Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Delara Darabi's letter to Nazanin Afshin-Jam

(Nazanin in Persian means dear, lovely and precious. Delara has used the word Nazanin with interchangable with its meanings in her letter to Nazanin Afshin-Jam)

For my Nazanin!
The one who without seeing or knowing, has sympathized with Delara Lord, In your name
Hello to precious, my unseen friend, Hi to my dear Nazanin
I thank and appreciate for all your honest and giving support. I don't know, I even don't know how this happened to me. After many years I still haven't been able for even few minutes resolve it. (I cant understand those few minutes!) Lets not get to it,...... It has been a while that I have been wanting to write you but my hands were not helping...

Dear Nazanin, you live there...you struggle and shout and ...I am here far away and all around me is filled with your letters, memories and hopes. Filled with kindness of all of you my unseen friends. Filled with your giving, lasting and pure kindness

My Lord! On the third bed of this cell , I am sitting in the corner of an accusation and I am writing to you... Kind Nazanin.
I hope for the day that I can meet all of you kind people in person and to see you with my own eyes, Because I have already have felt your purity, kindness and your vast love with my heart...

I wish God gives enough life to Delara that she can complete all her purposes...Dear Nazanin, you don’t know how difficult it is when one sees that friends and dear ones move on with life but you stay stagnant and in one place.My dear Nazanin, you don't know how painful it is to see (in here) freedom of those who are proud that they murdered someone but in their own court (conscious) they represent themselves as innocent and not guilty and they even give themselves the right for what they had done and...

Dear Nazanin, I don't know.... may be they are right, I am only afraid that I may not deserve so much blessing and attention from so many dear ones worldwide. I am afraid that I may not deserve all my pains. The sorrows, pains, insults, despise and falsifications that has become the meanings of my life...All the meaning of my life...

You are a human rights activist and you shout...and I quietly and with no sound, I present to your beautiful eyes , the same rights and pains ..with no judgments or words...In silence you have heard and are hearing my screams more clear and more beautiful don't you?!My heart has much to express but time is short and I am not allowed any control !!! Writing here is meaningless.Everything here is fake and superficial. This world is worthless but a world filled with missions.
I don't know if I will meet you my dear ones or we must leave the meeting to the the unseen world.Anyway, Delara is not alone, Delaras are trapped in prisons and in need of God's help and in need of defenders of human right and humanity!!!

I hope that you defend humanity and always be successful. The one who defends humanity and knowledge , is not a human but a true knower of God and knower of self. A reference, a gauge and a motive for life...and that is how you are ...Nazanin (precious) of all ages.

You and I and all of us, human beings of the world came here with will but after a while we forgot everything... We live with different feelings, with perplexity and amazements and we still do not understand why?

I cry a lot, just like the spring clouds! with large droplets...have you ever seen it?! Yes my cries are because when Iwas could have loved I had shortcomings and now that I am loved, my hands are tight from everywhere an everyone.I have never cried for being imprisoned, because my thoughts and my heart is free and is with you : the best

Delara May 8, 2007

Say hello to my true loving friends Because every night during my prayer I pray for all the people of this large and vast houseI pray that one day everyone becomes a lover and we all be the guests of Lord's vast feast

want to know ,that s you are ,wait for me untill the day i am not prison here!(Above English Line was written by Delara)

Excuse me , my precious Nazanin If I wrote incorrectHope to see you...ARAM , far and homesick (Delara's cell mates have given her the nickname of ARAM , which in Persian means Silent, calm and quiet)

