Narges Mohammadi

Narges Mohammadi (Persian: نرگس محمدی; born 21 April 1972) is an Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Between 1998 and October 2023, Mohammadi was arrested 13 times and sentenced to 31 years in prison and 154 lashes. She has been the recipient of many human rights awards. 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".

Narges Mohammadi was born on 21 April 1972 in Zanjan, Iran, to an Iranian Azerbaijani family. After graduating from high school, she attended Qazvin International University, receiving a degree in applied physics. While at university, she co-founded the group "Tashakkol Daaneshjooei Roshangaraan" (The Illuminating Student Group, or a group that sheds light on complex issues), also known as "Enlighteners". They explored the concept of Neo-Shariatism, and advocated for a secular democracy. The group's activism met with threats from the university and the pro-regime groups and Narges was twice arrested. Also while in university, Narges started a mountain-climbing group for women and men, something which was not allowed.

Mohammadi began her journalism career in 1996, writing about women's rights, human rights and the student movement in the progressive magazine Payam Hajar, where she became a member of the editorial board. When the Iranian judiciary conducted a wide-spread repression campaign against journalists in 1999, she lost her job and went to work as an inspector for the Iran Engineering Inspection Company. In 2009, she was fired from this post, under orders from authorities, due to her involvement with the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights, and the Defenders of Human Rights Center, where she was on the supervisory council, head of the Center's committee on women's rights, and deputy to its co-founder Shirin Ebadi. While at the center, Mohammadi worked to establish independent human rights institutions, including the Committee for the Defense of Free and Fair Elections, the Committee for Abolishing the Death Penalty for Children, and the National Peace Council, a group of 82 political, social, civil, cultural, trade union and human rights leaders. She also advocated for the release of political prisoners and against solitary confinement. This resulted in her 2001 arrest, where she was held in solitary confinement at the barracks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) before being sentenced to one year in prison.

In 2010, Mohammadi was arrested and held in solitary confinement for a month. She developed an epilepsy-like disease, causing her to periodically lose muscle control; she was released and allowed to seek medical treatment. In 2011, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison for "acting against national security, membership of the DHRC and propaganda against the regime". Mohammadi stated that she was "given an unprecedented 23-page judgement issued by the court in which they repeatedly likened my human rights activities to attempts to topple the regime." Under appeal, this sentence was reduced to six years.

The sentence was protested by the British Foreign Office, which called it "another sad example of the Iranian authorities' attempts to silence brave human rights defenders." Amnesty International designated her a prisoner of conscience and called for her immediate release. Reporters Without Borders issued an appeal on Mohammadi's behalf, stating that Mohammadi was a prisoner whose life was "in particular danger." In July 2012, an international group of lawmakers called for her release, including US Senator Mark Kirk, former Canadian Attorney General Irwin Cotler, UK MP Denis MacShane, Australian MP Michael Danby, Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein, and Lithuanian MP Emanuelis Zingeris. On 31 July 2012, Mohammadi was released from prison.

While free on bail, Mohammadi founded the Women’s Citizenship Center, and worked with an organization called The Campaign for Step by Step Abolition of the Death Penalty, also known as 'Legam'. On 31 October 2014, Mohammadi made a speech at the gravesite of Sattar Beheshti, stating, "How is it that the Parliament Members are suggesting a Plan for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, but nobody spoke up two years ago when an innocent human being by the name of Sattar Beheshti died under torture in the hands of his interrogator?" The video of her speech quickly went viral on social media networks, resulting in her arrest.

In 1998, Mohammadi married pro-reform journalist Taghi Rahmani. She gave birth to twins in 2006. The couple was ordered not to live in Tehran and, for their safety, lived at other people's homes in various cities. In 2012, after serving 14 years in prison, Rahmani moved to France with the children, while Mohammadi remained to continue her human rights work.

In October 2023, while in prison, Mohammadi 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 text of her Nobel acceptance speech, which was smuggled out of prison, was read at the awards ceremony in Oslo by her teenage children, Ali and Kiana Rahmani. While the President of the United States, Joe Biden, congratulated her, the Iranian High Council for Human Rights and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran condemned the decision to award Mohammadi the prize.

Other awards received by Mohammadi include:

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

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