Islamo-fascists witch-hunt queers in defiance of human rights norms.
London – 14 November 2005
Two more young men were hanged in a public square in Iran after being found guilty of “lavat” (a homosexual relationship), according to reports in the semi-official daily newspaper, Kayhan, on 13 November.
The two men, identified only as Mokhtar N. and Ali A., were aged respectively 24 and 25 years old.
They were hanged in public in Shahid Bahonar Square in the northern city of Gorgan.
The newspaper said the “criminal past” of the two young men included kidnapping and rape, but the press report made it clear that the “crime” for which they were hanged was “lavat”, which means sex between men or sodomy.
Human rights groups point out that Iran often pins false charges of rape, kidnapping, spying, alcoholism and adultery on people it executes, in order to minimise public sympathy for the victims and discourage public protests.
The UK LGBT human rights group OutRage! is urging people to email protests to the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:
The previous execution of two teenagers, in July for same-sex acts in the city of Mashhad, provoked an international outcry.
The hard-line government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to follow a tougher line on the implementation of Islamic law in Iran, including a clampdown on behaviour that is deemed immoral and western influenced.
Under Iran’s Islamic penal code, homosexuality between consenting adults is a capital crime. Police entrap gay men via internet chat rooms; making rendezvous and then arresting them. Private parties are also raided.
Iranian LGBT human rights groups estimate that 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollah’s seized power in 1979.
The killing of LGBTs is just a small fragment of the mass murder perpetrated by the Islamist regime in Iran. In total, nearly 100,000 Iranians are believed to have been killed by the Ayatollahs, including unchaste women, apostates, trade unionists, communists, journalists, students, and leaders of minority nationalities and religions.
“These executions are merely the latest in a blood-stained trail of homophobic murder and mayhem perpetrated by the tyrants in Tehran,” said Brett Lock of the LGBT human rights group OutRage!, which campaigns in solidarity with Iranian LGBTs and dissidents.
“Iran is a fascist-style tyranny based on a fundamentalist version of Islam. We join with progressive Muslims to denounce the theocrats and to support democratic and left Iranians who are striving to bring down the Ayatollahs.
“OutRage! supports the struggle of the Iranian people against clerical dictatorship and for democracy and human rights,” said Mr Lock.
His OutRage! colleague, Peter Tatchell, added:
“Without an end to the fundamentalist regime, there can never be justice for gay people, women, trade unionists and minority religions and nationalities.
“The precondition for gay rights and human rights in Iran is the overthrow of the Islamo-fascist regime – not by western invasion, but by international aid to help the Iranian people liberate themselves. The failure of liberals and the left to support the Iranian struggle for democracy is one of the great betrayals of our age.
“We urge the international community to treat Iran as a pariah state, break off diplomatic relations, impose trade sanctions and give practical support to the democratic and left opposition inside Iran,” concluded Mr Tatchell.