برای نازنیتم
! آنکه نادیده و نشناخته .....با دل آرا همدردی نمود
خدایا به نام تو سلام به نازنین یار نادیده ام،
سلام به نازنین عزیزم...از تمامی حمایت های بی دریغ و بی ریا
و شاید بی دیللتان ممنون و سپاسگذارم،نمی دانم،خودم هم نمی دانم چطور این اتفاق برایم افتاد،بعد سالها هنوز نتوانستم آن چند دقیقه را برای خودم حلاجی کنم!بگذریم،مدتها بود که می خواستم برایت بنویسم ولی دستهایم یاری نمی کرد...
نازنین جان تو در آنجایی و زندگی می کنی...تلاش می کنی و فریاد میزنی و...من اینجایم و دو ر تا دو رم از نامه ها وخاطره ها و امید های شما پر است،از محبت های شما دوستان نادیده ام،از لطف بی دریغ و همیشگی وپاک خدایم ! روی تخت سوم در کنج یک اتهام نشسته ام و برای تو نازنین مهربان می نویسم.آرزوی روزی را می کنم که همه شما مهربانان را از نزدیک و این دو چشم ملموس خود ببینم، چون پاکی و محبت و عشق ماورای شماها را قبلاًباچشمان دلم لمس کرده ام...امیدوارم خداوند آنقدر عمر به دل آرا بدهد تا تمام رسا لت هایش را بتوانہ f ب_e5 اتمام برساند..
.نازنین جان نمی دانی چقدر سخت است سالها رفتن دوستان و عزیزانت را ببینی و خودت در سکون غرق شده باشی و هی در جا بزنی!!! نازنینم نمی دانی چقدر دردناک است آزادی کسی راببینی که بارها و بارها از خود به خاطر قتلی که کرده تشکر کرده ودر دادگاه شخصی خود ،خود را بیگناه و تبرئه نموده و حتی حق خود دانسته که این کار را باید انجام می داده و...نازنین جان نمی دانم شاید حق با آنها باشد ،من تنها از این می ترسم که لیاقت این همه لطف خداوند و توجه عزیزانم در سراسر دنیا را نداشته شم، ترسم از این است که لیاقت رنجهایم را نداشته باشم، همان رنجها ودردها و توهین ها وتحقیر ها و حق و نا حق کردنها که معنای زندگی ام شده اند...
تمام معنای زندگی ام ...تو فعال حقوق بشری و فریاد می زنی! ومن آرام و بی صدا همان حق ها ودردها را به نگاه زیبای شما تقدیم میکنم، بی هیچ قضاوت یا حرفی....در سکوت فریاد ها را زیباتر وشیواتر میشنوید وشنیدید...مگر نه؟!خلاصه حرف دل بسیار است و وقت کم واختیار بی اختیار!!!اینجا نوشتن معنا ندارد، اینجا همه چیز فرمالیته و ظاهریست.
نمی دانم من در این دنیای بی ارزش ولی پررسالت شما دلبندانم را ملاقات خواهم کرد یا وعدهء مان به دنیایی نادیده موکول شود، در هر حال دل آرا تنها نیست ،دل آرا هایی در زندانها اسیرند که محتاج کمک خدا و حما یت حامیان انسانیت و بشریت اند!!!امیدوارم از انسانیت دفاع کنی وهمیشه موفق باشی ؛آنکه از انسانیت ومعرفت دفاع می کند،انسان نیست یک خدا شناس ِخود شناس ِتمام عیار است ،یک ملاک و معیار و انگیزه برای زندگی است...
و تو نازنین تمام اعصار اینچنینی!!!من و تو و همه ی ما انسانهای دنیا با ا راده به دنیا آمده ایم ،بعد از مدتی همه چیز یادمان رفت....با
حیرت و شگفتی و احساسهای دیگر زندگی می کنیم و باز نمی فهمیم چرا؟...
و آخر هم با حسرت از تعدادمان روی کره خاکی کم و کمتر میشود و باز هم نمی فهمیم چرا؟!!من گریه زیاد می کنم، درست مثل ابر بهاری !با قطره های درشت...تا حالا دیده ای؟! آری گریه ام به خاطر این است که آن زمان که باید دوست می داشتم ، کوتاهی کردم و حالا که دوستم دارند ، دستم از همه جا و همه کس کوتاه شده است ،هرگز برای در بند بودن نگریسته ام زیرا که اندیشه وقلبم آزاد است و پیش شما بهترینها...
دل آ را 86/2/18 سلام مرا به همه ی دوستداران ِواقعی ام برسان

