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Atefeh Rajabi Sahaaleh (1988 - August 15, 2004) was a 16-year-old schoolgirl who was executed in Iran after being sentenced to death by an Iranian religious judge, Haji Rezai, for allegedly having committed "acts incompatible with chastity": She was repeatedly raped throughout her childhood , and some have characterized her as a feminist icon and have described her as courageous for arguing in court that the perpetrator of rape should be punished, not the victim. She was publicly executed.
Early life
Atefeh's mother died in a car accident when she was five. Her father became a drug addict and she was forced to care for her octogenerian grandparents. Despite her attending to their needs they are reported to have completely ignored her. She grew up in the town of Neka, Iran and was described as a "lively and intelligent girl".
She was arrested three times by the Moral Police, once for being present at a party, another when caught alone in a car with her male cousin. It is illegal in Iran for a boy and girl to meet without an adult. On each occasion she was jailed and whipped. She also privately admitted being repeatedly raped by members of the Police while in custody.
Arrest
On the day she was due to attend a wedding, the Moral Police arrested her as she was preparing dinner for her grandparents. As she had not committed an offense, a petition was presented declaring her a "bad influence". It was not signed.
Atefeh had no access to legal counsel. She was convicted for ‘crimes against chastity’, based on her admission that she had been repeatedly raped by a 51-year-old ex-revolutionary guard turned taxi-driver Ali Darabi, a married man with children. In the court the judge, Haji Rezai acted as Prosecution, Judge and Jury. As Atefeh realised she was losing her case, she removed her hijab and argued that the perpetrator of rape should be punished, not the victim. The judge sentenced her to death.
Atefeh appealed her conviction. Her family could still not afford a lawyer, and none was provided, in contravention of Iranian law. Although such appeals are usually not resolved within a year, her death sentence was upheld by a Supreme Court of conservative mullahs. Haji Rezai, the religious judge, was reportedly so incensed with Atefeh’s "sharp tongue" during the trial that he travelled to Tehran personally to convince the mullahs of the Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence. According to the BBC, the documents presented to the Supreme Court of Appeal described her as a 22-year-old, but her ID card clearly stated that she was 16. The judge accepted the incorrect age on the grounds of Atefeh's physique, which he considered 'developed'.
Amnesty International and a number of other organisations have reported that she suffered from psychological illness, both before and at the trial.
Execution
She was publicly hanged from a crane in Neka, Iran, on August 15, 2004 . The judge in her case, Haji Rezai, also acted as executioner and applied the noose himself. She was left hanging for 45 minutes. He later boasted that she had been "taught a lesson" for her "sharp tongue". Her father was not notified of her execution. They never said goodbye.
The next day her body was stolen from her grave. It has never been recovered.
Amnesty International and many other human rights organizations from the international community declared her killing to be a crime against humanity and against children of the world.
BBC Undercover - "Execution of a Teenage Girl"
The case of Atefeh Sahaaleh is the subject of a BBC documentary made by Wild Pictures. Director, Monica Garnsey and Associate Producer, Arash Sahami went undercover to document the case. It is also the subject of an hour-long Discovery Times program called "Execution in Iran."
See also
- Human rights in Iran
- Delara Darabi
- Nazanin Fatehi
- Reza Alinejad
- Mosleh Zamani
- Stop Child Executions Campaign
External links
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
- Execution of a teenage girl BBC
- Execution of a teenage girl BBC Documentary Video
- Execution of a teenage girl MUSIC VIDEO
- Amnesty International statement
- The Execution of Atefeh Rajabi
- Media | Death of a teenager (Guardian UK July 27, 2006)
- Atefeh.org
References
- "having sex with unmarried men" Iran Focus
- Iran: Amnesty International outraged at reported execution of 16 year-old girl
- "Execution of a Teenage Girl". BBC News Online. 2006-06-27. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
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