Two more gay Iranians may be executed. Protest, damn it! (Warning: Graphic Photos)

[Sapphocrat]

I dare anyone to call me an anti-Semite "beating the drums of war" against Iran (it's happened before) for posting this:

Petition for the lives of Hamzeh and Loghman: two young gay men who are in love

by Matteo Pegoraro - EveryOne Group ( matteo.pegoraro everyonegroup.com )
Sunday Jan 27th, 2008 3:26 PM

Petition for the lives of Hamzeh and Loghman: two young gay men who are in love and who risk the death sentence in Iran. ...

Sign it at http://www.petitiononline.com/irangay/petition.html and spread it as more as possible

. . .

The Islamic Republic of Iran is persecuting homosexuals, dissidents and free thinkers, and carrying out political crimes towards them.

Homosexual relationships in Iran are considered a crime liable to sadistic corporal punishment and the death sentence. On January 23rd, 2008, Hamzeh Chavi and Loghman Hamzehpour, two homosexual young men of 18 and 19, were arrested in Sardasht, in Iranian Azerbaijan. The authorities use physical and psychological torture to obtain confessions from people who fall into their hands, and the two young men admitted to being in love and having a relationship. Their confession was enough for the Islamic court to commit them to trial with two very serious charges: Mohareb, the crime of those who are "enemies of Allah" and Lavat, sodomy. Iranian criminal law envisages the gallows for homosexuals, who are considered "enemies of Allah".

Nevertheless, there are many moderate political and religious figures in Iran who would like to change things and prevent the loss of so many innocent lives. The majority of Iranians are against the horrors of capital punishment through hanging and stoning; only a few extremists believe torture and flogging are admissible methods. The clandestine human rights movements are fighting heroically against these barbaric practices, risking their own lives in an effort to build a better Iran, a country in which minorities are respected and human life becomes a value once more. Thousands of Muslims believe Allah is a God of love, that the death sentences and brutal corporal punishment are crimes against humanity. On December 5th, 2007 an innocent Iranian boy was martyred by the Teheran regime and then murdered on the scaffold. From all over the world, in answer to the campaign for the life of Makwan Moloudzadeh - promoted by EveryOne Group - thousands of Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and non-believers sent red and white flowers to President Ahmadinejad and the Iranian judges: red, in an attempt to avoid the spilling of innocent blood; white to implore his executioners to spare the life of yet another blameless condemned man. This vast international campaign served only to delay an execution which had already been decided.

Today Makwan is the symbol of the martyrdom of the many innocent victims of a ruthless regime. Let us also remember Pegah Emambakhsh, the Iranian lesbian woman who is still waiting for the result of her appeal in the United Kingdom, and who risks being deported to Iran, where torture and stoning await her. EveryOne has received worrying news from the United Kingdom, where the Court of Appeal does not appear inclined to grant Pegah political asylum - in defiance of all the international conventions. Pegah is crushed by the attitude of the British Government and has told us she is tired of fighting, she is reluctant to appear in the newspapers and no longer believes in what Anne Frank defined as "man's inner goodness". We must respect Pegah's wishes, but we have to be ready to say no to the ritish Government, which has abandoned the path of respect for the rights of women, homosexuals and refugees. We have to be ready to raise a chorus of protest, throughout the world, in order to stop the hand of the executioner and his accomplices.

That is why we are asking you to devote a few minutes of your time to this petition; add your signature and send a protest to all the addresses listed below, because many human lives, the concept of justice itself and the value of human rights are at stake here.

For EveryOne Group:

Roberto Malini, Matteo Pegoraro, Dario Picciau, Ahmad Rafat, Arsham Parsi, Laura Todisco, Glenys Robinson, Steed Gamero, Fabio Patronelli, Francesca Turuani, Alessandro Matta, Cristos Papaioannou, Paul Albrecht.

