On May 10, Iranian police raided a private birthday party at a residence in Isfahan. 87 men were arrested and are currently being held in jail incommunicado. According to the Toronto-based
Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO):
... police raided a birthday party for a man named Farhad. According to witnesses, the police brutally assaulted the host, his parents, and the guests. It remains unclear exactly how many people were arrested. A man identified as Peyman spoke to IRQO and said that he arrived at the house late only to find the police had already arrived. “As soon as I turned in to their street, I saw police cars parked everywhere," Peyman told IRQO."All my friends were arrested while seven or eight policeman beat them with batons. Fearing the usual punishments for attending a party, two had jumped from the second-floor window and were in a bad condition.”He also said that all communication with the individuals has been cut off. “We have no information about the situation inside the jail,” Payman added.
Iran, and the Muslim world in general, has a
reputation for brutal suppression of its gay citizens:
This latest raid marks the largest single attack on Iran’s gay community, further confirming a disturbing trend of sexual cleansing in the Islamic Republic, made legal through Sharia law. Sodomy is a crime for which both partners can be punished by death, while all types of sexual activity outside a heterosexual marriage are also illegal.
Arsham Parsi, executive director of IRQO, is pleading for action by international human rights organizations:
"Obviously this crackdown is yet another systematic violation of human rights, along with brutal suppression of womens' movements in Iran and must be strongly protested by all human rights organisations as yet another violation of people's private rights and liberties."
Good luck with that. [sound of crickets chirping] International human rights organizations are too busy scolding
Canada for not making sure Taliban prisoners are treated humanely when turned over to
Afghan authorities, or fretting about banning hijabs in girls' soccer tournaments.
2 comments:
Gee, didn't Iran just get nominated to head the UN Human Rights Council? Surely not!
See, this is the kind of thing I would actually worry about. India, in my opinion, is a relatively reasonable country. I think they'd really hesitate to put our diplomat in jail. It would be bad politically for them either way -- causing anger here if they did and there if they didn't. But I think they could at least engage in a conversation and why we shouldn't try to embarrass a country that's just gaining some courage in the area of rights.
Iran? I have to wonder if those men will ever be seen again. This is the kind of issue you have to take a stand about . . . the differnce being that by stating our outrage, we are not imposing our will.
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