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  1. Media Releases & Statements
  2. An Open Letter to the People of Iran

An Open Letter to the People of Iran

 

Over 120 Nobel Laureates from around the world stand in solidarity with the calls for justice and freedom in the wake of the death of 22 year-old Mahsa Amini.

 

Posted on September 28, 2022
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Nobel Laureates from around the world stand in solidarity with the courageous actions of the people of Iran and join them in their calls for justice and freedom, and for the protection of human rights for all citizens of the country.

Nobel laureates condemn the Iranian authorities’ violence against women and protestors.

“We condemn these barbaric actions toward women and protesters in Iran,” said laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2003. “Women should be free and there must be removal of all legal discriminations against women.”

We are witnessing the protests across Iran in response to the cruel treatment of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the police, and her death days later from her injuries. Mahsa’s death sparked protests in her hometown of Saqez and in over one hundred towns and cities throughout Iran. According to videos received and verified including by the BBC Persian Service, the security forces opened fire on protesters resulting in injuries, hospitalizations and deaths. Women protesters removed their headscarves, waved them in the air and burned them in protest. Many have been arrested. The suppression of the peoples’ human right to freedom of expression continues.

We, as Nobel Laureates, add our voices to the global condemnation of the actions leading to Mahsa Amini’s death on 16 September 2022, and for the crackdown by Iran's morality police street patrols enforcing a compulsory dress code.

Joining with protesters in Iran, Nobel laureates call for the following demands to the Iranian government and security forces:

  • End state persecution and harassment of women.
  • Removal of all discriminatory laws against women.
  • End state violence against protestors and immediately release those detained.
  • Launch a transparent, independent investigation into Mahsa Amini’s treatment by morality police, and her death.
  • Ensure full accountability for all crimes committed against Mahsa Amini and peaceful protesters, journalists, and civil society actors.

We call upon the international community, the United Nations Human Rights Bodies and mandate holders to support the people of Iran and hold the government accountable to international human rights commitments.

Nobel Laureates join with the people of Iran for human rights, justice and democracy.

Open Letter in Farsi (pdf)

Downloadable PDF in English

 

Supporting Nobel Laureates:

Name

Category

Prize Year

Peter Agre

Chemistry

2003

Thomas R. Cech

Chemistry

1989

Martin Chalfie

Chemistry

2008

Emmanuelle Charpentier

Chemistry

2020

Aaron Ciechanover

Chemistry

2004

Elias James Corey

Chemistry

1990

Johann Deisenhofer

Chemistry

1988

Gerhard Ertl

Chemistry

2007

Joachim Frank

Chemistry

2017

Alan Heeger

Chemistry

2000

Richard Henderson

Chemistry

2017

Dudley R. Herschbach

Chemistry

1986

Avram Hershko

Chemistry

2004

Roald Hoffmann

Chemistry

1981

Robert Huber

Chemistry

1988

Martin Karplus

Chemistry

2013

Brian K. Kobilka

Chemistry

2012

Roger D. Kornberg

Chemistry

2006

Yuan T. Lee

Chemistry

1986

Robert J. Lefkowitz

Chemistry

2012

Jean-Marie Lehn

Chemistry

1987

Michael Levitt

Chemistry

2013

Tomas Lindahl

Chemistry

2015

Benjamin List

Chemistry

2021

David W.C. MacMillan

Chemistry

2021

Hartmut Michel

Chemistry

1988

Paul L. Modrich

Chemistry

2015

William E. Moerner

Chemistry

2014

John C. Polanyi

Chemistry

1986

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Chemistry

2009

Jean-Pierre Sauvage

Chemistry

2016

Richard R. Schrock

Chemistry

2005

K. Barry Sharpless

Chemistry

2001

Barry Sharpless

Chemistry

2022

Dan Shechtman

Chemistry

2011

George P. Smith

Chemistry

2018

Sir James Fraser Stoddart

Chemistry

2016

Sir John E. Walker

Chemistry

1997

Arieh Warshel

Chemistry

2013

Sir Gregory P. Winter

Chemistry

2018

Oliver Hart

Economics

2016

Finn E. Kydland

Economics

2004

Eric S. Maskin

Economics

2007

Paul R. Milgrom

Economics

2020

Roger B. Myerson

Economics

2007

Edmund S. Phelps

Economics

2006

Christopher A. Pissarides

Economics

2010

Alvin E. Roth

Economics

2012

Vernon L. Smith

Economics

2002

Svetlana Alexievich

Literature

2015

J. M. Coetzee

Literature

2003

Elfriede Jelinek

Literature

2004

Patrick Modiano

Literature

2014

Herta Muller

Literature

2009

Orhan Pamuk

Literature

2006

Wole Soyinka

Literature

1986

Mario Vargas Llosa

Literature

2010

Harvey J. Alter

Medicine

2020

Werner Arber

Medicine

1978

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi

Medicine

2008

J. Michael Bishop

Medicine

1989

Elizabeth H. Blackburn

Medicine

2009

Linda B. Buck

Medicine

2004

William C. Campbell

Medicine

2015

Mario R. Capecchi

Medicine

2007

Carol W. Greider

Medicine

2009

Jeffrey Connor Hall

Medicine

2017

Jules A. Hoffmann

Medicine

2011

Tasuku Honjo

Medicine

2018

H. Robert Horvitz

Medicine

2002

Tim Hunt

Medicine

2001

Louis J. Ignarro

Medicine

1998

William G. Kaelin Jr.

