some
information about Iranian women
Sign the ON-LINE petition to save Nazanin & Kobra from execution in Iran
http://www.save-kobrae.blogfa.com/
web log
http://www.helpnazanin.com/Updates.aspx#20060917
film about Nazanin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdOP40AAv00
Open
letter To Kofi Anan and human rights bodies
Ladies and gentlemen!
http://www.save-kobrae.blogfa.com/post-13.aspx
A Number of convicts to
execution and stoning, demand authorities of human rights bodies and
organizations and United Nations for help and demand you to sincerely ask Iranian
government to nullify execution and stoning decrees.
These convicts still
don’t know their situation
after the years. They say that:” every day and moment we “live” with
horrible thought
of the execution rope and stones being thrown at us. Every now and then they review our cases
and confirm our execution or stoning decree. We are all victims of situations of society
ourselves. We are victims of poverty and tyranny. You may not understand this kind of life. We
live every moment of our
life in prison under the emotional torture and all our existence has
become emptied
from life. We don’t want to be killed or to suffer under these pressures to the extent of
madness and desperation.”
Ladies and Gentlemen!
There is a law in
They expect United
Nations to do something to
abolish the law of Nemesis (Qasas) and Stoning.
We want you all to help us
so these humans can be released
from this inhumane situation and to nullify their execution and stoning decree. Join us to
give these people another life and to liberate them from prison!
Convicts that are waiting
for their cases:
Akram Qavi-del
Akhtar Mohamadi Monfared
Tayebe Hojati
Azam Ghare shiran
Shahla Jahed
Kobra Rahmanpour
Nazanin Fatehi
Fateme Haghighat-pajooh
The list is not exhausted.
Campaign to save Kobra’s life
September 29th 2006
Dear friends!
We have got this requests
from the heart of prisons.
Many prisoners who have lived for years not knowing what to do and between life and
death, have demanded us to write for United Nations and human rights bodies to help this convicts and
put an end to their nightmares. We want you all to give this letter to execution convicts all
over the
Execution Of A Teenage
Girl
film
On August 15th 2004, a 16-year-old girl
was hanged in a public square in Neka ,
Iran , a small industrial
town by the Caspian Sea . Her death sentence
was for crimes against chastity. Her name was Atefah Sahaaleh. The only evidence against Atefah
was her own forced confession. Atefah railed against
her judge in court for its unfairness, but this was her undoing. Judge Haji Rezai, who was also the
local mullah, prosecutor and head of the city administration, personally
obtained permission from Iran Iran
Shown on BBC2 in the UK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHqnSe3EqpA
Women in Iran 2006
Film
Video clip *say NO*
http://www.dailymotion.com/farshad/video/x1mus_womens-day-tehran
8 march in Tehran 2006
http://www.dailymotion.com/farshad/video/x1l4b_8-march-in-tehran
Police Rush 2006
http://www.dailymotion.com/farshad/video/x1l4e_police-rush
police is coming 2006
http://www.dailymotion.com/farshad/video/x1l4c_police-is-coming
Police Attack 2006
http://www.dailymotion.com/farshad/video/x1l4d_police-attack
women long March from
http://www.8mars.com/soti/film/8%20Marts%20real.rm
more film 2005 / 50MB
http://meydaan.com/UserFiles/Media/01.mpg
1MB
http://www.pouyashome.com/weblog/movietest.htm
Thousands of Iranian
women gathered in
A feminist gathering in
7-Tir
June 12, 2006 Photos
http://www.kosoof.com/archive/281.php
Stoning in
http://www.apostatesofislam.com/media/video/stoning_video_100kbps.wmv
To: The Judiciary Chief of Iran
http://meydaan.com/petition.aspx?cid=46&pid=2
Petition to save Ashraf Kalhori from death by
stoning
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?AshrafK
Cc: The Iranian
Parliament Representatives
We are deeply concerned
that Ashraf Kalhori, a
37-year-old mother of four, has been sentenced to death for having had an
extramarital relationship.
We are further concerned
that she has been sentenced to death by stoning. Death by stoning is one of the
most inhumane acts of torturous execution, where the convict is buried alive in
a pit with her sheet-covered head exposed outside to be smashed by marble-sized
rocks that are thrown by the members of the community.
We would like to remind
you that as the chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran s Judiciary, you have
ordered a ban on the execution of all cases of stoning as of April, 2001.
