Atefeh Sahaaleh

{{Short description|Executed 16 year old Iranian citizen (1987-2004)}}

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Atefeh Rajabi Sahaaleh
{{nobold|{{lang|fa|عاطفه رجبی سهاله}}}}

| image_name = Atefeh Sahaaleh.jpg

| birth_date = September 21, 1987

| birth_place = Neka, Iran

| death_date = August 15, 2004 (aged 16)

| death_place = Neka, Iran

| conviction = Adultery and crimes against chastity

| conviction_penalty = Death by hanging

| conviction_status = Pardoned after execution

}}

Atefeh Rajabi Sahaaleh ({{langx|fa|عاطفه رجبی سهاله}}; September 21, 1987 – August 15, 2004) was an Iranian girl from the town of Neka, who was executed a week after being sentenced to death by Haji Rezai, head of Neka's court, on charges of adultery and crimes against chastity after being repeatedly raped.

Early life

Sahaaleh was born in Neka, and her family moved to Mashhad shortly after her birth. When she was a young girl, her parents separated and her mother remarried. Her mother died in a car crash when Sahaaleh was five years old. Around that same time, her younger brother was said to have drowned in a river. Her father became a drug addict, and she was forced to care for her octogenerian grandparents. Despite her attention to their needs, they were reported to have largely ignored her.{{cite web |url=https://www.iranrights.org/fa/memorial/story/-3134/atefeh-sahaleh-rajabi |script-title=fa:عاطفه سهاله رجبی |trans-title=Atefeh Sohaleh Rajabi |lang=fa |work=بنیاد عبدالرحمن برومن |trans-work=Abdul Rahman Broman Foundation}} She was described as a "lively and intelligent girl".{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Theresa Griffin |date=2013-01-12 |title=We Must Never Forget Atefeh of Iran: 'The Gypsy of Neka' |url=http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january122013/atefeh-gypsy-tg.php |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=Salem News |language=en}}

Arrests

Sahaaleh was convicted of crimes against chastity when she was 13 years old. Following a police raid, she was discovered alone in a car with a boy. She was jailed and given 100 lashes. While in prison, she was further allegedly tortured and raped by prison guards. She told her grandmother that she could only walk on all fours because of the pain.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jul/27/iran.broadcasting | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Death of a teenager |first=Monica |last=Garnsey |date=2006-07-28 | access-date=2016-12-14 | archive-date=2013-06-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623025552/http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jul/27/iran.broadcasting | url-status=live }} In the following years, she was arrested twice more for crimes against chastity, and both convictions were punished by flogging and jail time.{{cite web |url=https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/iran-the-last-executioner-of-children/ |title=Iran: The last executioner of children |work=Amnesty International |date=2011-03-26}}

In May 2003, Sahaaleh was arrested at home and charged with adultery and immorality. Authorities presented a report which they claimed supported the charges against Sahaaleh, but the only signatures on the report were police officers and other local authorities.

The judge presiding over the trial was Haji Rezai. After Rezai interrogated Sahaaleh, she confessed to being raped by Ali Darabi, a married 51-year-old ex-revolutionary guard turned taxi driver. Sahaaleh was raped repeatedly by Darabi over the previous three years.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5217424.stm |title=Programmes {{!}} Execution of a teenage girl |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-07-27 |accessdate=2012-06-08 |archive-date=2018-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929154640/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5217424.stm |url-status=live}}{{cite AV media |last=Garnsey |first=Monica (producer) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYMNiSnlz_w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/UYMNiSnlz_w |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live |title=Execution of a Teenage Girl |work=Wild Pictures |publisher=BBC |publication-date=2006-08-14 |orig-date=2006-07-27 |accessdate=2012-06-08 |section=Part 3 of 6 |via=Youtube}}{{cbignore}} When Sahaaleh realized that she was losing her case, she removed her hijab, an act seen as a severe contempt of the court, and argued that Darabi should be punished, not her. She removed her shoes and threw them at the judge.{{cite AV media |last=Garnsey |first=Monica (producer) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0joZr2LlLo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/r0joZr2LlLo |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live |title=Execution of a Teenage Girl |work=Wild Pictures |publisher=BBC |date=2006-08-14 |orig-date=2006-07-27 |accessdate=2012-06-08 |section=Part 4 of 6 |via=Youtube}}{{cbignore}} Rezai sentenced Sahaaleh to death. Her lawyer appealed to Iran's Supreme Court in Tehran, where the verdict was upheld due to Sahaaleh's confession and three prior convictions for similar offenses.

According to the BBC, the documents presented to the Supreme Court of Appeal described her as 22 years old, but her birth certificate and death certificate stated that she was 16. A witness stated that "the judge just looked at [Sahaaleh's] body, because of the developed physique ... and declared her as 22", and her father alleges that "neither the judge nor even Sahaaleh's court appointed lawyer did anything to find out her true age".

Execution

She was publicly hanged from a crane in Neka on August 15, 2004.

Sahaaleh's execution is considered controversial, in part because, as a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran promised not to execute anyone under the age of 18. According to a 2004 press release issued by Amnesty International, Sahaaleh was the tenth minor Iran had executed since 1990. They declared her execution to be a crime against humanity and against children of the world.{{cite press release |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/document/?indexNumber=mde13%2f036%2f2004&language=en |title=Iran: Amnesty International outraged at reported execution of a 16 year old girl |website=Amnesty International |access-date=2019-06-21 |archive-date=2019-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207023515/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/document/?indexNumber=mde13%2f036%2f2004&language=en |url-status=live |date=2004-08-22}}

After the execution of Sahaaleh, Iranian media reported that Judge Rezai and several militia members, including Captain Zabihi and Captain Molai, were arrested by the Intelligence Ministry.{{better source|date=June 2024|reason=The current source vaguely discusses Iranian media reports, but offers insufficient concrete details so as to locate any of these reports and cite them directly}} Pursuant to continual complaints filed by Sahaaleh's family, and heavy international pressure about her execution and the way the judge mishandled the case, the Supreme Court of Iran issued an order to posthumously pardon Sahaaleh.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

Documentaries

Sahaaleh's story was the subject of a BBC documentary produced by Wild Pictures in 2006. Monica Garnsey and Arash Sahami went undercover to document the case. It was also the subject of an hour-long Discovery Times program called Execution in Iran.{{cn|date=June 2024|reason=Sources can verify the documentary exists, but not that it's about Atefeh}}