چون من هر شب سر نماز برای تمام انسانهای این خانه ی بزرگِ بی در و پیکر دعا میکنم ! دعا می کنم که روزی همگی عاشق هم باشیم وبا هم روی سفره با وسعت ِخدا میهمان باشیم!want to know ,that s you are ,wait for me untill the day i am not prison here!
اگر اشتباه نوشتم منو ببخش نازنینم..
به امید دیدار....
آرام دور و دلتنگ



From: Stop Child Executions

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Outcry as Iran executes artist over juvenile conviction

• Delara Darabi, 22, is hanged in breach of UN convention

• Murder confession was made at age 17 but later withdrawn

An Amnesty protest outside Iran's London embassy on 20 April 20 in support of Delara Darabi

An Amnesty protest outside Iran's London embassy in support of Delara Darabi, who has since been executed for a crime committed when she was 17. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Human rights groups have renewed attacks on Iran's policy of executing juvenile offenders after a woman painter was hanged for a murder allegedly committed when she was 17. Delara Darabi was hanged in Rasht prison yesterday despite having apparently won a temporary stay of her sentence last month from Iran's judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi.

Campaigners say she was executed without her family or lawyer being informed 48 hours in advance as Iranian law requires.

Darabi, 22, had spent five years in jail after being convicted of murdering her father's wealthy female cousin. She initially confessed to the crime but later insisted that her boyfriend carried out the murder to steal the 65-year-old woman's money. The boyfriend persuaded her to confess, she claimed, by convincing her she would not be executed because of her age.

On death row, Darabi developed a love of painting and completed several works that depicted her incarceration and asserted her innocence. A collection of her art was displayed at an exhibition in Tehran by supporters campaigning to free her. Darabi's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, had appealed against the sentence, arguing that her conviction had been based solely on her confession and that her trial had failed to consider vital evidence.

Mohammad Mostafei, an Iranian lawyer campaigning against the death penalty, told Human Rights Watch that Darabi was visited by her parents the day before her execution and told them she was confident her appeal would be heard. But on Friday morning she phoned them saying she was about to be executed and pleaded with them to save her life. Mostafei said a prison official then came on the line and told her parents: "We will easily execute your daughter and there's nothing you can do about it."

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say Iran executes the most juvenile offenders of any country, in breach of the UN convention on the rights of the child, which forbids the death penalty for crimes committed under the age of 18.

Lawyers estimate 130 prisoners are on death row in Iran for offences committed as minors. Campaigners accuse the country of attempting to hide the practice by waiting until offenders pass the age of 18 before executing them.

Friday, May 1, 2009

More Articles and News




Nazanin Afshin Jam: loss for words






I am at a loss for words. My heart is empty and my tears are flowing.
I have just finished reading the details by attorney Mohammad Mostafaei of the minutes leading up to Delara’s execution. It is just too painful http://scenews.blog.com/4885252/
Delara, I have known you for almost three years. We tried our best to keep you alive. We informed and had the High Commission on Human Rights at the UN, the European Union and Parliaments worldwide act on your behalf. We spread awareness through the media, to human rights groups worldwide. We kept in touch with your family and your lawyers. We conducted speeches and rallies worldwide. We sent you art supplies in prison and letters from supporters to keep your spirits high. We tried our best to get in touch with the family of the deceased and convince them to understand the severity of taking a young life away. We tried Delara. We tried but we failed.
You are no longer with us in body, but your presence will live on forever, in the hearts of all the volunteers at Stop Child Executions, all the lawyers and human rights defenders fighting for justice, and millions of supporters around the world fighting for your life.