Hereby, we request that you use your authority as the Judiciary Chief, to
enforce such ban and stop the execution of Ashraf Kalhori.
At the same time, we are
asking the Iranian Parliament representatives to change the criminal law so
that an extramarital relationship is not considered a "crime" and
that it certainly does not warrant the death penalty.
Sincerely
save Kobra , Nayanin , Sina , ..........
, , ,
http://www.helpnazanin.com/, , ,
, , ,
Kobra Rahmanpoor’s open
letter : I want to live!
13-Sep-2006
Kobra Rahmanpoor , From Evin prison, Tehran/Iran
I am
a human being just like you. I do not want to die. However I am now a sol less
body who in fear of the execution rope has forgotten how to laugh and be happy.
A lot of people say to me how come your case has been so much publicized but
you are still in prison? I have to tell them that I am only steps away from
execution. I too like all of you am afraid of dying. Please help me so that
this would not be my last letter., 
People,
friends!
My mother, father and handicapped brother are very worried about me. Your
supports so far have been such a comfort to them. I wish my life was different.
I wish I had finished my pre-university education. I wish I did not have to be
a servant for my husband. I wish I had not reached insanity. I suffered a lot
and was intimidated. I am a true victim. Now they are about to hang the victim.
This was not and is not my destiny.
In
these dark days of fear, I urge you once again to help me. I thank all mass
media and all people who supported me before. Now, may be for the last time, I
urge you to do everything you can to free me from execution. I like freedom. I
dream about my freedom and a good life.
I
have suffered enough. Help me to get rid of the nightmare of execution which
wakes me up all the time. Do what you can. There is not much time left. Every
minute takes me nearer to the rope. Please help me! I am afraid of the rope and
death. I hate the rope that is waiting for me on the crane. I want to live. All
other doors are closed to me. Nobody helps me. My only hope is the people. I
want to hold my mother and father in my arms.
I
want to thank my mother, father and all who have supported me.
Kobra Rahmanpoor
From Evin prison, Tehran/Iran
Shahrivar 1385 (September 2006)
, , ,
An open letter
To all noble humans,
and all human right defender
bodies
I, Abolfazl
Rahmanpour, the father of Kobra Rahmanpour
pledge you to protest to the unfair sentence of my young daughter.
Kobra, my young daughter, was forced to marry
a man, 43 years
older than herself. Kobra was a good student in her
school and her wish
was to study in the university but she was forced to forget all of her wishes because of the
extreme poverty of the family.
Kobra had a hard life before marriage and
after marriage
her life became even worse. the extremeness of problems and sufferings that she had to take
in a family that look at her first a servant and then a daughter-in-law, was so much that made a
kind girl like her to commit a murder in an accident and while defending herself.
Kobra spent the best years of her youth in
the prison and
with the threat of death. She has suffered so much and has completely fall. It is so many
years that she can feel the execution rope on her neck and her life goes on with sensing death, she
shouldn’t suffer more tortures. When look at her colorless eyes, fallen teeth, and senseless
body I always ask myself
what did I do wrong? What shouldn’t I have done? Whose fault is this?
As she has said herself
she wants to live and she
is scared from the execution, the rope and the crane. She wants to go to university and study.
Kobra is a very kind girl, her inmates can testify
that. She
should be free as soon as possible to go back to her normal life.
Our only hope is the
protest of you noble people
to this unjust sentence. The only way of preventing this sentence is the
protest of all
of the people, human rights defending bodies, committees against the executions and
international bodies. Just for a second thought what me and Kobra’s mother
are going true to realize how horrible are this days. I wouldn’t mind to be executed instead of Kobra, is that possible? I have always worked from day to night, but I don’t know why
our destiny went this way? I and Kobra’s mother have no hope to
life or another thing beside Kobra. Help us. Save my Family, my disabled
son who always asks about her sister, Kobra, from
this horror of
execution of our dear Kobra. We are waiting for your
definite actions.
We all ask you to sign this letter. I know that there is no time and we
are in last
seconds. I ask for your help once more, in these last seconds. Sign this letter to show that
you also demand Kobra’s Freedom.
