Boys executed for being gay
On Monday 19 July, Mahmoud Asgari aged 16 and Ayaz Marhoni aged 18 were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad, in north east Iran.The teenagers admitted to having gay sex, probably under torture, but claimed in their defence that their crime was common and they were not aware it was punishable by death. The Islamic fundamentalist regime in Iran enforces Sharia law, which dictates the death penalty for gay sex: variously including hanging, stoning, beheading or dropping from a high place like a tall building or cliff-top.Prior to their execution, the teenage boys were held in prison for 14 months and severely beaten. Their length of detention suggests that they committed the so-called offences more than a year earlier, when Mahmoud was 15 and Ayaz was 17. In other words, both youths were minors at the time of the offence. Ruhollah Rezazadeh, the lawyer of the youngest boy (16), had appealed that he was too young to be executed and that the court should take into account his tender age. He was quoted by the IRIN news agency as saying that the judiciary had trampled on its own laws, explaining that the Iranian courts usually commute death sentences on children to five year jail. Despite his pleas, the Supreme Court in Tehran ordered Mahmoud to be hanged. Under the Iranian penal code, girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 can be hanged.The allegation that the boys raped a 13 year old may be a trumped up charge to undermine public sympathy for the youths. The Iranian regime often resorts to smears and false allegations to discredit people it has executed and to undermine human rights campaigns.It could be that the 13 year old was a willing participant but that Iranian law (like the laws of many western nations) deems that no person aged 13 is capable of sexual consent and that therefore even consensual sexual contact is automatically deemed in law to be statutory rape."Iran is a fascist-style tyranny based on a fundamentalist version of Islam. We join with progressive Muslims to denounce the fundamentalists and to support democratic and left Iranians striving to topple the Ayatollahs.""Without an end to the fundamentalist regime, there can never be justice for LGBT people, women, trade unionists and minority religions and nationalities in Iran." "The lack of liberal and left support for the victims of the Iranian tyranny is truly shocking. We deplore the absence of international solidarity with Iranians fighting for freedom," concluded Mr Lock."We are not prepared to give the violently homophobic Iranian government the benefit of the doubt. It has previously lied to justify public executions. In any case, the death penalty is a disproportionate punishment. It is barbaric and should be abolished," added Mr Isalam.The use of torture is routine in Iran. These two boys were violently abused in prison, receiving more than 200 lashes. "Three other young gay Iranians are being hunted by the police in connection with the same so-called crime. They have gone into hiding and cannot be found. If caught, they will probably also face execution", said Mr Saeed. Five cities in the US and Europe will stage protests against the execution of two teenage boys in Iran on charges involving homosexual acts.Dublin, San Francisco, London, Paris and Montpelier will join forces on Thursday 11 August 2005 to oppose Iran's use of the death penalty and its persecution of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. The London protest will be from 1pm to 2pm held at the Embassy of Iran, 16 Prince's Gate, London SW7 (near the Royal Albert Hall, by the junction of Kensington Road and Exhibition Road) Fact: Iran executes lesbians and gays. The Iranian government has executed 4,000 homosexuals since 1979, according to estimates in the mid-1990s by the exiled Iranian gay rights group, Homan. Fact: The Iranian government often pins false charges on the victims of its murderous policies in order to discredit them and discourage public protests.
Tel: 020 7225 3000
Fax: 020 7589 4440
info@iran-embassy.org.uk
Iranian AmbassadorEmbassy of Iran
16 Prince's GateLondon SW7 1PT
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And this is the world we live in... =/
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