Iran. The darling of the West's enemies.

[zoofer]

Canadian beauty queen tries to save life of woman in Iran
Sat. 08 Apr 2006
VANCOUVER, Canada, April 8, 2006 (AFP) - A Canadian beauty queens campaign to save the life of an Iranian teenager is drawing worldwide interest, with more than 7,000 people signing a petition.
The petition, addressed to the United Nations and the Islamic Republic of Iran, asks that the death sentence of a young woman named Nazanin be commuted.
Amnesty International has said the woman was 17 when she "reportedly admitted stabbing to death one of three men who attempted to rape her and her 16-year-old niece in a park in Karaj in March 2005."
Now 18, Nazanin was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging.
Amnesty International and human rights workers in the case said they have been unable to contact her family or lawyers, and do not know if legal appeals are scheduled.
"It is a horrific story, and her name being Nazanin shocked me," said Nazanin Afshin-Jam, who came as a baby with her refugee family to this western Canadian city, fleeing Irans revolution.
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The petition notes that when Iranian women like Nazanin are threatened with rape, they "are caught between two undesirable options. On one hand, Iranian Penal Code severely limits the possibility of using 'self-defense' as a legitimate defence to aggression."
"On the other hand, if Nazanin had allowed the rape to take place, she could still be imprisoned, flogged or stoned for having sex outside of marriage unless four male witnesses to the actual rape would testify on her behalf."
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http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6658

America's enemies see nothing wrong with this.

 

[tracy]

It is absolutely disgusting. I can't stand the way some countries treat rape victims. Anyone with an ounce of common sense can't possibly think that a woman is guilty of sex if she can't produce 4 male witnesses to her rape.

 

[zoofer]

Iran arrests International Women’s Day marchers
Wed. 08 Mar 2006
Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Mar. 08 – Hundreds of women gathered Wednesday afternoon in Tehran’s Laleh Park and took part in a demonstration against the Iranian government on the occasion of International Women’s Day, according to eye-witnesses.

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Many carried placards reading “Women demand freedom and equality” and “End censorship”.
Bystanders came to the aid of the women, some of whom were badly beaten by the agents of the security forces.

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6147

Nothing wrong with treating women like crap huh?

 

[zoofer]

300,000 homeless women in Iran capital – report
Thu. 02 Mar 2006
Iran Focus
Tehran, Iran, Mar. 02 – There are currently over 300,000 homeless women roaming the streets of the Iranian capital Tehran, according to a government expert.
The latest figure was announced by Amanollah Qaraei-Moqaddam, a long-time social analyst, in an interview with the state-run news agency ILNA.
Qaraei-Moqaddam blamed the economy instability and families’ financial perils as causes of the high figure.
One contributing factor to the high level of homeless women roaming the streets was that women were being “marketed”, he said.
He added that the average prostituting age was between 11 to 17 years of age.
“The reason for this is the very large number of street-girls who entered the prostitution market because of being orphans, maltreated, losing a parent, psychological torment, or restrictions placed on them by their families”, Qaraei-Moqaddam said.

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6033

Oh Hum.
With Sharia law all the guy has to do is say Taliq three times and he is divorced. She is SOL and has nothing, on the street.

 

[zoofer]

Iran police prevent women from watching football match
Thu. 02 Mar 2006
Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Mar. 02 – Iran’s State Security Forces attacked female football fans in Tehran on Wednesday after they held a defiant protest against the government decision to ban women from football stadiums.
Dozens of young women, who had bought tickets and hoped to cheer on their national team, were all banned from entering Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. The ban has been in force for years, but a few dozen women have challenged it in recent months. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hard-line government recently decided to enforce the ban more strongly.
After being refused entry into the stands, the women organised a demonstration outside the stadium and quickly brought to the scene banners which read, “Azadi Stadium: 100,000 men-only arena” and “We also want to cheer on our national team”
They were immediately threatened with arrest by police who had been placed on standby.
Within minutes, the security forces started to attack the teenage girls and young women. They were all forced into a bus and driven away.
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6016

...and these nutters want nukes!