Send your supports to
this Email: campagne.kobra@gmail.com
We will declare the names
of those who sign in this
blog : www.save-kobra.blogfa.com
Women Victims of
Stoning
Tue 05 09 2006
1-Ms. Amini, you are involved in gathering information and
reporting on the situation of women who have been condemned to death by
stoning, and your activities have taken you to the cities of Mashhad and Jolfa in Iran. Could you please tell us about your
findings?
In fact, in the beginning
these reports were not as systematically gathered as you point to in your
question. After news of two or three cases, I decided to take on this subject
as a professional investigative reporter because I realized that no one was
really following up and focusing on these kinds of reports. Unfortunately
there was and there still is no shortage of these types of cases and as a
result I have been constantly involved in reporting and investigating for over
two years and often my role has gone beyond the role of a reporter.
About my trips to Mashhad
and Jolfa I have to say that sometime in May of 2006,
one of my friends who had just returned from Mashhad informed me that two women
in Mashhad had been stoned to death. I found the news strange as I knew
that Mr. Shahroudi (head of Iran's judiciary,
Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi)
had put a stop to this type of execution. It had been about five years since
there had been any deaths by stoning. Although there were a few women who
had been sentenced to death by stoning, because of the ban I was sure that the
executions would never take place. The news of stoning if true meant that
either the head of judiciary had issued a new order removing the ban on stoning
or in some parts of the country people believed that they could act against the
orders of the head of the judiciary.
I think it was some time
in the beginning of June that Ms. Ashraf Kolheri was notified by the office of the judiciary to
prepare herself as her sentence of death by stoning was going to be carried
out. Of course it was obvious that the situation was more serious than we
thought. What was interesting was that although we had been told that the news
of stoning in Mashhad had been published in the newspapers of the province of Khorasan (Mashhad is the capital of the Khorasan
province), and we looked for the articles in all the newspapers that were
published in May and June but we did not find any mention of the execution.
That is why I had to go to Mashhad personally to investigate the matter. Once I
was there I came to understand that the execution had been reported not as a
death by stoning but as execution according to Sharia.
2- Who were the
people condemned to death by stoning in Mashhad and what was their crime?
A woman named Ms. Mahboubeh M. and a man named Abass
H. These two people were related to each other. Their crimes were murdering Mahboubeh’s husband, and committing adultery. I have to
admit that it was a very gruesome murder, but the issue is not what kind of a
crime they committed. To my knowledge none of the women’s rights activists deny
that a criminal must be punished. But the issue is that the punishment should
match the crime.
Death under showers of
stones is under any circumstances a horrific death. If we go by the rules
of Sharia, the conditions that must exist in order to
prove the crime of “ehsan”, adultery, are extremely
difficult. The burden of proof is very high. Often it is more difficult to
prove that such a crime has taken place than to acquit the criminal.
3-Were these two
stoned to death for the crime of adultery or the crime of murder?
Stoning was the
punishment for the crime of adultery. Ms. Mahboubeh
did not kill her husband but she was an accomplice in his murder.
4-So what was
their punishment for the crime of murder?
For the crime of being an
accomplice, Ms. Mahboubeh was sentenced to 15 years
in jail. Mr. Abass was the murderer and his sentence
was “ghesas” (retaliation). In addition to the murder
he had also committed the crime of adultery. So, stoning in fact is execution but it is an unusual form of
execution. It means that these people could have received the sentence of
execution instead of stoning. This is exactly what we ask of the law makers and
lawyers, if the woman had not committed adultery, and had only been convicted
of murder, there would have been a thousand ways of dealing with her
punishment. The same goes for the man, if he had only been convicted of murder,
under the rules of “ghesas” he could have obtained
the forgiveness, the agreement of the parents or the relatives of the victim
and paid the blood money, and solved the problem and maybe even he would have
been freed. In Ms. Mahboubeh’s case after serving her
15 years in jail, she would have been freed. Therefore her death
especially in this manner was precisely because she had committed adultery.
5- Did these two
people have the right to a lawyer in court?
Yes. Both had lawyers. A
court appointed lawyer, and I was able to speak to Ms. Mahboubeh’s
lawyer.
6-Was the stoning
done in public?
It is not exactly clear
who was present at the stoning. But it is evident that the stoning did
not take place in public. The Sharia law states
that stoning must take place in public in order to teach others a lesson and
discourage others from committing adultery. The newspapers reported it as
an execution not stoning, this surprised me because if the main point of
stoning is to teach the public a lesson, then why hide the news of it?
