A Win For Women, Life, Freedom: Mahsa Amini Awarded with the 2023 European Union Sakharov Prize

Just after the one year mark of her murder in Iran, the European Union has presented its top human rights prize to Mahsa Amini and the movement that was sparked in her honour.

Garry Knight | Wikimedia Commons

In 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22 year old Kurdish-Iranian woman was taken into police custody by Iranian morality police, for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code - specifically Iran’s strict imposition and obligation of the ‘proper’ wearing of headscarves on all women. Three days after being taken into custody, on September 16th 2022, Mahsa Amini was pronounced dead at Kasri Hospital in Tehran. The Iranian authorities stated the cause of death to have been a heart attack. However, a significant amount of evidence from eyewitnesses and medical workers have made the authorities’ stated cause of death to be suspicious, and have led many to believe her death to have been caused by beatings and other physical abuse while being apprehended.

Upon her passing, nationwide unrest and protests were triggered to a scale comparable to that of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Amini’s death triggered demonstrations from both women seeking protection of their fundamental human rights and fair treatment under the law, as well as from those who have grown fearful as to how restrictive the regime could further become. The uprising which bore her name, the ‘Mahsa Movement’, was then renamed the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement, gained from a chant heard at the protests, and was characterised by women taking off their headscarves in solidarity.

By the end of that year, according to the Norway Based Iranian Human Rights Organisation (HRI), the Iranian Security Forces had arrested nearly 20,000 protesters, with almost 500 other protestors and/or bystanders confirmed to have been killed, including men, women and children.

As of January of 2023, Iran had announced the intensification of the monitoring and sentencing of those in violation of the dress-code. While organised demonstrations have slowly subsided, the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement continues on with discussing, educating and protesting against the harsh restrictions of women’s rights in the Iranian penal code and Iran’s “gender apartheid”.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, created by the European Parliament in 1988, is an honorary award given to those who have dedicated their lives to the defence and promotion of human rights and freedom of thought, along with a 50,000 EUR endowment. The recipients of the prize last year were that of the Ukrainian People, for fighting for and protecting democracy, freedom and the rule of law. Other notable winners of the prize are Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai.

On October 19th 2023, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola announced the necessary commemoration of Mahsa Amini, and proclaimed that the Parliament stands with those who give their lives to fight for equality, freedom and dignity. Metsola declared: “We stand with those who, even from prison, continue to keep Women, Life and Freedom alive… this House remembers their struggle and continues to honour all those who have paid the ultimate price for liberty.ʺ

With the awarding of the Sakharov Prize, the European Union presents its stance of solidarity with the Iranian women-led movement, and hopes for the prize to serve as tribute for the women continuing to fight for fair human-rights in Iran.

Furthermore, the delivery of such a prize may function beyond its titular and financing value. It also serves as a reminder for the global audience of the ongoing resilience and bravery of Iranian women, and allows for the subject to resurface to global news headlines once again - for voices to be heard, local perspectives to be shared, and for international support to persist.

As the prize is being gifted, a minimum of 109 of last year's protestors are currently at risk of execution, according to the Iranian Human Rights Organisation. Moreover, some journalists, such as Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, are still being taken into custody for having relation with documenting the Mahsa Amini Case or other protest-related cases, on the count of threatening national security and propaganda against the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Woman, Life, Freedom Graffiti in Leuven | Sofia Cigolini

References

Bettiza, Sofia. (2023, October 19). Mahsa Amini Awarded EU’s Sakharov Human Rights Prize. BBC News. Retrieved October, 21, 2023, from www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67159908

Death of Jina Mahsa Amini: Protests, Iran, & Cause (2023, August 18). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October, 21, 2023, from www.britannica.com/biography/death-of-Jina-Mahsa-Amini

Jina Mahsa Amini and Iranian Women Protest Movement Win the 2023 Sakharov Prize. (2023, October 19). European Parliament Press. Retrieved October, 21, 2023, from www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20231013IPR07134/jina-mahsa-amini-and-iranian-women-protest-movement-win-the-2023-sakharov-prize

List of 109 Protesters at Risk of Execution, Death Penalty Charges or Sentences; at Least 481 Protesters Killed. (2023, January 9). Iran Human Rights. Retrieved October, 21, 2023, from https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5687/

Mahsa Amini honoured with EU’s top human rights prize. (2023, October 19). Aljazeera.

Retrieved October, 21, 2023, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/19/mahsa-amini-honoured-with-eus-top-human-rights-prize

Motamedi, Maziar. (2023, October 22). Iran Journalists Sentenced to Prison for Mahsa Amini Protests-Related Cases. Aljazeera. Retrieved October, 22, 2023 from www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/22/iran-journalists-get-prison-terms-over-cases-linked-to-mahsa-amini-protests

Parent, Deepa. (2023, October 19). Iran’s Mahsa Amini Awarded EU’s Sakharov Human Rights Prize. The Guardian. Retrieved October, 22, 2023 from www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/19/mahsa-amini-awarded-eu-sakharov-human-rights-prize-iran

Sakharov Prize. European Parliament. Retrieved October, 21, 2023, from

www.europarl.europa.eu/sakharovprize/en/home

Woman, Life, Freedom. Zan. Zendegi. Azadi. Woman, Life, Freedom. Retrieved October, 22, 2023, from www.womanlifefreedom.today/