نوجوانان را اعدام نکنید SCE News and Updates archives

A small group of  Iranian-Americans in Chicago collected $1,630  for the Stop Child Executions campaign during a Nowruz gathering in celebration of the Persian New Year.  It is the largest donation SCE has received since its formation in February 2007.

We are thankful that they remembered the campaign on this special day and, as one contributor said, “we hope that nowruz will truly bring a new day to all Iranians, especially the children.”

A special thank you goes out to Behnaz Shahriari for her continued support and dedication to alleviating injustice.

THANK YOU DAVID ETEBARI FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR SCE! 

 Due to new time constraints and responsibilities, David Etebari will no longer be able to continue his role as the Vice President and Campaign coordinator of Stop Child executions. He has been  instrumental in the formation and continuation of SCE as he has assumed the majority of research and editorial segments of SCE news updates. We are happy that David will remain on board by holding an advisory and supportive role to SCE.

In an email to the SCE team of volunteers David wrote: 
 ” As I indicated in my recent article( http://scenews.blog.com/4040738/ ), the will to Stop Child Execution has now rooted in the awareness of the Iranians and the world. Nazanin with our support has already lighted up the fire on the subject of child executions while it used to only be a small subject to occasionally complain about. Today so many organizations and individuals are united behind this issue and many have jointly signed petitions and issued statement with us. Today the fire that Nazanin started and you carried is shinning. Such leaps of conscious are irreversible and it is only a matter of time before the world will only remember such barbaric practices in the chapters of history

 With your selfless efforts SCE, now the leading world organization on the subject of child execution, was formed less than 2 years ago. SCE is now well respected in Iran and the world. It is not a week that a human rights organization, activist, attorney, family member of a juvenile, etc do not contact us for help, advise, information, assistance or coordination. We have been on many major and small medias and named on so many news pieces and blogs worldwide. Today we have sites on Wikipedia, youtube, myspace, orkut, iranian.com, facebook, care2, gather and manage a discussion forum . All this was made possible with your efforts without receiving one penny by any of us and in contrast some of us even have financially donated to SCE. Thanks to the initiation of D.W. Duke , SCE is now an official non-profit organization and that is why we have dropped the word “campaign” from your name for a while.  We now have published the most comprehensive list of solutions to end child execution in Iran. …..and the long list continues ………

 But Most importantly in addition to raising awareness you have saved lives and brought hope and smile to the faces of children facing execution and their families .

 By raising awareness and pointing everyone to the real nature of Iran’s government; Million signature campaigns for gender equality, Stop Child Executions and others everyday chisel the foundation of the barbaric regime in Iran. These efforts will eventually lead to the collapse of a regime that is a threat to Iranians and the world. But eventually Iran’ solution is a political one by Iranians, with the support of the world, uniting regardless of their differences under the common secular belief of respect for independence, freedom, justice and human rights .”

In response Nazanin Afshin-Jam the President and Co-founder of Stop Child Executions wrote: 
“I feel so blessed to have met David Etebari years ago when we were campaigning to save Nazanin Fatehi from death row. I feel blessed to have met such a devoted and selfless individual who gave every cell of his being to our campaign. I feel blessed to have made a good friend, someone I could lean on in times when I felt too emotionally exhausted to continue. David’s resilience kept me bounding. I am most grateful to David who has spent the last few years devoting half the day to SCE and other important human rights issues and taking a tremendous loss in his own affairs for the sake of others. …. I can honestly say that I could not have done this without David. That said, all of you play such an important “piece of the pie”. David, you have been such a shining star and thank you for being there for us, when we most needed it .”

SCE’s legal council and officer DW Duke wrote:
“Nazanin is the face of SCE but David is the backbone….I have to echo Nazanin’s comments.  David is a rare and unique human being.  His contributions to SCE are immeasurable….. I know that his contributions to SCE will remain as our cornerstone forever and he will always be part of us but it will not be the same as when he was the First Mate of our ship.  … As he moves into his new endeavors he will always be loved and respected by those who have come to know him.” 

About David Etebari (USA)

David Etebari is the co-founder of Stop Child Executions . Born in Tehran, Iran he has lived in the USA for 30 years. David has written many articles for major internet sites and blogs and he also has created video collages posted on YouTube and Google, some seen by more than 300,000 viewers.. Since the early days of the campaign to save Nazanin Fatehi, David spent countless hours bringing worldwide awareness to the plight of minors facing execution in Iran. He initiated the myspace site for Nazanin Fatehi which was viewed by more than 100,000 visitors. He later created the myspace page for Delara Darabi. The two sites were among the most interactive internet sites to address the issue of minors facing execution. He also initiated the Wikipedia pages for Nazanin Fatehi, Delara Darabi and the Stop Child Executions.
As the former campaign coordinator and vice president of Stop Child Executions, David played a major role in planning, organization and coordination of the SCE as well as research and editorial of the SCE news updates. David Etebari currently maintains an advisory and support role at SCE.

