The Islamic regime in Iran have executed a teenage boy for being gay.
Makwan Moloudzadeh was executed last night (local time) in Dizel Abad Prison in the city of Kermanshah. He was executed for a sexual relations with a class mate when they were both 13. He was executed for being a homosexual.
The International Committee Against Executions, along with several human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, launched a campaign to save Makwan. As a result of these actions, the head of the judiciary, Shahroudi, was forced to call for a review of the case, saying that the death sentence was incorrect.
One of the officials in Paveh and Kermanshah is reported to have said the city ‘Paveh’s youth have become too cheeky; we should execute one so that it may be a lesson to others’.
What a tragic story.So, was he executed for being gay, or cheeky, or as a deterrent to others? It sounds like all three elements were involved.
Too bad the review of the case did not take place in time to save the guy’s life. That’s the problem with death penalties, they can’t be retracted once they’ve been implemented.
The chaplain: actually, the review DID happen in time. Back in August. Then in November the entire process was halted because it was RIDICULOUS. But then a higher-ruling judge made the decision overnight between the Dec. 4th and 5th. On the 5th, he was executed, family and lawyer unaware.
It’s an international tragedy and I hope to see some big steps taken on the global scale. We’ll see…
A clear example of how the legal cocktail of faith v feeling ie: Muslim and homosexuality is a death sentence in the middle east and other parts of the Muslim world.
I am so very sad and sorry to read this. It is an international tragedy indeed.
I hope to see some action/ steps on this tragic loss of life. However, I fear little will be done. It is too politically sensitive. And let’s face it-I say this with satire towards the west now. It is not to do with oil is it. And when it comes to life, as we have seen with the war on terrror??, we know that life is cheap!
Speaking as an American, I’d prefer to see the international community take the lead in taking action, and for the US government to stand back a bit, to take a support rather than a leadership role. Our president has been making far too many war noises about Iran for my comfort. The last thing I want is for him to whip this up into some justification for opening yet another war zone. One thing in my favor is the brute fact that we simply don’t have any troops left to send anywhere else. Simple resource limitations may force W. to tone down the rhetoric and slow the beat of the war drums.
A crime was certainly committed here. It was the crime of murder. Those responsible should be indicted and brought to trial and handed the severest punishment though there is little chance of that happening.
I am not going to blame Islam. Doing so is the easy option and the wrong one. What we should blame is dictators who rule by oppression and cause immense harm to those whom they are supposed to protect and help to live fulfilled lives. The fact that they use religion as their excuse is almost irrelevant. They are simply criminals against humanity and deserve to be wiped from the face of the earth.
We can only grieve for the people of Iran and try to find ways of bringing these horrors to an end without causing still more bloodshed of innocents.
I agree with the Chaplain with regards to American leadership over any outcry about this (not that there will be any). Apart from anything else, there is the hint of hypocrisy for a nation which allows the death penalty to try and tell other nations it is a Bad Thing.