in solitary confinement, forcing them to make untrue and false confessions that are used as the key evidence in issuing these sentences. That's why I am particularly worried about the recent arrests in Sistan and Baluchistan and Kurdistan, and I hope that anti-death penalty organisations will pay special attention to the detainees because I fear that we will be facing another wave of executions over the coming year.

In May 2021, Branch 1188 of Criminal Court Two in Tehran sentenced Mohammadi to two and a half years in prison, 80 lashes, and two separate fines for charges including "spreading propaganda against the system". Four months later, she received a summons to begin serving this sentence, which she did not respond to as she considered the conviction unjust.

On 16 November 2021, Mohammadi was arrested in Karaj, Alborz, while attending a memorial for Ebrahim Ketabdar, who was killed by Iranian security forces during nationwide protests in November 2019. Her arrest was condemned as arbitrary by Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights.

In December 2022, during the Mahsa Amini protests, the BBC published a report by Mohammadi detailing the sexual and physical abuse of detained women. In January 2023, she gave a report from prison detailing the condition of women in Evin Prison, including a list of 58 prisoners and the interrogation process and tortures they have gone through. 57 of these women have spent 8350 days in total under solitary confinement. 56 of these women are sentenced to 3300 months in total.

I declare once more that [solitary confinement] is a cruel and inhumane punishment, I will not rest until it is abolished.

— Narges Mohammadi

Mohammadi has been an outspoken critic of solitary confinement, calling it "White Torture" in her 2022 book of the same name. White Torture was translated to German with the title "Frauen! Leben! Freiheit!" (Women! Life! Freedom!) in 2023. In September 2023, she supported Mehdi Yarrahi after his arrest for the protest song Roosarito.

Honors and awards

Awards received by Mohammadi:

• 2009: Alexander Langer Award, named for peace activist Alexander Langer. The award carried a 10,000-euro honorarium.
• 2011: Per Anger Prize, the Swedish government's international award for human rights
• 2016: Human Rights Award of the City of Weimar
• 2018: Andrei Sakharov Prize from the American Physical Society
• 2022: Recognition as one of BBC's 100 inspiring and influential women
• 2023: Olof Palme Prize from the Swedish Olof Palme Foundation, jointly with Marta Chumalo and Eren Keskin
• 2023: PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award from PEN America
• 2023: UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, Shared with Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi.
• 2023: Nobel Peace Prize "for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all". Four other Iranian women were also candidates: Niloofar Hamedi, Elahe Mohamadi, Masih Alinejad, and Nargest Setude. The President of the United States congratulated her and mentioned Armita Geravand. The Iranian High Council for Human Rights condemned the prize for awarding "a criminal".
  • The text of the Nobel Prize speech, that was smuggled out of Evin prison in Iran, and read at the awards ceremony in Oslo by her teenage children, Ali and Kiana Rahmani, is at this reference.

In 2010, when Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi won the Felix Ermacora Human Rights Award she dedicated it to Mohammadi. "This courageous woman deserves this award more than I do," Ebadi said.

Works

• White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners. OneWorld Publications, 2022. ISBN 9780861545506

External links

• Narges Mohammadi on Nobelprize.org