**** If you need more informations, you can contact EveryOne Group at:

info everyonegroup.com :: http://www.everyonegroup.com

Mobile: [phone] - Fax: [phone] ****

To support this petition and protest against these hard human rights violations, please send an e-mail and/or, where possible, a fax of complaint to:

dr-ahmadinejad president.ir
info dadgostary-tehran.ir
infoDesk ohchr.org
iranembassy hotmail.com
info iran-embassy.org.uk

Iranian Embassy in Italy
00162 Roma (RM)
Via Nomentana, 361
06 86328493
06 86391029

Iranian Ambassador
Embassy of Iran
16 Prince's Gate
London SW7 1PT
info iran-embassy.org.uk
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

To support Pegah Emambakshs' asylum claim's campaign, please send also an e-mail of complaint to:

smithjj parliament.uk
public.enquiries homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
asylum iglhrc.org

http://www.everyonegroup.com

Source:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/27/18475256.php

(Yo, mods: "© 2000–2008 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere.")


NEVER FORGET Ayaz Marhoni, 18, and Mahmoud Asgari, 16
Mashmad, Iran, July 19, 2005





http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.2811903!img2811882.jpg

[HughMoran]

1. My God, what is wrong with these hateful people?

This makes me so sick :puke:

[MADem]

8. But.... but.... but....

Ahmahdinejad is a HERO...because he STANDS UP to BUUUUUUUUUSH!!!!!!

:sarcasm: for the irony-impaired.

Most people don't realize that the Midget Mayor is a little Puppet-shit, controlled by the Grand Ayatullah and the Guardian Council. They erroneously believe they have equivalent status as national leaders, and that's not true at all. The former Mayor of Teheran has about as much clout as Dana Perino...

There is no freedom there. I don't want US to get involved in any sort of revolution over there (we did that once before, to ill effect) and I certainly don't want to intervene militarily with them at all, but I do wish their post-Shah generation would rise up and kick the shit out of those goddamned mullahs and those hypercontrolling Ayatullahs, and institute social reforms that emphasize tolerance and diversity.

They do much better under a secular regime. There's less graft and more commerce, and more hope for the population.

[NMMNG]

2. "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals"

They do, but they execute them. Barbarians.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-sC26wpUGQ

[and-justice-for-all]

3. How weak Islam must be that they have to kill people..

because they fear who they are. Islamofacist are scared of Homosexuals, they seem scared of everything.

I thought Xtiandom was vile. this islam shit is a tranicle, socipathic, homicidal, schizophrenic and nothing short of a death cult. Saudi Arabia is just as bad as Iran about Homosexuality.

[NMMNG]

4. It's not Islam in and of itself

It is radical fundamentalists. There are radical fundamentalist Christians here in America who would gladly do the same to us were they given the chance.

Religion in and of itself is not the culprit. Religion in the hands of extremists is.

Even non-religious ideologies (such as political ideologies) can be just as bad in the hands of extremists. Don't lay the blame solely on religion.

[and-justice-for-all]

5. religion is to blame for the majority of distress in the world....

Yes, religion is to blame. It may be fundamentalist at work, but the underlying reason for such an act is the religion.

Religion is a cancer and I have no kind words to say about it.

[Jella]

17. you are right

and if the vast majority of religious folks would take back their religion, then the radicals can be stopped. The fact is they don't want to, they sit on their hands and continue to say it's not the religion. They feel the same way, but spout about all the love in their religion.... yuck it makes me want to puke just thinking about them.

[and-justice-for-all]

22. thank you jella...nt

[NMMNG]

19. I'm no fan of religion

But I'm not going to deny that there are people who can use it responsibly, just like there are those who can use guns responsibly. And the one and only purpose of a gun is to kill.

[Sapphocrat]

7. Mindreader. LOL n/t

[jgraz]

16. It's not cancer in and of itself

The real problem is cancer in sick people. Many people handle cancer just fine. It's the people who really get sick that cause all the problems.

[and-justice-for-all]

23. I do not think it is possible to have 'mild' religion...

If the train is not stopped, it will take us all over the edge.

religion, as far as I am concerned, is a diasease. It is the prime reason for all the tribalism and barbaric mentality of a large portion of the population.

[Sapphocrat]

6. I appreciate your support, but understand this isn't a judgment on Islam.

There are many thousands, nay countless millions of Muslims who recoil at the horror of torturing and executing gay people. (At the risk of pulling the "some of my best friends are..." schtick, the truth is: I've had many Muslim friends and co-workers who live up to the "Christian" Golden Rule better than most Christians I've known.)

