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Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi calls for ‘breaking the silence’ on women’s oppression
Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on Monday called on the international community to “break its silence and inaction” in the face of the oppression of women in Iran, exactly two years after the start of the “Women, Live, Freedom” movement. “I call on international institutions and people to act. I urge the United Nations to break its silence and inaction in the face of the devastating oppression and discrimination perpetrated by theocratic and authoritarian governments against women, by criminalizing gender apartheid,” Mohammadi said in the message relayed by her relatives on social media. Two years ago, on September 16, 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman arrested by Iranian morality police for not respecting the strict Islamic dress code, sparked an unprecedented popular revolt in Iran, brutally repressed by the authorities. Denouncing the compulsory wearing of the veil and religious conservatism, The protesters, led by women, have defied the authorities for months. At least 551 people have been killed, some executed, and thousands arrested, according to human rights NGOs. Referring to “these two terrible years” and “the road that remains to be traveled”, Ms. Mohammadi states in her message that “nothing will ever be the same again” and that “change is shaking the foundations of religious tyranny”. “On this second anniversary of Femme Vie Liberté, we reaffirm our commitment to achieving democracy, freedom, equality, and to defeating theocratic despotism”, adds Ms. Mohammadi, who on Sunday announced a hunger strike by 34 political prisoners in order to “commemorate” the protests over the past two years and the “murder” of Mahsa Amini. According to the Narges Foundation, questioned by AFP, this “symbolic” strike in which the Nobel Peace Prize winner participated, was to last “24 hours”. The 52-year-old activist received the award in 2023, notably for her fight against the death penalty. She has been imprisoned in Tehran since November 2021 and has spent much of the last decade in prison.ah-cf/jf/ib