 

[Toro]

July 21, 2005
IRAN EXECUTES 2 GAY TEENAGERS (updated)

Update August 14: While the following post is a bit dated, it is still relevant. However, subsequent information received from Iran since the post below was written indicates that the charge of "rape" against the two teens was entirely trumped up by the religious authorities who control the legal system and has no basis in fact. Moreover, we have received word of two more hangings of a gay couple scheduled in Iran for August 28. So, to be up-to-date on where this story stands, make sure you check out the update links at the end of this post, as well as my latest post on the two new scheduled executions of gays in Iran. And watch this blog for continuing coverage of the new wave of anti-gay repression in Iran, as we are continuing to work this story from Iranian sources and will be posting more news from Iran as reliable information is received and confirmed.

. Two gay Iranian teenagers -- one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed this week for the "crime" of homosexuality, Irangay_teens the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported on July 19. (The ISNA report is in Farsi, and was translated into English by the British gay rights group OutRage!, which released its report today--ISNA also provided the terrifying photos of the teens' last moments you see on this page. You can see an enlarged version of each photo by left-clicking on them) The two youths -- identified only by their initials as M.A. and A.M., were hanged on July 19 in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, on the orders of Court No. 19. The hanging of the teens was also reported by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

And the website Iran Focus not only confirms the story but provides more details, reporting that "Members of Iran’s parliament from the north-eastern city of Mashad, where a minor and an 18-year-old man were publicly hanged yesterday, vented their anger on Wednesday on foreign and domestic news outlets for reporting the ages of hanged prisoners...Ultra-conservative deputy Ali Asgari said that the two deserved to be hanged in public, adding, 'Whatever sentence is decreed by an Islamic penal system must be approved, unless proven otherwise.' Asgari complained of foreign and domestic reporting that the two were mere boys. 'Instead of paying tribute to the action of the judiciary, the media are mentioning the age of the hanged criminals and creating a commotion that harms the interests of the state,' the member of the Majlis Legal Affairs Committee said. 'Even if certain websites made a reference to their age, journalists should not pursue this. These individuals were corrupt. Their sentence was carried out with the approval of the judiciary and it served them right.' "

Consensual gay sex in any form is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the website Age of Consent, which monitors such laws around the world, in Iran "Homosexuality is illegal, those charged with love-making Irangay_teens_2 are given a choice of four deathstyles: being hanged, stoned, halved by a sword, or dropped from the highest perch. According to Article 152, if two men not related by blood are discovered naked under one cover without good reason, both will be punished at a judge's discretion. Gay teens (Article 144) are also punished at a judge's discretion. Rubbing one's penis between the thighs without penetration (tafheed) shall be punished by 100 lashes for each offender. This act, known to the English-speaking world as 'frottage,' is punishable by death if the 'offender' is a non-Muslim. If frottage is thrice repeated and penalty-lashes have failed to stop such repetitions, upon the fourth 'offense' both men will be put to death. According to Article 156, a person who repents and confesses his gay behavior prior to his identification by four witnesses, may be pardoned. Even kissing 'with lust' (Article 155) is forbidden. This bizarre law works to eliminate old Persian male-bonding customs, including common kissing and holding hands in public." And Outrage, in its release about the gay teens' execution, noted that, "according to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979. Last August, a 16-year-old girl , [Atefeh Rajabi] was hanged [in the Caspian port of Neka] for 'acts incompatible with chastity,' [i.e., sex before marriage]."

In the case of the two teens hanged in Mashhad, Irangay_teens_3 "They admitted having gay sex (probably under torture) but claimed in their defense that most young boys had sex with each other and tdhat they were not aware that homosexuality was punishable by death," according to the ISNA report as translated by OutRage. "Prior to their execution, the gay teenagers were held in prison for 14 months and severely beaten with 228 lashes. The length of their detention suggests that they committed the so-called offenses more than a year earlier, when they were possibly around the age of 16."

