Nine months after Narges Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia, Iranian authorities remain relentless in retaliating against Mohammadi for her activism. She has been sentenced to further prison time for “propaganda activities,” brutally attacked by guards, and continues to be denied vital medical treatment and contact with her family. And yet, in words smuggled from her cell in Evin Prison, Mohammadi remains steadfast.
“The power of women’s defiance in Iran is inspiring; we will not give up on justice and freedom. We will not surrender love, femininity, and motherhood to the hands of monstrous religious despotism,” the Nobel Laureate wrote. “We will live. We will kiss the sun and fill the world with vitality and hope. We will win.”
Mohammadi’s 17-year-old son, Ali Rahmani, read these powerful words at the opening of last week’s Nobel Peace Conference 2024: Woman Life Freedom, held in Oslo, Norway.
The conference brought together Nobel laureates, women’s rights experts, and human rights defenders committed to securing Mohammadi’s release and advancing human rights in Iran, including PEN America’s Director of Writers at Risk, Karin Deutsch Karlekar, and Liesl Gerntholtz, managing director of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center at PEN America. (Mohammadi was the 2023 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honoree.)
Participants explored strategies to combat the global rollback of women’s rights, including gender apartheid in Afghanistan and Iran. And they celebrated the official launch of the Free Narges Coalition, spearheaded by PEN America, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) (who awarded her the 2022 RSF Prize for Courage), and Front Line Defenders, in collaboration with the Narges Mohammadi Foundation, alongside 27 other civil society organizations as founding members.
Karlekar noted, “Narges’ case has been a priority for the PEN global network for over a decade. We’ve had PEN centers from around the world, including Norway, Sweden, Australia, and Canada, as well as the PEN International Secretariat working on this case. PEN believes in the power of solidarity, and as we have experienced working on other cases, we’re often stronger working together.”
The Free Narges Coalition “demands Mohammadi’s immediate and unconditional release as an emblematic figure representing the many other persecuted and silenced voices in Iran.” The campaign will leverage its partners’ and supporters’ expertise, resources, and networks, all unified under the #FreeNarges hashtag, to coordinate and amplify efforts to free Mohammadi and all those jailed in Iran for their expression and activism.
While in Oslo, the Steering Committee met with members of the Norwegian Parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to advocate for Mohammadi’s release and discuss the dire human rights situation in Iran, where the crackdown on activists and dissident voices continues.
Throughout her three decades of politically motivated imprisonment, Mohammadi has endured solitary confinement and the denial of medical care and family contact. Iranian authorities appear indifferent to the heightened international recognition following her Nobel Prize. Last month, she and several other women at Evin were brutally attacked by guards for protesting executions. Mohammadi was repeatedly punched in the chest, collapsing in pain, while medical care, as is typical in Evin, was delayed. Having undergone heart surgery just a year ago, she continues to be denied vital medical treatment because of her refusal to wear the hijab outside the prison, raising serious concerns about her well-being.
Addressing conference attendees, Ali’s twin sister, Kiana, said, “Our mother has spent more than ten years of her life in prison, including 135 days in solitary confinement. Despite all her suffering and deteriorating health, she still faces nearly 11 more years behind bars. This is truly brutal.” Kiana and Ali have not seen their mother since fleeing Iran in 2015, and due to prison restrictions, have been unable to speak to her for almost two years.