In his personal blog Senator Barlett wrote:  “One other interesting speaker at the conference was a woman from Canada named Nazanin Afshin-Jan. Unlike most of us at the conference, she was not a politician, a lawyer or an academic (although she is a graduate in international relations), which probably helped make her speech seem more focused on practically than some of the others. She is Iranian born, trained in the Canadian Air Force, and has used her profile as a former runner-up in Miss World and a singer and songwriter to campaign on human rights issues. One of her main campaigns is to stop child executions, although the main offender on that issue is Iran, not China, so she didn’t focus on that so much in her speech at this conference. She was also able to end her speech by showing a video of one of her songs , which was rather hard for the rest of us speakers to compete against.”

Nazanin Afshin-Jam and SCE Campaign greatly appreciate Senator Andrew Bartlett’s support of the Campaign to stop child executions in Iran and worldwide.

About Senator Andrew Barltlett:

Senator Bartlett  has been a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Queensland since 1997, representing the Australian Democrats. A consistent and vocal campaigner for refugees and asylum seekers, Senator Bartlett is the only Australian parliamentarian to have visited every refugee detention centre in Australia, as well as those on Christmas Island and Nauru (detention centres off the Australian mainland) where he went three times to meet with detainees. Mr. Bartlett has spoken many times on behalf of those living in poverty, as well as the physically and mentally disabled. He also takes a close interest in the environment and animal welfare. He was a strong opponent of Australia’s involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. 

As the Australian Human Rights Commissioner and Disability Discrimination Commissioner from 2000 to 2005, Dr Ozdowksi authored the ground-breaking “National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention: A Last Resort?” The report ignited a national debate about Australia’s immigration detention policies and ultimately led to children being released from mandatory detention and a rethinking of the government’s detention policies. As Disability Discrimination Commissioner, he was instrumental in the “National Inquiry into Mental Health Services: Not for service” report, which placed mental illness on the national agenda, led to the reform of, and major budgetary increases for mental health services in Australia.

In 1984 Dr Ozdowski was awarded the Harkness Fellowship which took him to Harvard and Georgetown Universities and the University of California to work on race relations, international human rights and public administration. He also holds the academic appointment of Honorary Professor at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies in the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney and most recently was awarded an honorary doctorate from Melbourne’s RMIT University. Areas of Expertise: Human rights, multiculturalism, diversity,equity, discrimination, people with disabilities, mental health, civil society, diversity, equity, public administration, capacity building in developing countries and post communist countries, Asia-Pacific, Poland.

In an email Dr. Trita Parsi commended Nazanin Afshin Jam for her “excellent work on stopping child executions in Iran!”. Trita Parsi, an author and the president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) also signed the SCE petition: 

Founded in early 2002, the National Iranian-American Council is a non-partisan, non-political, non-sectarian, and non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Iranian-American participation in American civic life.

Nazanin Afshin-Jam and Stop Child Executions Campaign appreciate the support of the president of the NIAC , Dr. Trita Parsi. To date more than 15,000 people worldwide have signed the petition to stop child executions. The list includes human rights advocates, lawyers, politicians and celebrities worldwide.

About Trita Parsi:

Trita Parsi has worked for the Swedish Permanent Mission to the UN in New York where he served in the Security Council handling affairs for Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan and Western Sahara, and the General Assembly’s Third Committee addressing human rights in Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Iraq. He has also served as a foreign policy advisor to Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH).

His expertise is Iranian foreign policy and US-Iran relations. His book, Treacherous Alliance - The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States, (Yale University Press 2007), is based on more than 130 interviews that Dr. Parsi has conducted - in his personal capacity - in Israel, Iran and the United States with senior officials from all three countries.

Dr. Parsi’s articles on Middle East affairs have been published in the Financial Times, Jane’s Intelligence Review, the Globalist, the Jerusalem Post, The Forward, BitterLemons and the Daily Star. 

As a Middle East expert, he is a frequent commentator on US-Iranian relations and Middle Eastern affairs, and has appeared on BBC World News, PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, Al Jazeera, C-Span, NPR, ABC, and MSNBC. 

Dr. Parsi was born in Iran and grew up in Sweden. He earned a Master’s degree in international relations at Uppsala University, a second Master’s degree in economics at Stockholm School of Economics and a PhD in international relations at Johns Hopkins University’s SAIS. His personal website is www.tritaparsi.com. To read about  National Iranian American Council (NIAC) visit www.niacouncil.org.

