A Father's Desperate Plea to Save the Life of His Daughter

My name is Abolfazl Rahmanpour, and I am Kobra Rahmanpour's father. I am writing to ask you to voice your objection to the unjust death sentence of my daughter.

My little girl was forced to marry a man who was 43 years her senior. Kobra was a star student and had dreams of going to college. However, extreme poverty forced her to forego all of her dreams and goals.

Before getting married, Kobra had a difficult life. After marriage, not only was she unable to find peace or happiness, but she was subjected to a life that was even more brutal. The extent of problems and abuse that Kobra endured in a household where she was first a maid and then a bride, forced a kind girl such as Kobra to become involved in a physical altercation, during which she had no choice but to defend herself – an act that led to the death of her abuser.

Since then, Kobra has spent the best years of her teenage and young life in jail on death row. She has suffered greatly and is entirely broken. She should not face any more torture and cruelty. She should not feel the executioner's rope around her neck, and I should not be a witness to her pale, lifeless body, forever asking myself how could I have let this happen or what should I have done differently so that my young child would not have had to face such a brutal life and such a horrifying death?

Kobra, herself, has stated that she wishes to live; she is terrified of execution, of public hanging, and of the cranes that will elevate her to her death. She wants to go to college and get an education. Kobra is an extremely kind girl – a fact to which even her fellow prisoners attest. She should be released from prison to start a new and normal life.

Our only hope for saving Kobra's life remains in YOUR objections to her unjust sentence. The only way to save Kobra's life is the collective voices of all persons who find her punishment unfair and inhumane, those who believe in the basic rights of all humans, those who oppose the death penalty, and various international human rights organizations.

I ask you to put yourself in my position and that of Kobra's mother for even one moment to understand the horror and the pain with which we deal on a daily basis. I am willing to be executed in Kobra's place if that would ensure her freedom. All my life, I have worked hard, from morning to night, and have lived a respectable and honest life; I can not help but wonder how or why this fate has befallen upon me and my family. If Kobra is executed, her mother and I will have nothing left in our lives. PLEASE HELP US.

Please lend your support to my family, to my handicapped child who constantly asks for her sister, Kobra, and to the rest of Kobra's relatives and loved ones who are horrified by the prospect of the execution our kind and beautiful child, our beloved Kobra. We ask that you sign the petition to save Kobra's life, even though we realize that we do not have much time left. Yet, during these last hours, we plead with you to lend us a helping hand: By signing this petition, please voice YOUR objection to Kobra's unjust punishment and support our efforts to save her life.

Sincerely,

Abolfazl Rahmanpour

http://www.petitiononline.com/kobrar/petition.html

Dozens of women arrested in protest in Iran capital

Iran Focus, Tehran, Iran, Sep. 19 – Hundreds of Iranian women gathered outside the offices of the judiciary in Tehran on Tuesday in protest to the impending execution of a female prisoner, dissidents have told Iran Focus.

Dozens of protesting women were arrested outside the judiciary as they clashed with armed agents of Iran’s State Security Forces (SSF) and its undercover units.

Agents of the SSF sealed off the area, and motorbike patrols roamed the vicinity breaking up crowds of women.

The women were protesting the death sentence of Kobra Rahmanpour.

Rahmanpour has been in prison for several years accused of murdering her mother-in-law, though she insists that her actions were in self defence.

Iran’s State Supreme Court recently upheld the verdict for her to be hanged to death.

Amnesty International, 22 September 2006 :

IRAN Kobra Rahmanpour (f), aged about 25

It is feared that Kobra Rahmanpour is at imminent risk of execution for murder. The Office for the Implementation of Sentences, which carries out executions, has set a deadline of 12 October for the family of the murder victim to agree to forgo their right to have Kobra Rahmanpour executed, and accept the payment of diyeh (blood money) instead. If they continue to ask for the execution to be implemented, it is likely to be carried out soon after 12 October.

Kobra Rahmanpour was arrested on 5 November 2000 and was sentenced to death by Branch 1608 of Tehran’s Criminal Court in January 2002 for killing her mother-in-law. In 2003 the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. She claimed she had acted in self-defence after her mother-in-law had tried to attack her with a kitchen knife. Kobra Rahmanpour was allegedly forced into marriage against her will by her parents, due to the poverty of her family, and was subjected to domestic violence during her marriage. She did not have access to a lawyer until the beginning of her trial.

Kobra Rahmanpour was scheduled to be executed on 31 December 2003. However, on that day, the Judge of the Office for the Implementation of Sentences confirmed to a reporter from the internet news site, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA), that the execution was cancelled because prison authorities were not fully equipped for it (there were allegedly no handcuffs to use on the way to the execution site).