7-Where did the
stoning take place?
It was done in Behesht Zahra, the grand cemetery of Mashhad on May 7th,
2006.
8-Do you have any
information on the level of public participation in the stoning?
As far as my
investigation of the files of these cases show, the public has not participated
in stonings. At least after Mr. Shahroudi’s
ban on stoning, I know that none had taken place in public. You should know
that there is a difference between execution and stoning. An execution is
carried out by officials of the judiciary system but in stoning, the act of
stoning is carried out by ordinary people.
9- If the stoning
was not done in public by ordinary people, then who carried out the stoning?
This is a good question
for the government officials. If I knew who they were, I would have interviewed
them myself; it would have been a very interesting interview.
10- Did you
interview the judge in Mahboubeh’s case?
Yes I did interview him,
but he did not give permission to publish the interview. Almost half of my time
in Mashhad was spent on going from one office to another trying to obtain
permission to publish interviews with no results.
11-My next
question is about the family of the convicted. How do they deal with the
sentence of stoning for their loved ones, do they try to save their
lives? Or, because of the shame that is traditionally associated with
sexual issues in our culture, do they shun the adulterous and not partake in
any activity in their defense?
Let me respond to this
question by reading what is written on Ms. Mahboubeh’s
gravestone. The writing is powerful and made me think deeply. I tried very
hard to find Ms. Mahboubeh’s children but they have
moved out of the area and unfortunately I was unable to locate them. The
writing is as follows:
My mother, you were my
love and hope
You were my honor and
pride
Whenever sadness filled
me
You were my friend and
inspiration
In my opinion what they
wrote on the grave is indicative of the kind of relationship she had with her
children. The family in a short time after her death already had installed
a stone on her grave, and such a sincere and touching poem was written on it.
To me this shows that her death was important to her children. Also legally in
their role as plaintiffs in the case of their father’s death, they had forgiven
their mother, they had agreed not to retaliate, not to punish her (the law of ghesas). But I have to add that this type of reaction from
the family members is not always the case in all these situations. I saw
the family of Ms. Iran A. in Ahvaz (a city in the south west of Iran), and
based on what I saw, I think if and when she gets released from jail we will
witness a horrifying honor killing in that family.
It is not always the case
that the families forgive or call for the acquittal of the convicted person, in
many parts of the country not even the families of the convicted will let go
of the punishment much less the families of the murdered victims.
12-Please tell us
about the case of Ms. Iran A?
After my trip to Mashhad
I found out that there were two cases in Ahvaz where both people had been told,
just like in Ms. Kolheri’s case, that their death by
stoning sentence was to be carried out soon. Ms. Iran A. and Kh. V. have both requested to remain anonymous. I went
to Ahvaz to see them. Both of these southern women have been sentenced to death
by stoning for murdering their spouses. On one hand they are faced with the
threat of being stoned to death and on the other hand they are threatened by
their families. If they are freed from jail, their brothers would certainly
kill them.
Of course in the case of
Ms. Iran A., I think there is still a chance to defend her because her case
does not really entail the crime of adultery. While her husband was alive she
did not commit the act of adultery, the sex took place after he was dead. She
claims that at the time of her husband’s murder she was unconscious. Despite
these claims and information she was convicted of being an accomplice in murder
and was sentenced to stoning.
13- Does this
mean that if a woman kills her husband and has sex with her lover after her
husband’s death, she can not be stoned to death but if she commits
adultery while he is alive then she can be sentenced to death by stoning?
Yes, of course, one of
the conditions of adultery is when the husband is near [not away i.e. traveling]
and the woman has sex with another person, then she has committed adultery and
the punishment is stoning. If her husband is dead then the act of sex is not
adultery, it is sex outside of marriage. According to the law, sex outside of
marriage is considered illicit sex.
14- In your
opinion, in the cases you have closely studied, are there any similarities
between these women in any area i.e. their private life, economic class or age?
Some of the cases really
had nothing in common, but in many of these cases, the issue at hand was
“falling in love”. These women had fallen in love with somebody else without
having the ability or the possibility of obtaining a divorce. In many
situations the women had even filed for divorce but their request had not been
accepted either by their spouse or the court. Not all women condemned to
stoning are from lower economic classes of the society, we have some cases of
women from the upper economic classes too. Falling in love has nothing to
do with age or economic class.