Rather, it's the fundamentalist extremists in charge of the country with whom I take issue (with Ahmadinejad at the helm) -- just as I take issue with the American fundamentalist extremists against whom I rail -- while recognizing the untold millions of good live-and-let-live Christians who, to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, "neither pick my pocket nor break my leg."

Islam is not the problem. Unchecked fundamentalist extremism -- where there is no separation of church and state -- is.

[David__77]

9. Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni "not a gay case."

Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, told the press, “It was not a gay case”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Asgari_and_Ayaz_Marhoni

I just wanted to add that in regard to the Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni case.

Best of luck to the people of Iran in their struggle against both theocracy and Western aggression.

[Sapphocrat]

10. IGLHRC isn't the only organization that's gone back and forth on this...

...and having read countless accounts of the case, it is my conclusion that the Iranian government switched the nature of the "crime" from consensual homosexual sex to underage rape, due to worldwide outrage. Don't make me drag out scores of links -- I don't want to slog through the gory details all over again (and you won't find anything different than I will on Google).

Agreed: Best wishes to the people of Iran in their struggle against both theocracy and Western aggression.


On edit: Stupid typo at 2:53 a.m.

[readmoreoften]

13. Yes, it was a 'gay' case, then switched to 'rape' to stave off global outrage. /nt

[midnight]

11. Hate keeps itself alive...... Call an end to this senseless

persecution.

[Th1onein]

12. DONE, KICKED & RECOMMENDED

n/t

[dickthegrouch]

14. US Embassy address

Iranian Interests Section
Embassy of Pakistan
2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW,
Washington DC 20007.

Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[ZombieHorde]

15. Compleatly disturbing. nt

[LeftHander]

18. Why is the last picture of other people?

CLothing is different...one the accused changed pants on the gallows? And the other suddenly gained 50 pounds?

This smells of a Bush psyop operation to foster ill will toward Iran. Yes they do persecute homosexuals but did this photo post go a little far?

[Sapphocrat]

20. You're right bout the last photo.

And the answer is, I don't know. If you'd like more undeniably-recognizable photos of Ayaz and Mahmoud on the gallows, there are many.

As far as whether this post went "too far," I hear that every time I bring up the subject of these executions. My question is: How are you going to make people realize that LGBT persecution and execution are very real, and not some abstract concept? (Did you see readmore's post a week or so ago, "Why Gays Fight"? Did you see how many replies indicated that even here at DU, there are too many people who don't realize how widespread the problem of anti-gay violence is?)

In any case, I made the warning (graphic photos) clear.

They hang gays in Iran. Knowing I'll get accused of "beating the drums for war" againt Iran is no reason to turn our heads away. If they were hanging gays in Canada, I wouldn't worry about risking our friendship with our neighbors to the north -- I'd still rail against it.

[LeftHander]

21. The state sponsorship of religion

Leads to all kinds of harm to a society. In Iran, yes they do indeed hang people for all kinds of things we would never dream of. Yet here in America we allow religious fanatics to dictate social values and set the stage for haters and bigots to take advantage of these twisted ideas. The result is oppression by proxy. More insidious and more damaging. Railing against extreme examples of a religiously controlled government halfway across the world does nothing to prevent gay men and women from being beaten, killed and systematically discriminated against in a supposedly "free western democracy".

So I see displaying images of extreme behavior in Iran only makes what our religious nuts and bigots do here seem "acceptable"...

Like the suburban coffee talk:

"Oh it is so horrible what they do to gays in Iraq. At least we don't hang them here...they can live as they wish. Just not in my neighborhood."

Little do most of these "everyday citizens" know that apathy leads to victimization.

The best thing we can do for gays in Iraq is change our immigration policy and offer political asylum. But that seems unlikely when we can't even recognize our own LGBT citizens as equal with marriage and work protection.

We have a long way to go in ending persecution of LGBT people around the world, it first has to start here. In our own neighborhoods.

The struggle for LGBT equality cannot be waged in Iran. It has to be done right here.

[Smarmie Doofus]

24. Done. 1-28-08 nt