In January 2004 Kobra Rahmanpour’s execution was temporarily postponed by Ayatollah Shahroudi, the Head of the Judiciary, to allow the opportunity for the victims’ family to agree to pardon Kobra Rahmanpour. In a letter to Amnesty International dated 3 February 2004, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London stated that legal proceedings in the case had been completed and that the sentence could only be commuted if the victim’s heirs were to forgo their right to retribution and ask instead for compensation. The case was then transferred to the mediation body known as the Council for the Resolution of Differences (in Persian, the Shoray-e Hall-e Ekhtelaf), for the victim’s family to come to an agreement about whether to forgo their right to retribution and accept the payment of blood money. However, no resolution has been reached. According to Kobra Rahmanpour’s lawyer, the victim’s family have not agreed to pardon her. At the beginning of September 2006, the Office for the Implementation of Sentences reportedly set a deadline of 12 October for an agreement to be reached on pardoning Kobra Rahmanpour.

Kobra Rahmanpour has been detained in Evin prison for nearly six years, for four of which she has been under sentence of death. In September 2006, she wrote an open letter, published on the internet, in which she said:
“I am a human like you. I don’t want to die. But right now I am more like a lifeless body who has forgotten happiness and laughter scared of the execution rope…I am only a step away from death. I, like all of you, am scared to die. Help me so this wouldn’t be my last letter. So many times I think with myself, wishing my life would follow a different path. Wishing I could finish my pre-university course. Wishing I wouldn’t be forced to work and to serve my husband’s family. Wishing I wouldn’t reach the borders of madness. But I have suffered so much. I am really a victim. And it is this victim who they are going to hang to death. This is not a destiny that I deserve. In these days of fear and horror, I come to you again. I thank all the media, papers and people who supported me and said that “Kobra shouldn’t be executed”. This time, maybe for the last time, I want to ask you to do your last efforts for me so I am not executed and have a chance to be free. In my dreams I always think of freedom and a good life after that. I have suffered enough. Help me so this horrible nightmare that has so many times chased me in sleep and has made me wake up and scream, won’t come true. Help me to be away from death. Do whatever you can, there is little time. These days would be gone too, and for me, every click of the clock is a sign that death is near. Please help me! I am scared of death and execution. I hate the execution rope and the crane. I want to live. All other ways are closed to me. Nobody is here for me. My only hope lies in people and my fellow humans. I want to hug my father and mother. In the end, I’d like to thank my family and everybody who struggles to save me, for their efforts.”

On 11 May 2006, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) released a statement on the case. Finding that Kobra Rahmanpour could not access the services of a defense lawyer “between her taking in custody and the beginning of the trial”, the WGAD emphasized that: “The lack of legal representation in the investigation of a capital charge may seriously jeopardize a supreme human value; the life of the accused. It is the position of the Working Group that in the instant case the lack of defense counsel from the initial stage of the investigation is so detrimental to the interests of justice in general, and to the interests of the person charged in particular that it confers to the criminal proceedings an unfair character.” The WGAD further said that “Under the specific circumstances of this case and bearing in mind that she is being held on death row since long, the most appropriate remedy would be to obtain her exemption from the implementation of the capital punishment. Such a generous measure, the Working Group believes, would be broadly welcomed and highly appreciated by the international community.” [Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No 14/2006, 11 May 2006, paragraph 15].

Kobra Rahmanpour was previously the subject of UA 364/03 (MDE 13/041/2003, 15 December 2003, and follow-ups).

A letter of Kobra Rahmanpour to all people

Rescue me! I fear death! I fear the gallows tree!

I am a human of your race, of human race! I don’t want to die! Now, however, I am just like a lifeless body who has forgotten happiness and smiling because of the fear of the gallows!

Many have sent messages to me: “You are famous now!”, they say, “Are you still imprisoned?”.

Oh, tell them I am one step away from death! Imprisonment would be paradise compared to my present condition!

Like every human, like all of you, I am scared of death. Please help me! Don’t let this be my last letter!

My fellowmen! Oh, humans!

My dear parents and my disabled brother, who are in extreme anxiety for me, have been in the hope of receiving your warm support. I often keep wishing that my life had gone in another direction. I wish I could finish my pre-college education. I wish I didn’t have to work and to serve my husband’s family as their maid. I wish I had not been pushed to the point of madness. But I have suffered so much and have been tortured so much. I am but a victim! And now they are going to take this victim to the gallows, to execute her! I don’t deserve such fate!

