Delara Darabi

Delara Darabi
Delara Darabi
	Delara Darabi
Status	Executed
Occupation(s)	Painter, Poet
Criminal penalty	Death sentence

Delara Darabi (Persian: دلارا دارابى; September 29, 1986 – May 1, 2009), was an Iranian woman executed after being convicted of murdering her father's cousin. She was allegedly 17 years old when the murder took place. Darabi initially confessed to the crime, but later denied committing it. The victim, who was stabbed to death, was the mother of three children.

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.

Biography

She was born in city of Rasht (Province of Gilan), where she was a high-school student before her arrest. She had three sisters: Elaheh (21-year old), Ghazale (19) and Sheida (8). Elaheh and Ghazale are college students. Her sisters were also born in Rasht.

According to Delara, the murder of her father's female cousin was committed by the 19 year old boyfriend, with whom she was in love. Delara Darabi initially confessed to the murder, but soon retracted her confession. She claims that Amir Hossein asked her to admit responsibility for the murder to protect him from execution, believing that as she was under the age of 18, she could not be sentenced to death.

Delara Darabi was sentenced to death by a lower court in the northern city of Rasht. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. She maintained her innocence, and claimed that she was under the influence of sedatives during the burglary. At this stage the Head of the Judiciary had the power to order a stay of execution and a review of the case. Amir Hossein has reportedly received a prison sentence of 10 years for his involvement in the crime.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Amnesty International has made several public statements about Delara.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Delara was a painter and wrote a few poems during her life time. She had used her paintings and poems to express her feelings. In 2008 there was an exhibition of her paintings in Tehran and a similar exhibition was held in Stockholm in April 2007.^[9]^[10] [2][3][4][5].

Delara attempted suicide by cutting her wrists on January 20, 2007. However her cell-mate noticed the incident and called for help. Delara was rushed to the hospital, where she was revived.^[11]^[12]

Petitions for clemency

Amnesty International arranged for letters to be sent to Iranian authorities for Delara Darabi [6]. Delara Darabi's name is also the first on the Stop Child Executions Campaign petition.

A similar petition was made for another Iranian minor, Nazanin Fatehi who also was facing execution. However she was found innocent and freed from prison in January 31, 2007. The case got worldwide attention. ^[13].

Background Information

As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has entered into diplomatic commitments not to execute persons for offences committed when they were under 18. Nevertheless, since 1990, Iran has executed at least 18 people for crimes committed when they were children. In 2005 alone, despite being urged in January by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child to suspend the practice immediately, at least eight child offenders were executed, including two who were still under 18 at the time of their execution. The last recorded execution of a child offender, Rostam Tajik, was on 10 December 2005 - ironically, the day which the UN has marked annually as Human Rights Day (see UA 306/05, MDE 13/075/2005, 6 December 2005, and follow-up).

On 9 December, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston stated : "At a time when virtually every other country in the world has firmly and clearly renounced the execution of people for crimes they committed as children, the Iranian approach is particularly unacceptable … It is all the more surprising because the obligation to refrain from such executions is not only clear and incontrovertible, but the Government of Iran has itself stated that it will cease this practice." For the last four years, Iran has been considering legislation to prohibit this practice, but despite this, over the past two years the number of child offenders executed has increased. Recent comments by a judiciary spokesperson suggest that the new law would in any case only prohibit the death penalty for certain crimes when committed by children.

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.

Execution

The head of the judiciary granted a four month stay of execution, which was disregarded by the prison authorities. ^[14] Delara was executed May 1, 2009, in the early morning in Rasht prison, without prior notification of her attorney, following a desperate phone call to her parents asking them to save her.

References

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/02/iran-artist-darabi-execution-juvenile

External links

{{subst:#if:Darabi, Delara|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:1986}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2009}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 1986 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2009}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
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[1] Amnesty International worldwide appeal for Delara Darabi March 2007

[2] Stop Child Executions Campaign about Delara Darabi

[3] News and updates about Delara Darabi

[4] Amnesty International Report Jan 2006

[5] Amnesty International Report Feb 2006

[6] Amnesty International Report Aug 2006

[7] Amnesty International Report Jan 2007

[8] Amnesty International Report Apr 2007

[9] Delara Darabi paintings presentation

[10] Delara Darabi Photos and paintings

[11] Delara's Suicide news in English

[12] Delara's suicide news in Persian Etemaad newspaper 2007

[13] www.helpnazanin.com

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