Ok, this is not new. Everybody knows this Islamic Republic loves to be as Islamic as it gets. That includes to execute gay teenagers. Crime: to be homosexual.
Let's write today about a famous hanging of July 2005. A lot of hangings took place before and after this one (on August 28, 2005 it happened another one), but this is just an example of what happens in Iran.
Two gay Iranian teenagers - one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed on July 19th 2005 for the "crime" of homosexuality. The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), reported the execution and provided the pictures of the teens' last moments you can see on this page.
The two youths - identified only by their initials as M.A. and A.M., were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, on the orders of Court No. 19. Consensual gay sex in any form is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Teenagers admitted having gay sex (probably under torture) but claimed in their defense that most young boys had sex with each other and that they were not aware that homosexuality was punishable by death. 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.
The Iranian authorities were putting out a cover story that the two boys had participated in the rape of a 13-year-old, but this accusation was entirely trumped up by the religious authorities who control the legal system and has no basis in fact.
In Iran homosexuality is illegal, those charged with love-making ar
e 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 shall be punished by 100 lashes for each offender.
This act 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.
According to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979. In August 2004, a 16-year-old girl, Atefeh Rajabi, was hanged for having sex before marriage, which is, according to Iranian law, an "act incompatible with chastity".
Meanwhile, in Europe...
Swedish Public Radio, 2006
«Sweden has again started expelling Iranian homosexuals seeking asylum here – ending the freeze which went into effect after the public hangings of 2 teen-age gays in Iran over a year ago.
Swedish migration authorities say they are basing their decision on reports from the Swedish Embassy in Teheran which claim that homosexuals risk no dangers there – as long as they are discrete.
Swedish gay activists and the Swedish section of the global human rights organization, Amnesty International, sharply criticize this line as cynical – asking if other categories of persecuted refugees are being denied asylum here with the argument that they should go home and simply avoid detection by the regimes.»
Think about this... I'm waitting for comments.
The report about the hangings was obtained from DIRELAND.
More information:
OutRage report (in English)
Iran Focus news (in English)
The National Council of Resistance of Iran report (in English)
Two gay Iranian teenagers - one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed on July 19th 2005 for the "crime" of homosexuality. The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), reported the execution and provided the pictures of the teens' last moments you can see on this page.The two youths - identified only by their initials as M.A. and A.M., were hanged in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, on the orders of Court No. 19. Consensual gay sex in any form is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Teenagers admitted having gay sex (probably under torture) but claimed in their defense that most young boys had sex with each other and that they were not aware that homosexuality was punishable by death. 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.
The Iranian authorities were putting out a cover story that the two boys had participated in the rape of a 13-year-old, but this accusation was entirely trumped up by the religious authorities who control the legal system and has no basis in fact.
In Iran homosexuality is illegal, those charged with love-making ar
e 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 shall be punished by 100 lashes for each offender.This act 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.
According to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979. In August 2004, a 16-year-old girl, Atefeh Rajabi, was hanged for having sex before marriage, which is, according to Iranian law, an "act incompatible with chastity".
Meanwhile, in Europe...
Swedish Public Radio, 2006
«Sweden has again started expelling Iranian homosexuals seeking asylum here – ending the freeze which went into effect after the public hangings of 2 teen-age gays in Iran over a year ago.
Swedish migration authorities say they are basing their decision on reports from the Swedish Embassy in Teheran which claim that homosexuals risk no dangers there – as long as they are discrete.
Swedish gay activists and the Swedish section of the global human rights organization, Amnesty International, sharply criticize this line as cynical – asking if other categories of persecuted refugees are being denied asylum here with the argument that they should go home and simply avoid detection by the regimes.»
Think about this... I'm waitting for comments.
The report about the hangings was obtained from DIRELAND.
More information:
OutRage report (in English)
Iran Focus news (in English)
The National Council of Resistance of Iran report (in English)
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