NEW YORK, NY, Sep 11, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- The President of Iran will have to get past the "Ahmadinejad Wall of Shame" -- a visual display and demonstration across the United Nations Headquarters -- before entering the opening of the General Assembly.
The rally will run from 12-2pm on September 23rd at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (47th St. & 2nd Ave.) and feature Iranian/American groups each directly challenging Ahmadinejad on the surge in human rights abuses in Iran.
Organizing the event, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, an international human rights activist and former Miss World Canada, will lead off the line up of the "Wall of Shame" by asking: "Ahmadinejad why are you executing children?"
Nazanin's actions on behalf of the children on death row in Iran began when she was told of a young girl on her namesake that was going to be executed for stabbing one of three men who attempted to rape her. Nazanin was instrumental in saving this girl and since then has been dedicated to saving more lives.
"There has been 6 children hanged this year alone in Iran and over 130 children on death row awaiting execution," said Nazanin Afshin-Jam, President and co-founder of the Stop Child Executions (SCE) organization.
"While the UN legitimizes Ahmadinejad as the leader of Iran by having the door open to him at the General Assembly, the Iranian people feel betrayed by the false representation. In face of the west's obsession with Iran's nuclear development, the voices of the Iranian people have been stifled and human rights abuses have been overshadowed. This 'Wall of Shame' demonstration is hoping to give a 'voice to the voiceless' and address the concerns of the vast majority of Iranian people who believe in a united, secular, democratic Iran based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and no military intervention on Iran," said Nazanin.
Groups and individuals participating in the "Wall of Shame" demonstration include those who have faced oppression under the current regime such as women under gender apartheid, students who have been imprisoned and tortured and ethnic and religious minorities who have been persecuted. Focus will also be given to other human rights atrocities in Iran including stoning to death, dismembering of limbs, and throwing people from heights as methods of punishment.
Nazanin states, "The government of Iran cannot on the one hand expect the international community to trust its leaders with nuclear energy while it openly disregards the most basic internationally recognized child rights conventions such as the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Charter of the Rights of the Child (CRC) to which it is state party."
Stop Child Executions invites all media and the general public to join this demonstration for Human Rights. SCE will release the latest list of minors facing the death penalty, and an 8 part plan of recommendations addressed to Iran's heads of state, Parliament, Judiciary, United Nations and international community which will also be made available on the http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/ website following the rally.
For Further information or an interview with Nazanin Afshin-Jam please contact Leslie Taylor at Big Machine Media at 212-572-0760 or leslie@bigmachinemedia.com.
Stop Child Executions is the leading organization providing information and updates on the situation of minors on death row in Iran. It is a volunteer based, independent, non-political human rights group whose aim is to put a permanent end to child executions in Iran and abroad.
http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/
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