Geneva, Switzerland – The United Nations urged Iran to free Narges Mohammadi and all human rights defenders jailed by Tehran, after the imprisoned women’s rights campaigner won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
Mohammadi, 51, a journalist and activist, has spent much of the past two decades in and out of prison for her campaign against the mandatory hijab for women and the death penalty.
“The women of Iran have been an inspiration for the world,” the UN human rights office told AFP.
“Their courage and determination in the face of reprisals, intimidation, violence and detention has been remarkable. They have been harassed for what they wear and what they do not wear, and face increasingly stringent legal, social and economic measures against them.
“Narges Mohammadi’s case is emblematic of the huge risks that women take to advocate for the rights of all Iranians. We call for her release and the release of all human rights defenders jailed in Iran.”
Human rights office spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell added at a press briefing in Geneva that the Nobel award for Mohammadi “really highlights the courage and determination of the women of Iran and how they are an inspiration”.
UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said respect for women’s rights had always been an “extremely important point” for the United Nations.
“We stand for the rights of women around the world, including in Iran,” she told the briefing.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “has been very clear in his defense in the human rights of women and girls in Iran”, she added.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute Friday to the bravery of imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Macron dubbed the award “a strong choice for a freedom fighter who each time faced the reality, the reality, the cruelty of this regime, including suffering several years in prison and terrible sentences”.
Macron also saluted Mohammadi’s family, some of whom he said live in France.
The son and husband of imprisoned Iranian women’s activist Narges Mohammadi on Friday paid tribute to the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“I am very, very proud of my mother, very happy”, said her 17-year-old son, Ali Rahmani, at a Paris news conference also attended by his father and twin sister.
He had not seen his mother in eight years, he added.
“The government is trying to break the prisoners in Iran,” he said. “This prize is an award for her struggle in Iran.”
Mohammadi’s husband, Taghi Rahmani, said the prize was also “an award for all the men and the women who fight for Woman, Life, Freedom” — a reference to a rallying cry prominent during protests in Iran over the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody a year ago.
“Their voices will never be silenced,” he added. The Nobel award “will give them even more strength to express themselves”.
Rahmani said it was not certain that his imprisoned wife had been told that she won the Nobel Prize.
“There’s a chance that she doesn’t know yet,” he said.