URGENT: Execution of Sakineh Ashtiani Believed to be Imminent: 5 Things You Should Do NOW

According to recent media reports, the Islamic Republic is once again preparing to execute Sakineh Ashtiani.

We ask all concerned individuals to take the following urgent actions:

1) Contact your State Department or Foreign Ministry (addresses below) with the following message:
I demand that this government exert the utmost diplomatic pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran to:

a) prevent the execution of Sakineh Ashtiani, and
b) secure the immediate and unconditional freedom of Sakineh Ashtiani and her lawyer, Houtan Kian.

I specifically request direct economic sanctions against the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran regime. They are are all – from the executives, lawmakers, judiciary, to the IRGC and beyond – criminals and murderers. They should be dealt with as such.

Sincerely,
[your name]

Contact information for Foreign Ministries and the US State Department:
kab.bz@diplobel.fed.be; info@mvp.gov.ba; iprd@mfa.government.bg; imprensa@itamaraty.gov.br; ministar@mvpei.hr; minforeign1@mfa.gov.cy; michael.spindelegger@bmeia.gv.at; udenrigsministeren@um.dk; vminfo@vm.ee; umi@formin.fi; alain.juppe@diplomatie.gouv.fr; inform@mfa.gov.ge;
guido.westerwelle@auswaertiges-amt.de; gpapandreou@parliament.gr; titkarsag.konz@kum.hu; external@utn.stjr.is; minister@dfa.ie;gabinetto@cert.esteri.it; podatelna@mzv.cz; segreteria.frattini@esteri.it; mfa.cha@mfa.gov.lv; tonio.borg@gov.mt; secdep@mfa.md; post@mfa.no; DNZPC.Sekretariat@msz.gov.pl; ministro@mne.gov.pt; senec@mne.gov.pt; pm@pm.gov.pt; miguel.moratinos@maec.es; registrator@foreign.ministry.se; info@eda.admin.ch; msp@mfa.rs

Netherlands Foreign Ministry – web form to contact Uri Rosenthal is currently down; please call or fax: Telephone: +31 70 3486486
Fax: + 31 70 3484848

CONTACT FORM: US Department of State

2) Contact Alain Juppé, the Foreign Minister of France (alain.juppe@diplomatie.gouv.fr), with the following message asking France to be the first to close the doors to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic in France:

Dear Mr. Juppé,
It has come to my attention that the Islamic Republic once again is threatening to execute Sakineh Ashtiani. If the Islamic Republic executes Sakineh Ashtiani, I urge the French government to close the doors to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in France.

The honorable people of France, and in particular the women of France, have shown their broad and consistent support for Sakineh Ashtiani and her family; Carla Bruni Sarkozy has publicly advocated in Sakineh’s defense, and drawn a slanderous response from the Islamic regime for doing so; and France’s President Sarkozy has taken it as his personal duty to defend Sakineh Ashtiani.

France should take the international lead in closing the regime’s embassy in Paris. It is the only appropriate diplomatic response to the Islamic Republic regime’s ongoing perpetration of human rights atrocities.
Sincerely,
[your name]

3) Send this sample letter (available in ENG, DE & FR) to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, and encourage everyone you know to do the same. [ SAMPLE LETTER ] Contact addresses to send to: inquiries@un.org, npillay@ohchr.org, urgent-action@ohchr.org

4) Fill out the contact form for UN Women to
a) demand a UN resolution to criminalize stoning, and
b) to demand immediate expulsion from the UN Commission on the Status of Women of the Islamic Republic of Iran and all other states whose authority is dependent on gender apartheid and violence against women.

If Sakineh is executed, the UN will be held responsible for its refusal to act or even issue a strong statement against the execution of Sakineh Ashtiani.

5) If the Islamic Republic executes Sakineh Ashtiani, regardless of how they implement the murder (stoning or hanging), people living near offices and embassies of the Islamic Republic should immediately deposit a pile of stones (painted red if possible) in front of the door or gate to the regime’s office or embassy. If feasible, tape photos and/or posters of Sakineh to the doors, windows, gates, etc.

We and all humanity thank you for your urgent action in this matter.