15- If possible
please tell us about your trip to the city of Jolfa?
When I was in Ahvaz I
heard that one of my lawyer friends had accepted the case of Ms. Hajieh Esmailvand. After I heard
her life story, of which I had previously heard a little, I realized that we
were dealing with one of the most peculiar women legal cases and that is why I
went to Jolfa.
Ms. Hajieh’s
case was very complicated. It was complicated because it was incomprehensible
that her case had received such a grave sentence. At the time of her husband’s
murder, she was out of town attending to her child’s illness, this was easily
proved. We do not understand on what evidence the judge had charged her with
the crime of being an accomplice in the murder. Ms. Hajieh
explained in the court that the murderer had tried to rape her once but he had
not been able to carry out the act of rape. However later in the court
proceedings Ms. Hajieh had signed a piece of paper
that constituted her confession to having committed adultery. According to Ms. Hajieh after her verdict had been issued and she had spent
several years in jail, she still did not know the meaning of the word “rajm”. She recounts having asked her brother what does the
word “rajm” mean and he explained to her that it
meant stoning. You can see that it is obvious how the rest of the story goes.
16- Did Hajieh and the other women have lawyers? Or is it possible
for the prosecution to continue without defense lawyers?
Yes, she also had a court
appointed lawyer. In these cases if the defendant can not obtain their own
lawyer, the court would appoint them a lawyer. In my opinion what is very
important to know about these court appointed lawyers is that they seem to be
indifferent about defending these criminal cases, and more specifically not
interested in any of these kind of honor related cases. Such cases require a
lot of follow up and investigation, and the lawyer really needs to be concerned
about the case to do the work. In one of the cases, one of the judges told me
“Even the defendant’s lawyer speaks of her with aversion and keeps telling me
what is there to defend”.
Well, perhaps to solve
this problem instead of the judicial system, the lawyers themselves can suggest
a solution so those lawyers who are more motivated and involved can take on
these cases.
17- You spoke of
a “project” in relation to this reporting, would you please explain the idea of
the project?
I started by doing simple
news reports. I have many friends who like me are thinking of saving these
women from being stoned to death, and even changing the law of stoning, and are
ready to help. This includes my reporter and lawyer friends. In my
opinion, to change such a law, it is not enough to appeal to the law makers; it
is necessary but not enough.
Preparation of case
studies will help bring the public face to face with the reality and the
consequences of such laws. Public
opinion is only formed when faced and confronted with these cases, it is the
job of the media is to inform and educate the public. In a way what we
are doing is not really a “project”. What I mean by
“project” is the process of gathering the information, identification and
following the cases, helping to find lawyers and good defense and finally being
able to publish it all and somehow all these
activities have turned into a permanent collaboration.
18- Are there any
other cases of stoning?
Unfortunately yes. There
has been talk of a few cases but we have not been able to verify the accuracy
of the news. There was a case in the city of Roodsar,
another in the city of Tabriz, another in Yazd and yet another in Tehran. It
will take a while to be certain about these cases and for the lawyers to be
identified.
19- Are all the
cases of stoning reported? Or can there be cases that even reporters are
unaware of?
Well yesterday I heard
that a stoning had been carried out in Yazd and the news of it has not been
published anywhere. I still do not know if this news is true or not.
20-After your
travels, all that you have heard and the interviews you have conducted, what is
your personal opinion of the people who’s been condemned to stoning?
In my opinion they are
receiving the gravest punishments of humanity. They have fallen in love. Their
love is prohibited but their death is sanctioned by religious law. The penalty
these people have paid for their forbidden love is unusually severe. I wonder
if those who throw the stones have ever known love. Would they ever fall in
love? Even love in its permitted form? It is true that these cases have not
always been about love. There was a case where a man had forced his wife
into prostitution; however there are only a small number of these cases.
Men in this society have
more rights and more freedom. They have control over permanent marriage,
temporary marriage, divorce etc. and these one sided rights result in women
becoming the victims of these tragic cases. Women are the ones facing barriers
in obtaining divorce; these obstacles are legal, social and family related.
After all they are humans made of flesh who can fall in love, and they pay for
this forbidden apple with their lives.
By: Interview with Asieh Amini /By: Soheila Vahdati (Iran Emrooz)ý