UN experts on Tuesday accused Iran of refusing to provide proper health care to jailed Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi and said she had allegedly suffered physical violence earlier this month.
Human rights activist Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel for her campaign, was injured in clashes with other female inmates at Tehran’s Evin prison, her family said in early August.
Experts said Mohammadi “reportedly suffered physical violence” in Evin on 6 August, during which she “reportedly lost consciousness, and suffered injuries to her ribs and other parts of her body”.
Iranian authorities acknowledged a clash had occurred, but blamed Mohammadi for “provocation” and denied assaulting any prisoners.
Mohammadi, 52, has been in prison since November 2021 and has spent most of the past decade in and out of jail.
“Our deep concerns regarding the physical and mental condition of Narges Mohammadi have been conveyed to the Iranian government,” the UN experts said in a joint statement.
“Once again we urge the Iranian authorities to release him immediately and provide him, along with other detainees, with full medical care without delay.”
He said that according to medical experts and scan tests, Mohammadi had been suffering from severe back and knee pain for the past eight months, including a spinal hernia.
“The denial of medical care appears to have been intended to punish and silence Mohammadi inside prison. These reports raise serious concerns about his right to health and physical well-being,” the experts said.
Special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
He said there is a pattern of mistreatment of detainees in Iran.
“Such deprivation may amount to torture and inhuman treatment,” he said.
The panel reiterated its call for “the immediate release of human rights defenders and all other individuals currently being held arbitrarily in Iranian detention centers.”
Mohammadi has continued to campaign from behind bars and has strongly supported the protests that erupted across Iran following the custodial death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022.
The 22-year-old Iranian Kurd was arrested for violating the strict dress codes set for women in Iran.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
