Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Narges Mohammadi, Commences Hunger Strike Iran Prison
A campaign supporting Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi said the activist began a hunger strike on Monday to protest the country's mandated headscarves for women and the fact that she and other convicts have been prevented from receiving medical care.
Mohammadi's decision, made a month after she was won the Nobel for her years of activism despite a decades-long campaign by the government against her, would put pressure on Iran's theocracy over her detention.
Meanwhile, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, another imprisoned activist, is said to be in need of medical attention she has not yet received. While visiting the funeral of a teenage girl who died in mysterious circumstances in the Tehran Metro, she was detained for not wearing a headscarf.
According to the campaign to free her, Narges Mohammadi "informed her family that she started a hunger strike several hours ago" via a message sent from Evin Prison on Monday. Mohammadi and her attorney have reportedly spent weeks trying to get her transferred to a specialised facility for treatment of her heart and lungs.
Mohammadi's relatives had said that she had lung hypertension and vein obstructions a few days earlier. They claimed that Mohammadi was denied medical treatment in prison because she refused to wear a headscarf.
The policy of the Islamic Republic of delaying and disregarding medical care for sick detainees, resulting in the loss of health and lives of persons, is one of the main reasons why Narges has gone on a hunger strike today. 'Death' or' mandatory hijab' for Iranian women,' the statement added.
In it, they said the Islamic Republic "is responsible for anything that happens to our beloved Narges." As time went on, it said that Mohammadi "only consuming water, sugar, and salt" and would not take any medication.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed "deep concern" regarding Mohammadi's health after she was given the peace prize.
"The requirement that female inmates must wear a hijab in order to be hospitalised, is inhumane and morally unacceptable," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the committee. “Narges Mohammadi’s initiation of a hunger strike demonstrates the seriousness of the situation. The Norwegian Nobel Committee urges the Iranian authorities to provide Narges Mohammadi, and other female inmates, with whatever medical assistance they may need.”
Human Rights Activists in Iran said last week that Mohammadi was denied treatment at a foreign hospital because she refused to wear a hijab during her transfer there.
Similar to other situations involving Iranian activists, Mohammadi's hunger strike was ignored by Iranian officials and the state-controlled television network. When asked for comment, Iran's UN delegation did not provide a response.
The head covering is a show of respect for God and of modesty towards men outside of one's family for devout Muslim women. The hijab, and to a lesser extent the full-body black chador worn by some, has been a political symbol in Iran for quite some time, especially since it was made mandatory in the years after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Although women in Iran have access to higher education, employment opportunities, and even political office, their lives are strictly regulated by rules like the compulsory headscarf. Only Iran and its immediate neighbour, Afghanistan, continue to do so. Despite a growing push by authorities targeting women and the companies that serve them in the wake of Amini's killing, more women are opting not to wear the hijab.
Despite years in prison and multiple arrests at the hands of the Iranian government, Mohammadi has maintained her activity.
Since the death of 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody last year ignited widespread protests spearheaded by women, she has remained a key figure in what has become one of the most fierce challenges to Iran's theocratic leadership. Mahsa Amini, the jailed woman, had supposedly been taken into custody for failing to properly wear her headscarf in public.