Oh, I have suffered enough. Don’t let this nightmare come true; a nightmare which I have seen many nights, which has awaken me while screaming… Help me to be saved from death! Do everything you can! Time is so short, days are passing by, and every tick of the clock is the sound of my approaching to the gallows tree. Please help me! I fear death, I fear gallows tree! I hate the gallows; I hate the “crane”!

I want to stay alive. Every other way is closed to me. Nobody hears my call for help. My only hope is my people, my fellow humans…

O, I want to take my mother and father in my arms…

My regards to my family, and to all those who struggle for saving me!

Kobra Rahmanpoor

Evin Prison (September 2006)

Kobra's life is spared for one more month!

Abdol-Samad Khormshahi, legal counsel for Kobra Rahmanpour, announced that the office of Criminal Sentences in Tehran has issued a one-month stay of execution for Kobra so that she can obtain a pardon from the family of her mother-in-law. If Kobra's efforts to obtain such a pardon prove unsuccessful, her execution will be carried out as originally planned.

The decision to postpone Kobra's execution for another month was issued today following a meeting between Kobra and her lawyer and the authorities of Branch 11 of Tehran's criminal court. In attendance were Mr. Khormshahi, Kobra's counsel of record, the chief mediator in charge of Kobra's case, and officials from Branch 509 of Mediation Commission.

"I hope that, during the little time that we have been granted, we will be able to resolve the issues with the deceased's next of kin, and that we will be able to obtain a pardon for Kobra, who, herself, is a victim in this case," Mr. Khormshai explained.

To date, Kobra's legal representatives have held several meetings with the family of the deceased to obtain their pardon in order to save Kobra from execution. Yet the deceased's family has refused to grant such a pardon.

Farsnews

This stay of execution gives us more time for activism on Kobra's behalf. Please, sign the petition :
http://www.petitiononline.com/kobrar/
and write to the addresses suggested by Amnesty International :
http://stophonourkillings.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=683
There are more suggestions for addresses here. Remember also, that seven other women are facing death in Iran, and don't forget them in your campaigns.
http://stophonourkillings.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=658

Report no.4 from "Save Kobra!" Campaign

Expansion of global supports

The execution of Kobra has been delayed for another month and this time Shahroodi, the chairman of Judiciaries body of Iran, declared that he has heard the voice of protest from people and he will respect this voice and will do his best to prevent Kobra's execution. But this is not all. There has been request for parole for Kobra, which is one of the rare cases among execution convicts.

All of this successes is the result of effort of all those who struggle to nullify the execution decree of Kobra and other convicts and, in the next step, to abolish the Capital Punishment. All those who, with signing petitions and the letter of Kobra and her Father, stand up to help Kobra and other execution convicts. All those who set up protest Actions and Demos and informed the "Public" that Mr.Shahroodi is talking about.

There has been an enormous support from numberless people to save Kobra's life and we have declared some of them in the signatories and supports section of the website and we have stated a summary of it in our past 3 reports. The support for this campaign continues and more people and organizations and bodies have joined the ranks of the campaign supporters. This includes Indian and American Section of International Committee to Protect Freethinkers (ICPF) that has dedicated a section of its bulletin to Kobra and has referred its readers to our website for more information. A society of Noble prize winners has also declared that it will try to attract the support of all Noble Prize winners and has declared its will for further cooperation…. And in Tuscany, Italy 30th of November, which is the day of abolition of Capital Punishment in this state, has been named after Kobra and there will be a gathering for Kobra in all cities of this state. Also the council representative of this state has written a letter to Romano Prodi, the prime minister of Italy, to ask Italian government to use its full power to save Kobra. Amnesty International has issued support also.

The presence of people in Tehran streets and especially in front of United Nations office in Tehran was also an important event. For the first time, the issue of nullify of an execution decree and eventually, abolition of Capital Punishment in Iran has been a main issue in the society. The presence of people in streets and the international declaration of support is the result of efforts of all of us and have caused Mr. Shahroodi to respect it.

This was one of the important achievements of this campaign. To transform the opposition to Capital Punishment from an issue for a few activist to a main issue in the society. We should continue our struggle to abolish the Capital Punishment.

In continuation of our activities, a letter from number of execution convicts has been sent to Kofi Anan and Human Rights organizations, demanding their help. Many of these convicts are even deprived of having a lawyer, because of poverty. Herby we ask all of those who identify themselves with this movement to help this people for their voices to reach the world.

The letter can be found here: http://www.save-kobra.blogfa.com/post-20.aspx

" Save Kobra!" Campaign
http://www.save-kobra.blogfa.com
October 18th, 2006