SHAHLA MOHAMMADI

 News Center- A series of mass executions of political prisoners was carried out by Iranian officials in the 1980s. Ema Delforno, an Italian human rights activist set herself on fire in Treviso, a city in Italy, to protest the execution of Iranian teenagers.

Activist Bessi Shamari heard the story of Ema Delforno when she visited Italy. In Italy, she met Ema Delforno’s daughter Elena to learn more about her mother. Elene told the story of her mother.

 Ema Delforno was a human rights activist and a member of Amnesty International. She was the mother of three daughters named Elena, Claudia and Giuliano. Ema Delforno read the execution of political prisoners and teenagers in Rojhalat (Kurdistan in Iran) and Iran from local newspapers in Italy. When she read the stories of the teenagers, who were executed in Iran, she thought of her daughters. Just reading the stories became unbearable for her. So, she decided to hold a protest in order to make the execution of children in Iran heard.

Every day, she held a sit-in in front of a local newspaper in Treviso by carrying a banner and photographs of the executed children in Iran. However, her protest was ignored by human rights organizations and official organizations.

She set herself on fire like a phoenix

In December 1981, she set herself on fire like a phoenix in Treviso to save children, who would be executed in Iran. One of the passers-by saw Ema and threw her into a water well.

Seriously injured Ema Delforno was taken to a hospital in the city and her family members were not allowed to see her. “We were very young and did not know what was going on. My father told us that we could not see our mother. Our grandmother took the responsibility of taking care of us. After a while, we received letters from all over the world. Many people called us every day. People told us that our mother was a hero. But we did not understand why our mother was a hero.”

‘She became my hero

After years, Elena and her sisters could see their mother at hospital. Their mother was wrapped in bandages. Elena and her sisters were happy to see their mother again although what they saw was very painful.

“When I heard the story of my mother, she became my hero,” said Elena, who is now a journalist and human rights activist like her mother. “I work as a journalist to make the voices of oppressed people and stop the execution of children in Iran and other countries.”

Now, Ema Delforno is the hero not only of her daughters, but also of all women, who resist in the streets and prisons by chanting the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Women, Life, Freedom) slogan.