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 Covenant 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.
Please express your outrage and stand up for the rights of a girl-child who can not stand up for herself by signing the petition to save Delera's life HERE
Your silence serves as a bitter reinforcement of Delara's death sentence.
Click to sign the petition for Delara.
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