Application
of laws
There are various reports of the death penalty being applied for
homosexual conduct, and as this sentence has often been carried
out against dissidents, it may be a tool to silence political
dissent as much as to oppress homosexuals.
According to The Boroumand Foundation [9], there are records of
at least 107 executions with charges related to homosexuality
between 1979 and 1990.[10] According to Amnesty International,
at least 5 people convicted of "homosexual tendencies", three
men and two women, were executed in January 1990, as a result of
the Iranian government's policy of calling for the execution of
those who practice homosexuality.[11] In April 1992, Dr. Ali
Mozafarian, a Sunni Muslim leader in the Fars province (Southern
Iran), was executed in Shiraz after being convicted on charges
of espionage, adultery, and sodomy. His videotaped confession
was broadcast on television in Shiraz and in the streets of
Kazerun and Lar.
On March 14, 1994, dissident writer Ali Akbar Saidi Sirjani was
charged with offences ranging from espionage to homosexual
improprieties.
|
 
GAY + IRAN = GAYRAN
(Besides, does that logo on the flag look like what I
think it looks like?) |
On November, 12 1995, by the
verdict of the eighth judicial branch of Hamadan and the
confirmation of the Supreme Court of Iran, Mehdi Barazandeh,
otherwise known as Safa Ali Shah Hamadani, was condemned to
death. The judicial authorities announced that Barazandeh's
crimes were repeated acts of adultery and "the obscene act of
sodomy." The court's decree was carried out by stoning
Barazandeh. Barazandeh belonged to the Khaksarieh Sect of
Dervishes. (Islamic Republic Newspaper - November 14th 1995 +
reported in Homan's magazine June, 10 1996).
The execution of Ali Sharifi was reported in Hamadan by the
Washington Blade in 1998. Sharifi was hanged for having gay sex,
adultery, drinking alcohol, and dealing drugs.
In 2005, two Iranian teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni,
were both sentenced to death for what some human rights groups
claimed was "consensual gay sex" while Iranian authorities
asserted that the two were part of a criminal gang that raped a
thirteen-year-old boy. Again, the government claims were
disputed by international organizations and progressive domestic
groups. Based on information available at the time, Paula
Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay &
Lesbian Human Rights Commission, said "It was not a gay case,"
taking issue with the Human Rights Campaign?s statement that was
quick to condemn the execution as anti-gay. "We would welcome
HRC?s involvement in demanding that our government speak out on
human rights violations. It was just the wrong case,? she said.
At the discretion of the Iranian court, fines, prison sentences,
and public lashings may be used instead of a public execution.
As the Islamic law covers all aspects of Iranian society and
culture, no public discussion of homosexuality is permitted, no
gay rights organizations are allowed to exist, and no political
party that supports gay rights will have their candidates on the
election ballot. |
