UN experts accuse Iran of denying medical care to jailed Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi

United Nations experts on Tuesday accused Iran of denying adequate medical treatment to a jailed human rights activist Narges Mohammadi who is the wife of his jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate husband, Shirin Ebadi.

The experts said that Mohammadi was physically assaulted at the beginning of this month. Her family says that Mohammadi who was a laureate of the prestigious 2023 Nobel Prize for her human rights activism was confronted with wounded female inmates at Tehran’s Evin prison in early August.

According to the experts, Mohammadi was physically assaulted on August 6, 2010; the women reportedly fainted and suffered from injuries to her ribcage and other parts of her body In reply, the Iranian officials said there was a scuffle, but Mohammadi provoked them; none of them acknowledged treating the prisoners inhumanely.

Mohammadi, 52, has been detained since November 2021 and has been in and out of jail for most of the last decade. The UN specialists also stated severe concerns about the 31-year-old woman and gave a joint message asking Iran to free her and other detainees: she should receive necessary medical assistance as soon as possible. ”

Instead, the experts emphasised that Mohammadi suffers from severe acute back and knee pain, as well as a herniated spinal disc according to medical examinations. They noted that to deny her medical attention appears to be a way of punishing her, thereby putting into question her right to health.

There were also indications of forms of ill treatment of detainees in Iran that the experts pointed out which they suggested could rise to the level of torture and inhuman treatment. They renewed demands on freeing all human rights defenders and other detained unfairly in Iran at the moment.

Mohammadi is still active in the promotion of human rights and supporting the protests that started in Iran after the killing of Mahsa Amini in September 2, 2022, arrested for not adhering to Iran’s Islamic law regarding female attire.