[BRIEF NOTE] On the Iranian Hangings

[rfmcdonald]

When I blogged about the recent execution of two gay teenagers in Iran, I mentioned that they were hung on charges of sexual assault. I was skeptical of these charges since, as the Washington Blade noted, charges of criminal sexual conduct are frequently made to delegitimize sexual minorities, in Iran as elsewhere.

Some countries that criminalize homosexuality charge the person with rape or molestation. That is often the case in Iran, according to "Dan," an Iranian gay man who was granted asylum in the United States. Dan spoke to the Blade on condition that his full name not be disclosed.

Dan, now 30 and living in the Washington, D.C., area, said he witnessed two public hangings of gay men in Iran. He speculates that Asgari and Marhoni were hanged for consensual sex but the government said otherwise to squash public outrage.

"The Shariah [Muslim] law says the person needs to admit to an act of homosexuality," he said. "Even if you don't admit, they torture you to make you confess."

When Dan came out, Iran's volunteer military that enforces Islamic law came to arrest him, he said. He ran away, and eventually escaped to the United States.

Over at ZMag, however, Doug Ireland argues convincingly that the rape may well have taken place.

I was initially skeptical about the rape charge, particularly because Iran is currently in delicate negotiations with Western European powers over its developing nuclear capacity -- hardly the moment to be caught in a violation of its international commitments under two treaties (i.e., the ones outlawing the execution of minors). When I asked Hadi Ghaemi, who runs the Iranian desk for Human Rights Watch, on what basis HRW was saying they were "90 percent sure" rape had taken place (as the director of HRW’s gay and lesbian program, Scott Long -- who does first-rate work -- told me) Ghaemi said his sole source was the daily newspaper Quds in the city of Mashad where the two teens were hanged. This newspaper carried statements alleged to be from the father of the 13-year-old who was supposedly raped, and from several of the passers-by who had interrupted the "gang rape" in a vacant lot, upon which, they were quoted as saying, they were threatened at knife point by a group that included the two hanged youths.

When I asked Ghaemi why the July 24 Associated Press dispatch on the hangings cited the executions as being only for "homosexual acts" without mentioning the rape, he said that the original charge against the boys was "sexual assault based on homosexual acts," and that the first part of the charge had been somehow "lost in translation." Ghaemi said he didn’t believe that Quds -- a newspaper controlled by regime supporters --had fabricated the quotes in the article about the rape, which had appeared the morning of the hangings (not after the protests). But he also said he had no independent confirmation from sources in Mashad of the accuracy of the rape charge.

Peter Tatchell has responded to these and other critics, pointing out that the 13-year-old in question would have good reason to claim rape and the Islamic Republic shouldn't be treated as a reliable source. For the time being, however, it makes sense to reserve judgement until an objective third party can make definitive claims.