As an Iranian American who hasn’t spent more than a total of a few weeks in Iran since birth, it’s hard to fully grasp the depth and breadth of the hardship and suffering that the masses endure there on a daily basis. It’s one thing to hear stories from relatives and friends whose trips abroad consist mainly of festive gatherings; it’s quite another to see the real images and clips from horrors such as public executions. I recently came across Azarin Sadegh’s article on Iranian.com about a young boy, Ali Torabi (pictured above) who will soon be executed for a crime allegedly committed at the age of 16. One may ask what the crime was. I don’t know and honestly, it doesn’t matter what this kid did as no crime warrants execution. Moreover, under a political and judicial system where fair trials are not the norm and where people are executed for ludicrous things more often than not, there’s all the more reason to be outraged and to fight against it.
To this end, I provide a portion of Azarin’s essay below. Please visit this link for more info on what you can do to help the situation: www.stopchildexecutions.com
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Ali Mahin Torabi’s story should shock and awakenby Azarin Sadegh
03-Oct-2007
Last month I wrote about Sina, an 18-year-old boy in Iran who was going to be executed. Sina’s story had a happy ending. His last wish was to play his beloved instrument, flute, for the last time. When he did, the magical sound of his music softened the heart of the victim’s family, and they forgave him. When I heard Sina’s story for the first time, I wondered about another innocent condemned to death who lacks Sina’s talents in music. Was he going to die? What does it mean if an accused person cannot rely on the justice system, if instead, as lonely as it sounds, his only hope is the extent of his own limited abilities? What if the accused is sixteen years old and doesn’t play flute?
This is the true story of this man: Today my friend in Iran called me. She told me about the imminent execution of Ali Mahin Torabi, her nephew. He’s 21 years old, and he has been declared guilty of a murder he hasn’t committed. He has spent the last five years of his life—since he was 16 years old--in a prison, waiting for his execution. After his arrest, if Ali hadn’t protected his friends by taking the blame, or if he had a rich family, or if his father had better connections, and if there was a true justice system in Iran based on the Justice and the Truth, maybe he wouldn’t have been where he is now. Still during these five years in prison, Ali studied hard to get his high school diploma and now he has also the responsibility of their library’s computer systems. He is still full of life and hope but my friend sounded so desperate. She asked me to help Ali. I write this with that task weighing heavily upon my shoulders. Where to begin?
I searched the Internet and was stunned to learn there are at least another 80 children in the same situation as Ali—young people waiting to be executed for crimes they allegedly committed when they were minors. One on this sinister list is a 13-year-old girl. I stare in horror at the images on the internet of countless public hangings. In the crowds watching this vision of horror, stand children, and all I can think about is what lessons they are learning. They stare at the soulless eyes of an alleged criminal, the one who will, in just one second, become a victim. Then I find another image: a hanged woman in black chador dancing in the air; the figure is imposing and sinister, and isolated. It’s as if this picture belongs to another place, another race, another dimension. It’s as if time has stopped, and all humanity is linked through one hanged woman’s despair.
Please visit www.stopchildexecutions.com to read more about children facing execution and to sign a petition.