"Ruhollah Rezazadeh, the lawyer of the younger of the two boys, had appealed that he was too young to be executed and that the court should take into account his tender age (believed to be 16 or 17). But the Supreme Court in Tehran Ordered him to be hanged." As a state party to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offence committed when they were under the age of 18 -- which means that by hanging the two youths Iran is in violation of international law.The Iranian authorities are putting out a cover story that the two boys had participated in the rape of a 13-year-old, but OutRage affirms from its sources that this accusation is a smokescreen for inhuman conduct and is without foundation. However, the Murdoch press (e.g., the Times of London) is putting about the Iranian government's story as a virtual statement of fact. But there is no mention of this Iranian government accusation in the original ISNA report, otherwise quite detailed.-- which rather suggests it's a recent invention. Furthermore, it is hardly surprising that, at the very moment at which Iran is engaged in the most delicate negotiation with the Western powers over nuclear materials -- the outcome of which will have a profound impact on the Iranian economy --the Iranian government, when caught in a heinous act of barbarity that is also a violation of Iran's commitments under international law -- should try to find a new excuse for the inexcusable. (Make sure to read the latest updates since this post was written, which indicate to a near certainty that the "rape" charge was fictitious and invented by the religious authorities -- see update links below).

Left-click on the third photo above and look at the enlarged version, which shows the younger of the two adolescents weeping as he's carried off in a police van to the end of his young life. Then, if you would like to protest the barbaric hanging of these two lads to whom nature gave same-sex hearts, follow the suggestion of the Human Rights Campaign which -- citing this blog -- has written to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice demanding that she formally protest these executions, which you should do as well. If you want to protest directly to the Iranian government, be aware that, while the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Iran, there is an Iranian embassy in Canada. You may write, telephone, or fax the Iranian ambassador in Canada:Ambassador Seyed Mouhammad Ali Moosavi, Embassy of Iran, 245 Metcalfe St., Ottawa, Ontario .K2P 2K2 Canada Telephone (OO1-613- 235-4726, 233-4726; Fax, 233-5712

UPDATE JULY 27: For a commentary on the controversy over the hangings and the "rape" charge since the above was published, see my article for the Gay City News, which you can read by clicking here. UPDATE AUGUST 11: New reports from inside Iran and inside Mashad, where the boys were executed, strongly challenge the validity of the charge of "rape" for which the Iranian government claims the boys were hanged, and it is now virtually certain that the "rape" charge was invented by the religious authorities who control the legal system -- to read about these new reports from inside Iran, see the article I wrote for Gay City News -- the largest gay weekly in New York City -- by clicking here. Furthermore, as the new wave of anti-gay repression in Iran snowballs, we have received reports of two new Iranian executions of gays which are scheduled to take place in the city of Arak on August 28. For news of these new death sentences for homosexuality in Iran, click here. UPDATE AUGUST 17: For the Latest from Inside Iran as the Pace of the Deadly Anti-Gay Crackdown Steps Up, click here.

Posted by Doug Ireland at 08:20 AM

 

[I think not]

Rhetorical question, what does the west do in a situation like this? Do we sit idly by condemning these actions from the comfort of our keybaords, or do we do something about it? I know Human Rights Watch "condemned" this, so now what?

 

[darkbeaver]

RE: Iran. The darling of

Human Rights Watch has condemned the US for torture and other human rights violations, you sit at your keyboard for those whats got you motivated now.

 

[I think not]

No way to defend the undefendable Darkbeaver so you resort to diversionary tactics right? Impress me, do something different.

 

[darkbeaver]

RE: Iran. The darling of

ITN our relationship has grown over the weeks into what I like to think of as mutual revulsion, and that's not a bad thing really, the forces of good faced with the forces of bad will always react the way we do, I'm so happy that I represent the forces of good.

 

[I think not]

With us or against us mentality DB? You sound like those you condemn, can't even keep your ideology in order.

 

[darkbeaver]

RE: Iran. The darling of

It's called flexability ITN.

 

[I think not]

Re: RE: Iran. The darling of

It's called flexability ITN.