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Authorities Failed to Notify Delara Darabi’s Lawyer or Family
May 1, 2009




(New York) - Iran secretly hanged a juvenile offender early today despite a flawed trial, a stay of execution and an unequivocal international ban on such executions, Human Rights Watch said. Delara Darabi, 22, was executed for a killing that she was alleged to have committed when she was 17 years old.
The execution was carried out at Rasht Central Prison despite a two-month stay of execution in the case issued on April 19, 2009, by the head of the Judiciary. This is the second known execution of a juvenile offender in Iran this year. Iran leads all countries of the world in executing juvenile offenders.
"It appears that Iran's head of Judiciary has no ability to control even his own judges," said Zama Coursen-Neff, deputy director of the children's rights division at Human Rights Watch. "This is an outrageous violation of Iranian as well as international human rights law, and a callous affront to basic human dignity."
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - an international treaty to which Iran is a party - clearly bans the execution of offenders who committed a crime when under the age of 18. Since January 2005, only four other countries are known to have executed juvenile offenders: Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen.
Neither Darabi's lawyer nor her family were informed prior to the execution, despite the fact that Iranian law requires that authorities inform a prisoner's lawyer at least 48 hours ahead of an execution.
The Iranian human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has been a leading advocate in Iran against imposing the death penalty on juvenile offenders, told Human Rights Watch that he spoke with Darabi's parents after her execution. They had paid a routine visit to her in prison on Thursday, April 30. She told them at that time that a judicial official had informed her that an appeal would be granted in order for new evidence to be heard in her case.







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Inutile la mobilitazione delle associazioni internazionali per i diritti umani
Niente perdono, Delara giustiziata
La ragazza-pittrice condannata per un omicidio avvenuto quando aveva 17 anni è stata impiccata all'alba


ROMA - La condanna è stata eseguita. Delara Darabi, la pittrice di 23 anni condannata al patibolo per la complicità in un omicidio commesso nel 2003, quando aveva solo 17 anni, è stata giustiziata nella prigione di Rasht, in Iran. E' stata uccisa di mattina presto, di venerdì, giorno sacro per gli islamici. E senza che ne fosse data notizia al suo avvocato né alla sua famiglia, secondo quanto spiega Mohammad Mostafaei, un avvocato attivo nel campo dei diritti umani, citato dal sito di Iran Human Rights.
LE ULTIME DRAMMATICHE PAROLE - Mostafaei scrive in una lettera: «La madre di Delara ha incontrato la figlia in prigione appena ieri. La ragazza è apparsa di buon umore, ma questa mattina Delara ha telefonato a sua madre: "Stanno per impiccarmi adesso, per favore aiutatemi, ditegli di non farlo!". Improvvisamente qualcuno ha strappato la cornetta a Delara e ha detto a sua madre: "Uccideremo tua figlia ora, non c’è niente che tu possa fare per impedircelo"». Dunque la donna è stata impiccata nonostante un movimento di pressione internazionale che raccoglie attivisti per i diritti umani di varia provenienza avesse ottenuto un rinvio dell'impiccagione. Si era parlato di una dilazione di due mesi, rispetto alla data del 20 aprile nella quale era stata fissata inizialmente l'esecuzione. Invece il boia ha atteso solamente dieci giorni, poi ha calato il cappio.


دل آرا دارابی اعدام شد



جزئیات اعدام دل آرا
امروز ۱۱ اردیبهشت سال ۱۳۸۸ روز دهشتناکی برایم بود ساعت ۹ صبح اس ام اس روی گوشی ام دیدم که نوشته شده بود " دلارا اعدام شد" تمام بدنم لرزید. نای حرکت نداشتم. دکمه سبز گوش را زدم. آسیه امینی پشت خط بود و گریان گفت دلارا را امروز صبح اعدام کردند. سوار ماشین شدم و به همسرم زنگ زدم. به او گفتم می خواهم به رشت برم. او نیز از فرط ناراحتی گفت که با من می آید. نمی دانم چطور به رشت رسیدم. مادر دلارا خود را به شدت می زد پدرش داستان تحویل دلارا به نیروی انتظامی را می گوید. همه گریه می کنند. همه به سر خود می زنند. همه دلارا را دوست داشتند. ولی او دیگر در کنارشان نبود. او امروز به آرامش رسیده بود. دیگر صدایی از او به گوش نمی رسد.
ادامه؛ محمد مصطفایی

دل آرا دارابی اعدام شد
...
آسیه امینی
ساعت یک صبح است. تازه از رشت رسیده ام تهران. با چشمانی برآماسیده و دلی برآماسیده تر. حتا نماندم تا دلارای نازنینم را خاک کنم. خانواده اش را تنها گذاشتم. با فریادهای دلخراش و گریه های بی امانشان. آن قدر در سرم فریاد است که هرگز امروز از یادم نرود

دل آرا دارابی اعدام شد
دلارا دارابی، دختری که متهم بود در سن 17 سالگی، دختر عموی پدرش را به قتل رسانده است، صبح امروز در زندان رشت اعدام شد.
عبدالصمد خرمشاهی وکیل دلارا، در حالی که شوکه است با تأیید این خبر می گوید:" نمیدانم چه اتفاقی افتاده است، من در حال رفتن به رشت هستم. حالم خیلی بد است."
حکم اعدام دلارا در حالی اجرا شد، که چندی پیش، به دلیل عدم حضور اولیای دم مقتول ، اجرای حکم وی به تعویق افتاده بود. با این وجود، این بار دادسرای استان رشت، بدون اعلام و اطلاع قبلی، حکم اعدام این هنرمند جوان را به اجرا در آورد

ادامه، کمیته گزارشگران حقوق بشر

دل آرا دارابی اعدام شد
حکم اعدام دلارا دارابی به جرم قتل در سن هفده سالگی به اجرا گذاشته شده است.
روز جمعه، 1 مه (11 اردیبهشت)، گزارش شد که دلارا دارابی، بیست و سه ساله، که به اتهام قتل یکی از خویشاوندان پدری خود، در سال 2003 بازداشت و بعدا در دادگاهی در رشت محاکمه و مجرم شناخته شده بود، در زندان مرکزی رشت، مرکز استان گیلان، اعدام شده است.

ادامه، بی بی سی فارسی






روزی که دل آرا اعدام شد



... هنوز کبوترها و چلچله ها می ترسیدند روی دیوارهای زندان بشینند، سحرگاه ناله ای شنیده بودند که فراری شان داده بود. تند تند سرشان را به این طرف و آن طرف می چرخاندند تا ببینند دیگران جرات می کنند روی دیوار بشینند، آن طرف که سیم خاردار نداشت و صبح ها سایه بود می شد جا گرفت و به زندانی ها نگاه کرد.قبلا یکی بود با روسری آبی و ته لبخندی مهربان که توی دستش خرده نان و برنج داشت








دل‌آرا دارابی اعدام شد
محمد مصطفایی وکیل دادگستری می‌گوید که دل‌آرا دارابی صبح امروز جمعه در رشت اعدام شد.
آقای مصطفایی با اعلام این خبر افزوده است که حکم اعدام خانم دارابی در زندان مرکزی رشت و بدون اطلاع وکلای وی به اجرا گذاشته شده است.
وی در گفتگو با زمانه، روند اجرای حکم دل‌آرا را غیرقانونی خواند و گفت: «بر اساس قانون باید اجرای حکم به وکیل دل‌آرا ابلاغ می‌شد و حتی اگر وی وکیل خود را عزل کرده است، باید این عزل به آقای خرمشاهی اعلام شده و به محکوم فرصتی برای اختیار وکیل داده می‌شد.»








انتقاد شدید عفو بین الملل از اجرای حکم اعدام دل آرا دارابی


سازمان عفو بین الملل که مقرش در لندن است با انتشار بیانیه ای در روز اول ماه مه، اجرای حکم اعدام دل آرا دارابی را به شدت مورد انتقاد قرار داد. این سازمان هوادار حقوق بشر می افزاید که شمار اجرای احکام اعدام در ایران در سال جاری میلادی در ایران به یکصد و چهل مورد می رسد و دو نفر از اعدام شدگان زن بوده اند.پیشتر سازمان عفو بين‌الملل در لندن نيز، بر عليه حکم اعدام دل‌آرا دارابی، تظاهراتی را حدود دو هفته پيش مقابل سفارت ايران در لندن سازمان داد.






اعدام دل آرا، تو دهنی قوه قضاییه و سکوت روشنفکران، امید حبیبی نیا

صبح جمعه خبری چون آوار بر سرمان خراب شد: دل آرا را بدون هیچ تشریفات قانونی و ناگهانی اعدام کرده اند!
به دل آرا تنها فرصت داده اند که چند کلمه ای با خانواده ش تلفنی صحبت و درخواست کمک کند. مادر دل آرا ( به نقل از وکیل خانواده دارابی) گفته بود که روز پنج شنبه با دل آرا ملاقات کرده و او به نجات خود امیدوار بود و حتی از آینده و قصد ادامه تحصیل سخن گفته بود.

ساعت ها طول می کشد تا به خود بیاییم و هزار بار بپرسیم که: چرا؟
اجرای احکام ، دادستانی و قاضی پرونده در دادگستری رشت چه عجله ای برای اجرای حکم داشتند که حتی رعایت موازین مرتبط در اجرای این احکام را نکرده اند؟
خانواده مقتول که گفته می شد خانواده ای فرهنگی ست و در نامه خود بارها بر این امر تاکید کرده بودند وقتی شرایط شان برای رضایت اجرا شد، چرا ناگهان چهارپایه را از زیر پای ما کشیدند؟




و...




وقتی همه خوابیم

Delara Executed Today...




Amnesty International Outraged at Iran's Execution of Delara Darabi



Human Rights Organization Shocked Iranian Authorities Did Not Inform Her Lawyer About Execution
WASHINGTON - May 1 - This morning, Iranian authorities executed Delara Darabi in Rasht Central Prison. She is the second person to be executed this year after being convicted of a crime she was alleged to have committed while still under 18, Amnesty International revealed today. "Amnesty International is outraged at the execution of Delara Darabi, and particularly at the news that her lawyer was not informed about the execution, despite the legal requirement that he should receive 48 hours' notice. This appears to have been a cynical move on the part of the authorities to avoid domestic and international protests which might have saved Delara Darabi's life," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa program.
Delara Darabi was executed despite her having been given a two-month stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary on April 19.
"This indicates that even decisions by the Head of the Judiciary carry no weight and are disregarded in the provinces," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
Delara Darabi was convicted of murdering a relative in 2003 when she was 17. She initially confessed to the murder, believing she could save her boyfriend from the gallows, but later retracted her confession. She was being detained at Rasht Prison in northern Iran since her arrest in 2003, during which time she developed a significant talent as a painter.
Amnesty International does not consider her trial to have been fair, as the courts later refused to consider new evidence which the lawyer said would have proved she could not have committed the murder.
Amnesty International had campaigned for her life since her case came to light in 2006, urging the Iranian authorities to commute her death sentence and calling for a her re-trial in proceedings that meet international standards.
The execution of Delara Darabi brings the number of executions in Iran this year to 140. She is the second woman known to have been executed. Iran has executed at least forty two juvenile offenders since 1990, eight of them in 2008 and one on January 21, 2009, in total disregard of international law, which unequivocally bans the execution of those convicted of crimes committed when under the age of 18.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 1, 200910:59 AM
CONTACT:
Amnesty InternationalAIUSA media office, 202-544-0200 x302, Laura Spann: lspann@aiusa.org