In the excerpt of his will in 1895, Alfred Nobel dictates that his entire remaining estate should be used to endow “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.
The Nobel Prize is widely regarded to be one of the most prestigious awards available in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economic science.
As such, how could it ever be justified to invite the Iranian ambassador, representing one of the cruelest dictatorships and gender apartheid states the world has ever seen, to a Nobel Prize celebration? How can we ever respect and trust such an honourable institution again if it does not stand behind the very pillar of which it is actually found upon; “the greatest benefit to humankind”?
The Nobel Prize institute has already banned the ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to join the celebration. We demand consistency and integrity in action concerning the Iranian ambassador as well.
At the moment of writing, 40 days has passed since the murder of 22 year old Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in the hands of the morality police. Only in the ten days between September 20 and September 30, 23 children were killed by Iran’s Security Forces (Amnesty International). Already on day 17 of the protests, the NCRI reported that the regime had killed at least 400 people and arrested more than 20,000 throughout the country. These statistics are furthermore highly underestimated due to the many disappearings, kidnaps and unregistered arrests taking place.
Despite the brutal crackdown of youthful and peaceful protests, the people of Iran still stand strong in the fight against the Islamic tyranny, the gender apartheid and for their fundamental human rights of freedom. A fight initiated by women and led by young teenagers girls. Since September 16, the protests have turned into the largest feminist revolution in history, characterised by an unprecedented level of courage from Iranian women.
According to Statista, the Islamic Republic of Iran ranks 143 out of 146 on the global gender gap index, an index used to measure gender equality.
By law the Islamic Republic prohibits women from initiating a divorce or having custody of their own children. Women are considered to be worth half a man when it comes to legal testimony, inheritance and death benefits, and the legal age for girls to marry is 13, or nine with the father's permission. Women are not allowed to sing, dance or play music. They are forbidden to ride bicycles. Defying any of the things mentioned above leads to women being arrested, imprisoned, tortured, raped and killed. In a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, if a girl being imprisoned is still a virgin she is to be raped before her execution to ensure she won’t be let into paradise after her death. After the rape, which is called a wedding, a regime officer visits the family of the assaulted girl and traditionally brings them a box of cookies as a wedding present. Regime officials then continue to harass and threaten the family after the execution, by not allowing them to mourn her death and by enforcing false statements from family members for the reason of her death. There is also an infamous so called “green book” written by Khomeini in 1979 where he justifies rape and sexual assault of infants.
Despite all of the above and the extremely low ranking on the global gender gap index, the Islamic Republic was elected to the UN Commission on the status of women in 2021, a commission whose sole purpose is to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The lack of trust, confidence in, -and credibility of international institutions such as the United Nations is a huge threat to global democracy and development.
Now, the Nobel Prize institution has a unique opportunity to show the world that it does in fact stand for the same values which it was once built upon.
We demand that the Nobel Prize organisation, committee and its affiliates withdraw the invite of the Iranian ambassador to the Nobel Prize celebration immediately!
