"If I come out of prison, I want to continue my education. I would like to be free. One of the judges promised that I would be pardoned."
- Delara Darabi speaking to her mother the night before her unscheduled execution

Delara Darabi was executed on May 1, 2009 in Rasht Prison, northern Iran, despite receiving a two-month stay of execution from the Head of the Judiciary on April 19. Neither her parents nor her lawyers were notified 48 hours before her before her execution as required under Iranian law.

Delara Darabi was convicted of murdering a relative in 2003 when she was 17. She initially confessed to the murder, apparently believing she could save her boyfriend from the gallows, but later retracted her confession. Amnesty International does not consider her trial to have been fair. The courts refused to consider new evidence that her lawyer said would have proved she could not have committed the murder.

The execution of Delara Darabi brings to at least 140 the number of executions in Iran so far this year. She is the second woman known to have been executed this year and the second child offender. Since 1990 Iran has executed at least 42 child offenders, eight of them in 2008 and one on January 21, 2009. These executions went ahead in total disregard of international law, which unequivocally bans the execution of those convicted of crimes committed when under the age of 18.

TAKE ACTION

Please send letters or email messages to the Iranian Embassy in Canada and to the Head of the Judiciary in Iran expressing your outrage that the execution of Delara Darabi went ahead in spite of the stay of execution and in total disregard of international law which prohibits the execution of child offenders. Demand that Iran take firm steps to insure that no other child offenders are executed.

You can increase the impact of your message by including a photo or graphic of a white rose. One way to find photos or graphics is to use Google's Image searching (put "white rose" into a google search and click on the 'Images' link in the results).

WRITE TO

Mr. Abdollah Nekounam
Consul-General
Consulate-General for the Islamic Republic of Iran

Rooms 2402
Office Tower
Convention Plaza
1 Harbour Rd.
Wan Chai

Fax: +852 2845-8007, +852 2845-8001
E-mail: irancg@iranconsulate.org.hk

Salutation: Your Excellency

Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
c/o Director, Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office

Ardeshir Sadiq
Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office Drive

No. 57, Pasteur St.,
corner of Khosh Zaban Ave.
Tehran
Iran

Email (in the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi): info@dadiran.ir   

Salutation: Your Excellency