About Me
Save DELARA!
www.SaveDelara.com
www.SaveDelara.com
..
Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.comDear friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I write these words: Yet another innocent Iranian girl faces imminent risk of execution by the Islamic regime for a crime that she never committed.
On Saturday, January 27, 2007, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Delara Darabi for a second time. Delara, who is now 20 years old, faces death by public hanging for a murder that took place when she was 17 years old. According to newspaper and court reports, after murdering a woman related to Delara, Delara’s 19 year old boyfriend, Amir Hossein, convinced Delara to admit responsibility for the murder to protect him from execution. Apparently, both teenagers believed that because Delara was under the age of 18, she could not be sentenced to death. This belief proved to be devastatingly false.
With complete disregard for its obligations under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and despite overwhelming evidence of Delara’s innocence, as well as the teenager’s repeated denials about having had any role in the commission of the crime, a court in the city of Rasht found the girl-child guilty of murder based solely on her initial claim of responsibility and sentenced her to death by hanging. Since that ruling, the Islamic regime has repeatedly demonstrated patent disregard for its promises to the international community and to the rights of Iranian children by upholding Delara’s death sentence.
Until recently, Delara had proven to be a remarkably poised young prisoner with an amazing talent for painting and drawing. She had used her gift to compile a diary of her pain as a child prisoner on death row. From the dark confines of her prison cell, Delara produced an impressive collection of paintings that speak of the horrors of prison, of torture, of beatings, of hopelessness, loneliness, and the loss of a child’s innocence. They are haunting images of injustice and brutality. They are the stories of the innocent women and children of Iran, shackled by the injustices of a brutal regime. They are a teenager’s diary of crimes against humanity committed by the very government that should serve as her protector, but is, instead, her jailer and her executioner.
In retaliation to exposing their horrifying crimes, the officials of the Islamic regime took away the only remaining outlet of Delara’s pain: They confiscated her painting materials. When Delara used coal and whatever else she could find to paint her pain on the walls of her prison, they subjected the young artist -- nicknamed “prisoner of colors†-- to brutal forms of emotional and physical abuse. They banned her from painting altogether, and they prevented her from having any visitors or contacting her lawyer except for twice a month briefly by phone. Their abuse proved too much for young Delara, who, true to her sensitive disposition as an artist, wears her pain woefully close to the surface of her skin.
On January 20, 2007, Delara attempted suicide by cutting her wrists.
Fortunately, her cell-mate noticed the incident and called for help. Delara’s emaciated body was rushed to the hospital, where, by what can only be deemed a miracle, doctors were able to revive her and bring her back to life. As of the date of this letter, Delara remains in critical condition and weighs only 35 kilos. Her family and those close to her case are extremely worried about her health, both physically and emotionally.
The silent screams of innocent girls like Delara must be acknowledged by each and every one of us. We MUST express our outrage, voice our anger, and show our support to those who can not speak for themselves. Anything less would be less than human, less than American, and most certainly, less than Persian.
As humans with a conscious and a heart, we owe this to young Delara and to every innocent life that is subjected to the brutalities of an evil regime. We owe this to the daughters of Cyrus the Great. We owe this to humanity .
Please express your outrage and stand up for the rights of a girl-child who can not stand up for herself by signing this petition:
Petition: SIGN NOW!
YOUR SILENCE ONLY SERVES AS A REINFORCEMENT OF DELARA’S DEATH SENTENCE.
Get Your Own! | View Slideshow
STAND UP FOR EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW!.."clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"codebase="
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swfl
ash.cab#version=6,0,29,0"width="100" height="109"
Join the 1 MILLION SIGNATURES Campaign.
Read and Sign the Petition! CLICKHERE
Iranian women’s rights activists are initiating a wide campaign demanding an end to discriminatory laws against women in the Iranian law. The Campaign “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws†is a follow-up effort to the peaceful protest of the same aim, which took place on June 12, 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran.
We the undersigned, representing international women’s groups and activists, human rights organizations and activists, university and academic centers, and social justice initiatives, would like to express our support for Iranian women in their effort to reform laws and achieve equal status within the Iranian legal system.
Signatures:Background Information
Campaign Description:
Iranian law considers women to be second class citizens and promotes discrimination against them. It is noteworthy that legal discrimination of this type is being enforced in a society where women comprise over 60% of those being admitted to university. It is generally believed that laws should promote social moderation by being one step ahead of cultural norms. But in Iran the law lags behind cultural norms and women’s social position and status.
Without a doubt, women of lower socio-economic status or women from religious and ethic minority groups suffer disproportionately from legal discrimination. On the other hand, these unjust laws have promoted unhealthy and unbalanced relationships between men and women and as a result have had negative consequences on the lives of men as well.
On the other hand, the Iranian government is a signatory to several international human rights conventions, and accordingly is required to bring its legal code in line with international standards. The most important international human rights standard calls for elimination of discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.
The Campaign aims to collect one million signatures in support of changes to discriminatory laws against women. It will provide education on legal issues to the public and especially to women, raise public awareness, promote collaboration between groups demanding equality between men and women, and document experiences. The Campaign will be implemented through the following means:
1. Collection of signatures through door-to-door contact and dialogue with individual women;
2. Collection of signatures in places and events in which women gather, and where dialogue and discussions with groups of women can be carried out;
3. Implementation of seminars and conferences with the intent of raising the profile of the campaign, promoting dialogue, identifying supporters and collecting signatures;
4. Collection of signatures through the internet. The internet will be utilized to share information about the Campaign, including legal educational materials, and those interested in supporting this effort can sign petitions related to the Campaign.
Contact Information: • For more information on the Campaign please visit: www.we-change.org
Petition: SIGN NOW!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
