OutRage! News Release_Five-city protest against Iran executions

Thursday 11 August 2005

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.

London protest - 1pm to 2pm

Embassy of Iran, 16 Prince’s Gate, London SW7
(near the Royal Albert Hall, by the junction of Kensington Road and
Exhibition Road)

Mahmoud Asgari (16) and Ayaz Marhoni (18) were hanged in Edalat
(Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad, in north east Iran, on 19
July 2005.

Photos of the executions can be seen at:

 http://www.outrage.org.uk/imagezoom.asp?file=37
 http://www.outrage.org.uk/imagezoom.asp?file=38
 http://www.outrage.org.uk/imagezoom.asp?file=39


“Some reports say the youths were hanged for gay sex. The Iranian
government claims they were hanged for the rape of a 13 year old boy,”
reports Ramzi Isalam of the LGBT human rights group OutRage!.

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.

“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.

Email, phone, fax and write your protests to the Iranian Ambassador:

 info@iran-embassy.org.uk

Tel: 020 7225 3000
Fax: 020 7589 4440

Iranian Ambassador
Embassy of Iran
16 Prince’s Gate
London SW7 1PT

More info:  info@outrage.org.uk

“OutRage!’s sources for this story include clandestine gay and lesbian
activists inside Iran, members of the democratic and left Iranian
opposition, and the websites of government-sanctioned news agencies in
Iran,” reports Aaron Saeed, gay Muslim spokesperson for OutRage!

“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.

“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.

“Prior to their execution, the teenagers were held in prison for 14
months and severely beaten with 228 lashes.

“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.

“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.

“The allegation of rape 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,” continued OutRage! campaign
coordinator, Brett Lock

“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.

“The use of torture is routine in Iran. These two boys were violently
abused in prison, receiving more than 200 lashes.

“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.

“OutRage! wholeheartedly supports the struggle of the Iranian people
to overthrow clerical tyranny and to secure democracy and human
rights.

“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.

Email this news release and photos to your friends. Urge them to
protest too.

Further information: Brett Lock 0770 843 5917

END
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------