Outrage at Iran’s execution of Delara Darabi

LAST FRIDAY, 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 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's life," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Delara Darabi was executed despite her having been given a two-month stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary on April 129.

"This indicates that even decisions by the Head of the Judiciary carries no weight and is 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 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 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 update on civilian casualties and displacement in Pakistan

Pakistan's government must begin to provide assistance to at least 65,000 civilians who have fled fighting between Pakistani Taliban and government forces in Lower Dir district of the North West Frontier Province, Amnesty International said today.

"There is no sign that the central Pakistan government has prepared for the exodus of civilians," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director. "As the military operations spread, most likely to Swat next, the government has to ensure that the fleeing civilians have adequate food, shelter, and health care."

The Pakistani NGO Al Khidmat told Amnesty International in Timergara, the main town in Lower Dir, that it had registered at least 65,000 displaced people. As the operations apparently ended after four days, Al Khidmat said it was the only group assisting the displaced population, without any assistance from the central government.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Taliban issued a written warning to journalists in Timergara, Dir, threatening them if they persisted in presenting material against the Taliban and the Nizam-e Adl regulation that gave the Taliban administrative control over a wide swath of NWFP. The Pakistani Taliban warned journalists would be tried in the Taliban's Sharia courts and called the press club in Timergara today, threatening to send a car full of explosives.

"The Taliban's warning against journalist shows again their absolute disdain for human rights," Zarifi said. "The Taliban have consistently jeopardised the well-being of the people living under their control."

See www.amnesty.ie for more.