Delara Darabi suffering from heat strokes in prison, her paintings to human rights lawyer confiscated

When human rights lawyer, Lily Mazahery, who is spearheading an international campaign to save Delara Darabi’s life, spoke to Delara’s mother and sister, Ghazale yesterday, she found both women to be extremely upset. They had visited Delara in prison earlier in the day and were highly concerned about Delara's emotional state.

Fighting back tears, Ghazal stated that Delara is only allowed to have visitors once a week for no more than 20 minutes. Delara is extremely distraught by the limited amount of time that she is allowed to spend with her family. The limitations on visitations are exacerbated by fact that Delara has been unable to call her loved ones by phone, as the prison phone was broken during a recent fight by the prisoners.

Additonally, Mrs. Darabi informed Ms. Mazahery that Delara had put together a notebook of letters, prose, and poetry and paintings that she had painted for Ms. Mazahery. However, the writings and paintings were confiscated by prison officials. Delara had again asked her mother and sister to inform Ms. Mazahery of this, and was extremely upset by the incident. You can read the full report here.

ABOUT DELARA DARABI

20 year old Delara, who has been imprisoned in Rasht, Iran, for the past 3 years, faces imminent risk of execution for a crime that physical evidence reveals she did not commit. Although Delara claimed responsibility for the murder of her father’s cousin immediately after the incident, she later explained that she only made the claim to save her 19 year old boyfriend, Amir-Hussain, who was the one who committed the crime. Amir-Husssain who had drugged Delara prior to the incident in question, had convinced Delara that because she was a minor at the time of the incident, she could not receive a death sentence.

However, in violation of international legal standards, as well as treaties to which Iran is a party, Delara was sentenced to death by public hanging when she was only 17 years old. Her death sentence was issued after a summary hearing, where her initial claim of responsibility was the only piece of “evidence” used by the court to convict her of murder. Delara was not presented by counsel during the hearing.

Delara’s repeated claims of innocence after her initial claim of responsibility have been rejected, and her death sentence has been approved by Iran’s highest court. Her case is in its last stage, as it awaits the order of Iran’s head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, to carry out the execution. Ayatollah Shahroudi has the discretion, however, to order a stay of execution and/or to commute Delara’s sentence altogether.

Delara is a talented pianist, poet, and artist. She has produced an impressive collection of paintings from prison, and has been nicknamed “prisoner of colors.” You can see Delara’s paintings here.

In prison, Delara has suffered from great emotional and physical abuse and difficulty. She suffers from extreme depression, and in January 2007, she attempted to take her own life. Delara's life was saved, however, because her cell-mate noticed what she had done and called for help.

An international campaign has been organized to save Delara Darabi, including a petition demanding a stay of execution and release.

Please visit the official website of the SaveDelara campaign at www.SaveDelara.com for information, news, and updates, and to sign the petition condemning the pending execution of young Delara.

Prison Officials Confiscate Delara's Letter to Human Rights Lawyer, Lily Mazahery

Delara Darabi's younger sister, Ghazal, contacted Lily Mazahery, the human rights lawyer who is leading the efforts to save the life of Delara Darabi, to let her know that prison authorities had taken away Delara's writings to Ms. Mazahery. Delara had informed her mother of the incident when her mother had visited Delara in prison a few days ago. Delara was quite upset about this occurrence, and had expressed her regrets.

It is clear that prison authorities are going out of their way to ensure that no accounts of the deplorable conditions to which they have subjected Delara gets out to Ms. Mazahery's attention, and subsequently through Ms. Mazahery to the attention of human rights organizations with whom she works. Despite the prison officials' attemtps to hide the truth, the SaveDelara campaign has learned a great deal about the inhumane and sub-standard conditions of the prisons to which Delara has been subjected through other direct sources.

Delara suffers from extreme heat and humidity, as the prison to which she is confined provides no air conditioning or even a simple fan. She is forced to share the same bathroom facilities with over 100 individuals. Her prison-mates are comprised of individuals who subject her to frequent abuse, both emotional and physical. She lacks adequate nutrition, despite the fact that her family pays for her expenses in prison. In fact, her family has made repeated requests to deliver adequate meals to Delara in light of the fact that the family pays her expenses while she is imprisoned. Yet, despite their repeated requests, they have been denied delivery of nutritious meals to Delara, and Delara is forced to consume the meals that are provided to her in prison, even though her medical needs demand otherwise. Consequently, Delara's health suffers significantly and continously. None the less, Delara's broken arm, which was brought about by severe beatings in prison, is reported to be on the mend.

Ms. Mazahery, who is in direct contact with Delara's family, Delara's attorney, and other related entities, will provide more information as needed.