NEW YORK CITY—Former Miss Canada and 2003 Miss World First Runner-up Nazanin Afshin Jan was awarded a humanitarian Hero Award from the Youth for Human Rights International Organization last Friday. The award was given to her for her efforts to use her star-power and draw attention to save the life of an 18 year old girl with the same name as hers.
Accepting the award at the United Nations from host and one-time Academy Award nominee, Anne Archer, Nazanin has taken advantage of the spotlight from her pageant days and has been a spokesperson for many charitable and human rights organizations.
Although this already makes for a well merited and respected record of moral and civil duty, Nazanin went a step further with her efforts to get media attention for Nazanin Fatehi. Fatehi is an 18 year old Iranian girl convicted of murder in Iran. She was sentenced to death in early 2006 after stabbing one of three men attempting to rape her and her 15 year old cousin in a park in Karaj, Iran.
Sometime after the conviction and sentence Nazanin Afshin Jan came onto the scene.
"There was a gentleman from Iran who read the story about Nazanin Fatehi in a Persian publication," Afshin Jan said, "and he went online to find out more about Nezanin Fatahi and ended up stumbling upon my website."
"He told me this story… And I was shocked and horrified of the injustice that a young girl [then] 17 years old could be treated as a criminal rather than a victim of attempted rape."
Afshin Jan, an Iranian born Canadian who resides in Vancouver, left Iran with her family amidst the Islamic Revolution. She is no stranger to human rights abuses: her father was jailed and tortured shortly before they fled the country.
"Beauty with a Purpose"
After completing her studies at the University of British Columbia, she continued her education at the prestigious L'institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and the International Study Center at Herstmonceaux Castle in England. After graduating, Nazanin began to live her motto: "Beauty with a purpose."
"My role as Miss World Canada in 2003 and runner up to Miss World… that's what ultimately gave me a platform to talk about human rights and humanitarian issues."
Upon hearing of Fatehi's sentence, Afshin Jan took action right away.
"I contacted Amnesty International, verified the facts, started a petition… slowly that grew and got media attention, and from then on [I] just started lobbying all the different organizations I could to support this case." As a result of her efforts in the "Save Nazanin Campaign," Nazanin Afshin Jan has effectively drawn enough attention and diplomatic and international support to pressure the Iranian government to stall the execution and give the young Nazanin Fatehi a new trial.
The upcoming re-trial is set for Wednesday, August 30th, yet Afshin Jan has no intention of giving up.
"Nazanin is a symbol of a greater human rights problem in Iran. And a general lack of women's rights there as well, so, no matter what happens, I am going to continue speaking on behalf of women, human rights and humanitarian issues!" '[Fortunately] we have been able to find a very good lawyer for her… very well known Iranian feminist and journalist lawyer Shadi Sadr. And we are hoping for the best," Afshin concluded.
Her passion for human rights also shows in her singing career: she now has a music album with a single titled "Someday." Her album is scheduled for release in October 2006.
"It speaks of hope: a hope for change and basically that the darkness will fade away…and we will see a progressive revolution. I am very hopeful: I know some people are skeptical but I see so much strength from the Iranian youth who want change from within, who want liberty, who understand their freedoms, who are on the Internet constantly learning about these things; it's just a matter of time before the youth will gather on the streets of Iran and bring about a change."
Her dreams may appear extraordinary, but Nazanin Afshin Jan shows no signs of giving up.
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