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.

Yanar Mohammed Meets with Members of SaveDelara Campaign and Joins Forces to Save Delara Darabi

In May 2007, members of the SaveDelara campaign had an opportunity to discuss Delara Darabi’s case with prominent Iraqi feminist, Yanar Mohammed during a meeting in Los Angeles, where Ms. Mohammed was being presented with the Eleanor Roosevelt Global Women’s Rights Award.

Mino Hemati of the SaveDelara campaign discussed the recent stoning of Du’a Khalil Aswad in Iraq with Ms. Mohammad, as they have joined forces with Ms. Mohammad and various other organizations around the world in condemning the 17 year old’s brutal murder and demanding severe penalties for those responsible for her public stoning.

Additionally, members of the SaveDelara campaign informed Ms. Mohammed of Delara Darabi’s case, and the brutal sentence to which Delara has been subjected. Ms. Mohammed expressed her support for the campaign and its efforts to save Delara from execution, and asked that her name be added to the petition to prevent Delara's execution. She also sat for an interview with Mino Hemati’s TV program, Rahai-Zan . Ms. Hemati's interview with Ms. Mohammed was broadcasted in English and Farsi throughout the world.

Yanar Mohammed is the director of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, a group that works to stop atrocities against Iraqi women and defend their rights. She also serves as the Editor in Chief of the newspaper Al-Mousawat which stands for "Equality."

Sign the petition for Delara Darabi's life: www.petitiononline.com/DL2222/petition.html


For more information, please visit:
http://www.savedelara.com/

Inquiries may be directed to: info@SaveDelara.com

Photos from the rally for Delara Darabi in Poland organized by the SaveDelara campaign and Amnesty International

Last sunday, the folks at SaveDelara campaign and Amnesty International held a joint protest in front of the embassy of the Islamic Repbulic of Iran in Warsaw, Poland. The protest rally was an attempt to raise awareness for Delara Darabi, Reza Alinejad, and Malak Ghorbany, and to protest their pending executions.

You can see the rest of the photos here.

Amnesty International/SaveDelara Campaign Human Rights Bus

Here is a photo of the Amnesty International Human Rights Bus that joined forces with SaveDelara campaign this past weekend in Warsaw, Poland to protest human rights violations in Iran. You can see the poster bearing the photo of Delara on the window of the bus.

There should be a "Human Rights Bus" in every major city around the world until these atrocities become nonexistant.

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