Afghan and Iranian women's rights activists nominated for Noble Peace Prize 2023

Afghan women’s rights activist Mahbouba Seraj and Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi have been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize 2023 this week. 

Seraj, born in Kabul, spent 26 years in exile before returning to Afghanistan in 2003 to champion the rights of women and children. She founded a number of organisations pushing for greater female participation in Afghan society and peace negotiations and is chair of the Afghan Women Network. 

The former refugee was in Afghanistan when Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021 and has since campaigned tirelessly for Afghan women not to be forgotten as the hardline rulers enforce ever repressive measures, such as excluding women from education and strict dress codes. 

"What is happening to the women of Afghanistan can happen anywhere," said Mahbouba Seraj

"What is happening to the women of Afghanistan can happen anywhere," Seraj told the UN in August 2022.   

"Women’s rights being taken away from them is happening everywhere and if we are not careful, it will happen to all the women of the world," she said. 

Refugee International released a statement "applauding" Seraj on her nomination. Although the Coalition of Afghanistan Protesting Women (CAPW) have said she doesn't "not deserve" the prestigious award, reported Afghan news website Khaama. 

Narges Mohammadi, born in Zanjan Iran, is deputy director and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC)  and is currently in prison for her human rights work. 

Mohammadi has been imprisoned by authorities on several occasions; including in 2016 when she was sentenced to 16 years behind bars. 

After being released in 2020, she was then detained a year later and charged with "spreading propaganda" given her efforts to challenge authorities and their use of "white torture". 

In January 2022, she was sentenced to eight years in prison, 74 lashes and a two-year ban on telecommunication tools during a trial that lasted five minutes. 

Since the outbreak of mass protests in Iran following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, Mohammadi sent letters from prison detailing how women detained in the anti-government movement are being sexually and physically abused. 

"One well-known activist had her hands and legs tied to a hook above her head in the vehicle taking her to prison - and was then sexually assaulted by security officers," she told the BBC. 

"Another woman who was arrested in the street was taken on a motorbike by two security officers - one in front and one behind - and was repeatedly assaulted," she said in a message smuggled out of Evin prison.