It's called hypocrisy Darkbeaver.

 

[cortezzz]

you do represent the forces of good beaver
but ITN isnt evil--- there still is that very lucid interterpretation of latin american history that makes me realize he can be converted--

theres nothing to defendable in those stories about iran--
its just that its obvious that they are being used to vilify a society with which they are soon going to war with
the right wing doesnt give a dick about those victims---- they are not worthy of worthy victim status unless its suits the right wing--
so they can go ahead and perform even greater crimes with self righteous impunity
when amnesty complains about these type of injustices in US freindly fascist states-- they are brushed off as---
cold war related
or -- hey cortezz wake up there is no morality


ITN -- just finished lecturing me on how there is morality between nation states---in order to negate any ethical argumments against war i might have

and here he is 2 hour later telling us that THERE IS A MORALITY-- and the iranians are breaking it---- how convenient

 

[zoofer]

He thinks embarrassing terrorists at Abu Ghraib is the same as hanging innocent teenagers.

 

[I think not]

Re: RE: Iran. The darling of the West's enemies.

ITN -- just finished lecturing me on how there is morality between nation states---in order to negate any ethical argumments against war i might have

and here he is 2 hour later telling us that THERE IS A MORALITY-- and the iranians are breaking it---- how convenient

And that is precisely the point I was trying to make, how moral are we when we sit back and do nothing? Morality doesn't exist in the form of........ tsk tsk tsk, how terrible! If a crime was being commited in your neighborhood, would you let it happen? Some of you proclaim to be "world citizens", why do you let this happen half way around the world and do nothing about it?

 

[cortezzz]

No way to defend the undefendable Darkbeaver so you resort to diversionary tactics right? Impress me, do something different.

hypocrasy is to hate to say it-- your speciality
ill use your logic

ITNs theory---
there is no morality between nation states

by extension the iranians have their laws and you have theirs

why the sudden change of heart about morality ITN

you know i have a theory about your lucidity concerninng latin america
someone close to you is from that part of the world
if that true its done you a world of good-- no joke-- at least its one part of the world you understand

and again-- why did you moralize about latin america being wronged by the US-- if there is no ethical law that nation states can break

you are full fundamental inconsistencies

your all tangled up

 

[I think not]

hypocrasy is to hate to say it-- your speciality
ill use your logic

ITNs theory---
there is no morality between nation states

by extension the iranians have their laws and you have theirs

why the sudden change of heart about morality ITN

you know i have a theory about your lucidity concerninng latin america
someone close to you is from that part of the world
if that true its done you a world of good-- no joke-- at least its one part of the world you understand

and again-- why did you moralize about latin america being wronged by the US-- if there is no ethical law that nation states can break

you are full fundamental inconsistencies

your all tangled up

Well wrong again cortezzz, I don't know anyone in Latin America, but apparently you can't make the break to what I am trying to convey to you, you are wrapped up in your own version of morality. I never said I have no morals, I said nation states have no morals, can you tell the difference? I think not.

 

[cortezzz]

Re: RE: Iran. The darling of the West's enemies.

ITN -- just finished lecturing me on how there is morality between nation states---in order to negate any ethical argumments against war i might have

and here he is 2 hour later telling us that THERE IS A MORALITY-- and the iranians are breaking it---- how convenient

And that is precisely the point I was trying to make, how moral are we when we sit back and do nothing? Morality doesn't exist in the form of........ tsk tsk tsk, how terrible! If a crime was being commited in your neighborhood, would you let it happen? Some of you proclaim to be "world citizens", why do you let this happen half way around the world and do nothing about it?

we are more concerned with the much graver crimes being commited by your nation state--
crimes global in scale
tsk tsk

 

[I think not]

Re: RE: Iran. The darling of the West's enemies.

we are more concerned with the much graver crimes being commited by your nation state--
crimes global in scale
tsk tsk

Too bad cortezzz, for a moment I thought you actually had the desire to converse with some plain old common sense and reason. I was mistaken.