Nobel Peace Laureates Protest Internet Suppression and Shutdown in Iran

Five Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Shirin Ebadi, Limbazz Gboi, and Tawakol Kerman, protested against the repression of the people and the internet shutdown. The Nobel Peace Prize laureates called for an end to the killings, arrests, and lifting of internet restrictions in Iran.

Five Nobel Peace Prize laureates, in an open letter on Tuesday, November 26, called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union Human Rights Committee, international human rights institutions, and all countries that have political and economic ties with Iran to express their solidarity with the Iranian people, condemn the Islamic Republic's government's violence against its citizens, and demand an end to censorship and the lifting of restrictions on access to information.

This letter, published on the website of the "Center for Human Rights Defenders," was signed by Nobel Peace Prize laureates Shirin Ebadi (Iran), Lima Gboye (Liberia), Tawakol Kerman (Yemen), Rigoberta Mencho (Guatemala), and Judy Williams (USA).

The Nobel Peace Prize laureates wrote in their letter that the Islamic Republic is trying to silence the voices of its citizens through arrests, murders, and censorship, and is using force to silence dissent, especially women human rights defenders.

The crackdown on protesters in more than 100 cities in Iran has sparked international outrage. Amnesty International put the death toll at 143 in its latest statement, saying the real toll is much higher. The internet has not been fully restored, and mobile phones, which are the means by which most Iranians access the internet, are still down after more than 10 days.

Internet shutdown by the National Security Council "shocked" on the grounds of preventing the exchange of information and sending news, images and videos of the protests abroad on the second day of the protests Although the internet has been activated in a limited manner in the last two or three days as a result of global pressure and protests, millions of citizens still have no access to mobile internet and home ADSL .

The Nobel Peace Prize laureates have called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union Human Rights Committee, international human rights institutions, and all countries that have political and economic ties with Iran to respond to recent events.

Part of the text of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates' letter reads: "As Nobel Peace Prize laureates, we are deeply concerned about the repression of recent protests in Iran, which has resulted in the arrest of more than thousands of people and the killing of more than a hundred in Iran. We condemn the restrictions on freedom of expression and the repression of protests, accompanied by arbitrary arrests and killings. We call on the Iranian government to recognize the right to peaceful protest in accordance with the Iranian Constitution and international human rights law."

Another part of the letter emphasizes that US sanctions have affected Iran's ability to export oil and that money that should have been spent on alleviating poverty in Iran has been spent on government corruption and Iran's "proxy" conflicts in the region (Yemen, Syria, Lebanon).