Brussels / Baghdad — 2 March 2026
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) mourns with profound grief the assassination of Yanar Mohammed, one of the most courageous and consequential women’s rights defenders of our time, who was shot dead outside her home in Baghdad earlier today.
Yanar Mohammed spent her life building the world she believed Iraqi women deserved. As the founder of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), she established the country’s first shelters for survivors of “honour” killings and trafficking, published the feminist newspaper *Al-Mousawat*, and gave voice — at grave personal risk — to hundreds of women waiting for the promise of state protection to become a reality. A Gruber Prize laureate, Rafto Prize recipient, and BBC 100 Women honouree, she was, above all, a woman who returned to Iraq despite exile and death threats because her devotion to her country outweighed her concern for her own safety.
*”Yanar Mohammed was assassinated for her commitment to the women of Iraq. I knew her for her bravery in exposing exploitation and hypocrisy, and I am certain that her voice cannot be silenced by those who ordered her killing. We will not rest until there is accountability for this heinous crime.”* — Tara O’Grady, President, No Peace Without Justice
NPWJ unequivocally condemns this killing as a targeted assassination of a feminist leader — a calculated act of terror aimed not only at one woman, but at every person in Iraq who dares to demand equality, safety, and dignity.
We call on the Iraqi authorities to immediately launch a full, independent, and transparent investigation into Yanar Mohammed’s assassination. It is imperative that those responsible — both the perpetrators and those who ordered this crime — are identified, prosecuted, and held to account through the very institutional mechanisms she spent her life defending. We further call on the international community and the United Nations to stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq, lending their full support to ensure that accountability for this crime is swift and certain.
Impunity for violence against women human rights defenders is itself a form of violence. Iraq now has both the opportunity and the obligation to demonstrate that such crimes will not go unanswered. Yanar Mohammed’s name will not be forgotten; her work will not be undone.