Medicine

2019

Barry J. Marshall

Medicine

2005

Craig C. Mello

Medicine

2006

Edvard Moser

Medicine

2014

May-Britt Moser

Medicine

2014

Erwin Neher

Medicine

1991

Sir Paul M. Nurse

Medicine

2001

John O'Keefe

Medicine

2014

Stanley B. Prusiner

Medicine

1997

Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe

Medicine

2019

Charles M. Rice

Medicine

2020

Sir Richard J. Roberts

Medicine

1993

Michael Rosbash

Medicine

2017

Randy W. Schekman

Medicine

2013

Gregg L. Semenza

Medicine

2019

Phillip A. Sharp

Medicine

1993

Hamilton O. Smith

Medicine

1978

Jack W. Szostak

Medicine

2009

Harold E. Varmus

Medicine

1989

Eric F. Wieschaus

Medicine

1995

Torsten N. Wiesel

Medicine

1981

Shirin Ebadi

Peace

2003

Leymah Roberta Gbowee

Peace

2011

Tawakkol Karman

Peace

2011

Dmitry Muratov

Peace

2021

Maria Ressa

Peace

2021

Oscar Arias Sanchez

Peace

1987

Juan Manuel Santos

Peace

2016

Kailash Satyarthi

Peace

2014

Rigoberta Menchu Tum

Peace

1992

Lech Walesa

Peace

1983

Jody Williams

Peace

1997

Hiroshi Amano

Physics

2014

Barry Clark Barish

Physics

2017

J. Georg Bednorz

Physics

1987

Steven Chu

Physics

1997

Albert Fert

Physics

2007

Jerome I. Friedman

Physics

1990

Andre Geim

Physics

2010

Sheldon Glashow

Physics

1979

Serge Haroche

Physics

2012

Gerardus 't Hooft

Physics

1999

Brian D. Josephson

Physics

1973

Takaaki Kajita

Physics

2015

J. Michael Kosterlitz

Physics

2016

Anthony J. Leggett

Physics

2003

John C. Mather

Physics

2006

Michel Mayor

Physics

2019

Giorgio Parisi

Physics

2021

Roger Penrose

Physics

2020

Arno Penzias

Physics

1978

William D. Phillips

Physics

1997

Donna Strickland

Physics

2018

Joseph H. Taylor Jr.

Physics

1993

Kip Stephen Thorne

Physics

2017

Carl E. Wieman

Physics

2001

Robert Woodrow Wilson

Physics

1978

David J. Wineland

Physics

2012

Updated: 4 November 2022 (130 signatures)

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February 24, 2023

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January 18, 2023

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November 4, 2022

Dr Shirin Ebadi Addresses UN Security Council

October 7, 2022

Nobel Women’s Initiative laureates congratulate 2022 Peace Prize winners calling for peace with justice

September 19, 2022

Peace laureates appalled and saddened by the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran

September 7, 2022

Oh, Sister!: A documentary about Ukrainian Women's daily struggle for peace

July 7, 2022

Statement: Collective warning from Iranian social and political activists

June 23, 2022

Women of Ukraine demand peace. Peace with justice. Peace with Freedom.

Recent Media Coverage

Recognizing the Role of Women in Fighting for Peace in Ukraine. Women's Enews. 23 February 2023. 

How Ukrainian Women Are Working to Safeguard Human Rights in the Face of War. Ms Magazine. 23 February 2023. 

Jody Williams: "Se están usando minas terrestres en la invasión de Ucrania". El Espanol. 8 February 2023. 

Nobel laureate Ebadi says Iran's 'revolutionary process' is irreversible. Reuters. 3 February 2023.

Minelegging truer sivile i Ukraina. Klassekampen. 25 January 2023. 

“Oh, Sister!” — life of Women of Ukraine amidst the war. The Odessa Journal. 29 December 2022.

‘Bravery has no gender’: Nobel prize winner praises role of women in Ukraine conflict. The Irish Times. 16 December 2022.

Für Ukraine alles geben, was möglich ist. Berliner Zeitung, 16 December 2022. 

Shirin Ebadi on the legal obstacles Iran’s protesters face. Economist, 16 November 2022

Will Russia use tactical nukes? It’s time to abolish nuclear weapons.* Houston Chronicle, 6 November 2022

How Women Respond to War: An Interview With Three Nobel Laureates. Women's Media Center, 4 November 2022

U.S/ Seeks Removal of Iran From U.N. Women's Rights Agency. New York Times, 2 November 2022

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Spotlight the Brave, Visionary Women of Ukraine And Launch 'Women Lead' Campaign. Forbes, 28 October 2022

“They Want a Democracy”: Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi on Protests, Regime’s Future. Democracy Now, 20 October 2022

'Iran will be democratic one day': Shirin Ebadi. DW, 23 October 2022

Shirin Ebadi: Women will open the gate to democracy in Iran. CNN, 7 October 2022

*Behind a paywall

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