The attack took place on Monday in front of her house in the northern part of Baghdad. According to the local media, she was attacked by two unknown gunmen on motorcycles around nine o’clock in the morning. The activist was taken to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
She returned from Canada shortly before the attack, which raises questions as to whether her movements had not been monitored for a long time and whether it was a pre-planned murder. The Iraqi authorities have not yet commented on the case.
She defended the victim of violence
Mohammed was among the most prominent figures in the fight for women’s rights in Iraq. In 2003, she founded the first asylum for women in the country, which provided protection to victims of domestic violence, so-called “honor killings” and human trafficking. Her Organization for the Freedom of Women in Iraq (OWFI) operated in several cities and helped thousands of women.
The organization called the attack an assassination attempt and demands an immediate investigation. “We, the Organization for the Freedom of Women in Iraq, strongly condemn this cowardly terrorist act and consider it a direct attack on the struggle for women, the values of freedom and equality,” the statement reads.
“She was an honest and uncompromising voice that did not allow itself to be silenced and opposed all forms of violence and discrimination. She did not back down despite repeated threats and hatred,” the text continues.
Mohammed was born in 1960 and, in addition to managing the organization, she also worked as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Al-Musawat (Equality). For her work, she received a number of international awards for the protection of human rights and the support of women’s rights. In the past, she repeatedly faced death threats from extremist groups.
In 2008, she received an important international prize for the defense of women’s rights, the Prix Gruber, and in 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Norwegian prize for human rights, the Rafto Prize.