Iranian-American actor comedian Maz Jobrani extended his support to Stop Child Executions Campaign.  Nazanin Afshin-Jam and SCE Campaign greally appreciate Mr. Jobrani’s support of the SCE campaign and the petition:

About Maz Jobrani:

Maz Jobrani is a member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, which features some of the top Middle Eastern-American comics in the world. The Axis of Evil Comedy Central Special premiered in 2007 as the first all Middle Eastern show on American TV. The DVD was also released in 2007. The world tour continues and dates can be found at www.axisofevilcomedy

He has done standup on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn,” Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” and England’s Paramount 2 Network. He also performs standup at The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory on LA’s famous Sunset Strip as well as many top clubs in New York, including The Comedy Cellar. His routine has been featured on CNN, CBS, PBS, and NPR; as well as being highlighted in Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, The LA Times and The Wall Street Journal. His sketch comedy performances at the ACME Theater in Los Angeles were hailed as “devilishly funny” and “extraordinary” by LA Weekly.

Maz Jobrani has played many characters in film and televison such as Knights of Prosperity (ABC), Friday After Next, The Interpreter, 13 Going on 30, Maryam, Dragonfly, Season of Madness, Something Borrowed, Moonpie and Bug, Life on a Stick (FOX), 24, Life with Bonnie, Cedric and the Entertainer Presents. His numerous guest appearances include both popular comedy and dramatic series such as Malcolm in the Middle, Still Standing, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, Without a Trace, ER, Law and Order  and Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO). 

Nazanin Afshin-Jam and SCE thank Aubrey Harris for his help and contributions to the Stop Child Executions Campaign. To read more about Aubrey and other SCE volunteers visit: http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/about_us.aspx
To join SCE family of volunteers please visit: http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/joinus.aspx  

About Aubrey Harris (Amnesty International Liaison)

Born in England, Aubrey moved to Canada with his family when he was 2 years old. Aubrey lives and works in Toronto, Ontario and is the Coordinator for the Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty for Amnesty International’s Canadian Section (English-Speaking Branch). He holds an honours degree in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario and is also active with the Australian Football in Canada. In 2005 Aubrey was a member of Northwind, AFL Canada’s national football team, traveling to Australia for the International Cup. He is also a former Royal Canadian Sea Cadet who trained and worked as a medical assistant in British Columbia and achieved the ranks of Chief Petty Officer Second-Class and Regulating Petty Officer at his corps.

As the liaison with Amnesty International Canada, Aubrey works with Stop Child Executions and Amnesty International to help coordinate and communicate the efforts of both organizations to end child executions everywhere. Amnesty International works to end all forms of executions as a violation of articles 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

To date nearly 1/3 of the Swedish MP’s have signed the SCE petition against the child executions in Iran.

SCE petition has now surpassed 13,000 signatures and supported by human right activists and politicians.

Here are the team of SCE volunteers who campaign to Stop Child Executions worldwide:

There are also 100’s of supporters and organizations worldwide, without whom this campaign would not have been possible.

Thank you ALL !

A true family woman with strong morals and values, Lucy is a single mom with two sons. She lives in Warsaw Indiana and is moving through life with physical disabilities. Lucy is a humble & loving person who is admired and respected by all who know her. Lucy raised her two boy’s Zach and Chris and managed to get them thru school working at an established golf club as a Pantry Chef. Lucy’s sons are still her main focus of her life and through her own struggles and the love for her own children and her family has come to recognize the importance of the work being done by the Stop Child Executions Campaign. As a mother, Lucy is driven by the simple fact that she cannot imagine what it must be like to have a child awaiting execution. Lucy has been an active supporter of the SCE, Nazanin Fatehi and Delara Darabi campaigns on myspace. Lucy has just started a site on the ning network.

Lucy joins the SCE Campaign and brings her support, compassion & friendship to help enrich the lives of those around her and most importantly to her, to help the minors on death row and their families. Nazanin Afshin-Jam and the SCE Team welcome Lucy to our growing family. 

Lucy will be assisting SCE with campaigning efforts. 

Another long time supporter of the Stop Child Executions Campaign officially joined the SCE Camapign. SCE and Nazanin Afshin-Jam welcome Dave Ree to our family of volunteers.

Born in California, Dave grew up in Alabama where he currently makes his home.  After watching a film about Atefah Rajabi, a young girl who was executed at the age of 16 in the Islamic Republic Of Iran, he learned the story of Nazanin Fatehi, another young girl facing execution. Being deeply moved with compassion, he knew he had to do something to help in any way he could. He now campaigns.to help raise awareness and get others involved in saving the lives of Delara Darabi, Reza Alinejad and at least 72 other minors who sit on death row awaiting execution. In addition to campaigning, Dave Rea now manages the Stop Child Executions site at www.care2.com  

Stop Child Executions Campaign and Nazanin Afshin-Jam welcome another new member to our family of volunteers: