No Foreign Occupation of Iraq. Don’t attack Iran.
No Islamist State, No Sharia Law
Stop Islamists killing queers and women in Iraq & Iran
No Islamist State, No Sharia Law
Stop Islamists killing queers and women in Iraq & Iran
“We oppose the Iraq war and any attack on Iran. But we also support the struggle of the Iraqi and Iranian people against the imposition of an Islamist state and Sharia law. We stand in solidarity with Iraqi and Iranian democrats, leftists, trade unionists, feminists and gay activists. Their call for democracy, social justice and human rights has our backing,” said Peter Tatchell of the London-based LGBT human rights group OutRage!
He was speaking as members of OutRage! joined the anti-war march in London today (18 March). The protest was called to coincide with the third anniversary of the Iraq war.
The OutRage! contingent carried placards reading: “Islamists! Stop Killing Iraqi gays”, “Help Iranians topple Ayatollahs”, “Support Iraqi gays, women and trade unions”, and “Islamists! Stop killing women and leftists”. See photo links below.
“We condemn Ayatollah Sistani’s death fatwa against lesbians and gay men, and the wave of homophobic and misogynistic violence being perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq – including execution-style killings of gay men and unveiled women,” said OutRage!’s Middle East Affairs spokesperson, Ali Hili, who is a gay Muslim refugee from Iraq.
“Sistani's murderous incitement, published on his website, is legitimising and encouraging the murder of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Iraqis. Evidence from our contacts inside Iraq points to rising levels of homophobic abuse, threats, intimidation and violence by fundamentalist supporters of Sistani and other Shia leaders,” said Mr Hili.
Another gay anti-war marcher, OutRage! campaign coordinator, Brett Lock, said:
“OutRage! supports the Iranian people's struggle to overthrow the Ayatollahs and to end the barbarity of Sharia law, which decrees the death penalty for unchaste women, Muslims who reject their faith and gay people.
“The Iranian regime continues to hang children, gay people and women who have sex outside of marriage.
“We express our solidarity with the heroic Tehran bus workers and deplore the mass arrest and jailing of over 1,000 trade union activists at the end of January.
“The clerical regime actively promotes anti-Arab racism and perpetrates systematic human rights abuses against the four million-strong Ahwazi Arab minority in the south-western region of Iran.
“In April 2005, in the city of Ahwaz, Iranian security forces opened fire on peaceful Ahwazi protesters, killing 61 and wounding 800. Thousands were arrested.
“Iran under the Ayatollah’s is a place of terror and fear. We back Iranian calls for regime change from within. The liberation of Iran must be by and for the people of Iran,” said Mr Lock.
Photos of the OutRage! contingent on the anti-war march:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/outrage/sets/72057594086326756/
ENDS
He was speaking as members of OutRage! joined the anti-war march in London today (18 March). The protest was called to coincide with the third anniversary of the Iraq war.
The OutRage! contingent carried placards reading: “Islamists! Stop Killing Iraqi gays”, “Help Iranians topple Ayatollahs”, “Support Iraqi gays, women and trade unions”, and “Islamists! Stop killing women and leftists”. See photo links below.
“We condemn Ayatollah Sistani’s death fatwa against lesbians and gay men, and the wave of homophobic and misogynistic violence being perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq – including execution-style killings of gay men and unveiled women,” said OutRage!’s Middle East Affairs spokesperson, Ali Hili, who is a gay Muslim refugee from Iraq.
“Sistani's murderous incitement, published on his website, is legitimising and encouraging the murder of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Iraqis. Evidence from our contacts inside Iraq points to rising levels of homophobic abuse, threats, intimidation and violence by fundamentalist supporters of Sistani and other Shia leaders,” said Mr Hili.
Another gay anti-war marcher, OutRage! campaign coordinator, Brett Lock, said:
“OutRage! supports the Iranian people's struggle to overthrow the Ayatollahs and to end the barbarity of Sharia law, which decrees the death penalty for unchaste women, Muslims who reject their faith and gay people.
“The Iranian regime continues to hang children, gay people and women who have sex outside of marriage.
“We express our solidarity with the heroic Tehran bus workers and deplore the mass arrest and jailing of over 1,000 trade union activists at the end of January.
“The clerical regime actively promotes anti-Arab racism and perpetrates systematic human rights abuses against the four million-strong Ahwazi Arab minority in the south-western region of Iran.
“In April 2005, in the city of Ahwaz, Iranian security forces opened fire on peaceful Ahwazi protesters, killing 61 and wounding 800. Thousands were arrested.
“Iran under the Ayatollah’s is a place of terror and fear. We back Iranian calls for regime change from within. The liberation of Iran must be by and for the people of Iran,” said Mr Lock.
Photos of the OutRage! contingent on the anti-war march:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/outrage/sets/72057594086326756/ ENDS
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