SaveDelara Campaign and Amnesty International Join Forces in Europe

(1) The author of Delara's petition, Mani Azizzadeh, along with Amnesty International and another member of the SaveDelara campaign, Osborn Holmstrand, personally spoke with the ambassador of Iran in Sweden, Hassan Ghashghavi, handed him the signatures from Delara's petition, and secured his promise to personally deliver the signatures to Iran's chief judge, Ayatolllah Shahroudi. Let's see if Ghashghavi is really a man of his word or if he chooses to embarrass his country by going back on his word and not personally delivering the signatures to Shahroudi despite his promise. Hassan Ghashghavi

Mr. Ghashghavi: The world is watching you! (His email is ambassador@iran.se I think it'd be great if he got emails from all of us demanding that he follow through with his promise to deliver the signatures personally.)

(2) Krzysztof Pacyński of the SaveDelara campaign, who has set up a site in polish for her, joined forces with Amnesty International on the Human Rights Bus rally this past weekend in Poland. The bus stopped in front of the embassies of countries known for their violations of human rights, including that of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The windows were decorated with posters bearing Delara's photo and information. The rally was a great success in that it spread a great deal of awareness about Delara's case, as well as the cases of Reza Alinejad and Malak Ghorbany.

Let's keep up the good efforts and to pressure the officials in Iran to uphold the rights of Delara and other victims of human rights violations.

And do not forget to sign the petitions to save the lives of each of these victims individually:

· The direct link to the petition for Delara Darabi, teenage female artist facing imminent risk of execution for a crime she did not commit, is: http://www.petitiononline.com/DL2222/petition.html

· The direct link to the petition for Reza Alinejad, teenage male facing imminent risk of execution for killing his attacker in self defense, is: http://www.petitiononline.com/RezaA/petition.html

· The direct link to the petition for Malak Ghorbany , 35 year old mother of two facing execution by stoning for allegedly commiting the crime of adultery, is: http://www.petitiononline.com/Malak/petition.html

Save A Life -- Malak Ghorbany, woman sentenced to death by stoning

I thought it would be highly appropriate to start this blog with the following plea to save an innocent life. Read on...

Dear friends,

Once again, another Iranian woman has been sentenced to death by the barbaric practice of public stoning. On June 28, 2006, a court in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia sentenced Malak Ghorbany to death for committing "adultery." Under Iran's Penal Code, the term "adultery" is used to describe any intimate or sexual act between a man and a girl/woman who are not married. The crime of adultery is also used in cases where a girl is deemed to have committed "acts incompatible with chastity," which includes instances of rape. The punishment for "adultery" is death.

On the day of her punishment, the woman's hands are tied behind her back as she becomes covered from head to toe in winding sheets and is placed seated in a pit. The pit is then filled up to her chest with dirt and the dirt is tamped down. At that point, members of the community are invited to murder her by hurling rocks at her. However, to ensure that the condemned woman/girl receives the absolute maximum amount of pain and torture, the Iranian government has even mandated the size of the stones that are to be used in this barbaric act of public execution. By law, the stones must not be too small as to prevent ultimate death, nor must they be too large that they could cause the girl's death "too soon."

The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights of Iranian Kurdistan has issued a statement to save the life of Malak Ghorbany, and I have initiated a petition, directed to members of the United Nations, Amnesty International, the ruling clerics in Iran, and various other organizations and entities around the world to oppose Malak's barbaric sentence. I need you to help me save Malak's life, as we did with the 17 year old Nazanin, by signing the petition and raising as much awareness as possible to her case. Without significant international pressure and expressions of outrage at the atrocities committed by the Isalmic regime, Iranians will continue to be subjected to medieval practices that violate the most basic rights of humans.

I thank you for your support, friendship, and kindness, and I look forward to a day when no woman is abused, tortured, or murdered simply because of her gender.

Fondly,

Lily Mazahery
President
Legal Rights Institute

The direct link to Saving Malak's Life is: http://www.petitiononline.com/Malak/petition.html