Jailed Iranian Nobel Winner Denied Medical Care: UN Experts

UN experts on Tuesday accused Iran of denying jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi proper healthcare, saying she reportedly suffered physical violence earlier this month.

Human rights activist Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel for her campaigning, was hurt along with other female inmates in clashes that erupted at Tehran’s Evin prison, her family said earlier in August.

Mohammadi “was reportedly subjected to physical violence” in Evin on August 6, during which she “allegedly lost consciousness, and sustained injuries to her ribcage and other parts of her body”, the experts said.

Iranian authorities acknowledged a confrontation took place but blamed Mohammadi for “provocation” and denied any prisoners had been beaten.

Mohammadi, 52, has been jailed since November 2021 and has spent much of the past decade in and out of prison.

“Our deep concerns about the physical and mental integrity of Narges Mohammadi have been communicated to the Iranian government,” the UN experts said in a joint statement.

“Once again we call on Iranian authorities to release her immediately and ensure her access to full medical care without delay, along with other detainees.”

They said that over the past eight months, Mohammadi had been suffering from acute back and knee pain, including a herniated spinal disc, according to medical specialists and scan examinations.

“The denial of medical care appears to be used to punish and silence Mohammadi inside prison. These reports raise serious concerns regarding her right to health and physical well-being,” the experts said.

The special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.

They said there was a pattern of ill-treatment of detainees in Iran.

“Such deprivations may amount to torture and inhuman treatment,” they said.

The panel reiterated its “calls for the immediate release of human rights defenders and all other individuals in Iranian detention facilities who are currently being held arbitrarily”.

Mohammadi has kept campaigning behind bars and strongly supported the protests that erupted across Iran following the September 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini. 

The 22-year-old Iranian Kurd had been arrested for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress rules for women.