Narges was facing a 16-year sentence for her peaceful activism, most notably in support of women’s rights and gender equality, and against the death penalty. Her health had been declining since June, and she had demonstrated some COVID-19 symptoms, but was denied adequate health care.
Thanks to support from you and others around the world, including during Amnesty’s Write for Rights 2016 campaign, Narges has finally been released, reunited with her family, and can now access the medical treatment she needs.
Now is the time to re-double our efforts on behalf of other women human rights defenders who remain in prison in Iran. Please take action in support of Nasrin Sotoudeh, Yasaman Aryani, and Atena Daemi.
Thank you so much for your support and for speaking out in solidarity with unjustly imprisoned human rights defenders like Narges.
More about Narges:
Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian women human rights defender who campaigns for women’s rights and against the death penalty. Narges has suffered years of harassment by authorities, punctuated by intermittent periods in detention, which have inflicted a devastating toll on Narges’ health and family.
Most recently, in May 2015, she was arrested and taken to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. The next year, the Iranian government sentenced Narges to 16 years in prison after an unfair trial.
Narges has consistently received degrading and inhumane treatment from prison officials. Suffering from a blood clot in her lungs and a neurological disorder, she requires specialized medical care that cannot be provided in prison. Earlier this year, she started showing COVID-19 symptoms, adding further urgency to the call for her release.
Authorities have consistently used access to her children as a tool to punish her, denying her telephone contact. She undertook a hunger strike to protest the authority’s refusal to let her speak with her children, which triggered global outrage and thousands of people, including more than 100,000 Iranians, posted messages in solidarity through a Twitter campaign. After 20 days and extensive global campaigning, Narges was able to speak with her children.
This cruel punishment for her “crimes” reflects the Iranian authorities’ recently intensified repression of women’s rights activists in the country.
