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 the 1990s, as a young physics student, Mohammadi was already distinguishing herself as an advocate for equality and women’s rights. After studies, she worked as an engineer as well as a columnist in various reform-minded newspapers. In 2003, she became involved with the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran, an organization founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. In 2011, she was arrested for the first time and sentenced to many years of imprisonment for her efforts to assist incarcerated activists and their families.
2023 Nobel Peace Prize, Wikipedia
The freedom struggle cost her dearly. She was arrested 13 times and sentenced to 31 years in prison and 154 lashes. In October 2023, when her selection as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was announced, she was locked in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
From captivity, Narges Mohammadi stood at the forefront of major protests against the Iranian regime in autumn 2022. The unrest had been triggered by the arrest, mistreatment and death of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Jina Amini, at the hands of the morality police. Her crime: not adequately covering her hair. The authorities responded harshly against the demonstrators. More than 500 were killed, thousands were injured, and at least 20 000 were arrested.
Narges Mohammadi, Facts, Noble Prize Organisation
Typically, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize gives their acceptance lecture at the awards ceremony in Oslo, Norway, but this Narges Mohammadi, couldn’t do it. She was represented by her twin 17-year-old children — Ali and Kiana Rahmani.
Meanwhile…
On 10 May 2023, The Islamic Republic of Iran was appointed Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council Social Forum. In a shocking turn of events, Iran’s regime, a notorious violator of human rights, took over the chairmanship of the Social Forum of the United Nations Human Rights Council, starting on November 2, 2023.
The United Nations (UN) —“Peace, dignitiy and equality on a healthy planet”— is an intergovernmental organization established after World War II with the aim of preventing future world wars. Its stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It is the world’s largest international organization.
The Human Rights Council (HRC) is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The United States and rights groups complained that it was “insulting” to allow Iran’s envoy to chair a U.N. human rights council meeting in Geneva, citing violations by Iranian authorities, especially those against women.
The appointment of Ali Bahreini, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, to chair the 2023 United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Social Forum (2 and 3 November 2023), is nothing more than a slap in the face given the human rights situation of most Iranians, particularly women, and the repeated executions in the wake of the ongoing protests in the country and, more generally, the Islamic Republic’s gross human rights violations and its catastrophic and politicised handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, when its refusal to import Western vaccines cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
Iran’s appointment to chair the 2023 UN Human Rights Council Social Forum, UE Parlamentary Question, 14.6.2023
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell defended Iran’s appointment as a matter of regional rotation, “in consistency with established UN procedures.”
But UN Watch research shows in fact that the Asian group, to which Iran belongs, has held the position four times in the past six years, to the exclusion of other regional groups.
Meanwhile…
Armed conflicts are on the rise, i.e. UN is failing.
Democracy is consistently declining.
And yes —The happy ending?—, the Norwegian Royal Family attended the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
This is the world were we live.
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Featured Image: Narges Mohammadi, The Nobel Peace Prize 2023
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