On The Front Lines
TRI Urges President Bush to Ask for Clemency for Iranian Girl Sentenced to Die by Hanging
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, has called on President Bush to lead the way in raising an outcry over Iran's inhumane treatment of an 18-year-old Iranian girl who is sentenced to die by hanging for the so-called crime of defending herself against three male attackers. In a letter sent to President Bush, members of Congress and other key dignitaries, Whitehead urged the president to speak out against the horror being enacted against Nazanin and other women in Iran. A copy of the letter is available here.
"If ever there were a time for the United States to take a stand for basic equality and women's rights, the case of 18-year-old Nazanin presents us with such an opportunity," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "To turn a blind eye to the travesty of justice being meted out to this young woman would be to render meaningless anything the United States were to say about women's rights in the future."
On January 6, 2006, Nazanin was sentenced to death by hanging by the Republic of Iran for fatally stabbing a man who was attempting to rape her. In March 2005, 17-year-old Nazanin and her niece were attacked by three men in a park in Iran's capital of Tehran. According to news reports, the girls' attackers threw stones at them, wrestled them to the ground and assaulted them. In an attempt to stave off one of the men who was attempting to rape her, Nazanin stabbed the attacker in the chest, resulting in his death. Despite the fact that she claims to have acted in self-defense, Nazanin was arrested, charged and convicted for the death of the rapist and is sentenced to die by hanging. In his letter to President Bush, Whitehead pointed out that Nazanin's plight is not uncommon in Iran, which has been criticized for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment and where more women are reportedly executed per year than in any other country. Whitehead emphasized the need for the United States to exercise its moral leadership by calling on Iran to show clemency to Nazanin. "America has long been a champion of human rights in word, if not always in deed," wrote Whitehead. "And although America's reputation as a defender of human rights has been tarnished by allegations of detainee abuse, Nazanin's plight presents the Bush Administration with an opportunity to stand by its much-avowed commitment to human rights." Whitehead's letter was copied to the United Nations Secretary General, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, the Embassy of Pakistan and a group of U.S. Senate and House leaders.
