Iran “Hunting More Gay Teens”
Gay.com UK,
July 27, 2005
By Ben Townley
The
Iranian government is apparently hunting more gay teens, after publicly
executing two boys for having sex with each other last week.
According to campaigners, police officials are searching
for three boys connected with the “crimes” of Mahmoud Asgari (16) and Ayaz
Marhoni (18), who were hanged last week.
An international protest is being urged in response to
the hangings, which were conducted in accordance with the ultra conservative
Sharia law.
Campaigners across the globe are calling for more action
to be taken against the Iranian government for its actions.
The boys being hunted are thought to have been named by
the hanged boys under torture, the Outrage! group claims. They have since
disappeared.
It is thought that Asgari and Marhoni were subjected to
more than 200 lashings during their 14 months in prison and forced to confess
to crimes they may have not committed.
They were also accused of raping a 13-year-old boy,
although the majority of press reports have dismissed this charge as an
attempt to avoid any censure from international governments or human rights
bodies.
“This is just the latest barbarity by the Islamo-fascists
in Iran,” Outrage! campaigner Peter Tatchell said today.
“The entire country is a gigantic prison, with Islamic
rule sustained by detention without trial, torture and state-sanctioned
murder.”
“According to Iranian human rights campaigners, over
4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized
power in 1979. Altogether, an estimated 100,000 Iranians have been put to
death over the last 26 years of clerical rule.”
A London protest has been organised next month outside
the capital’s Iranian embassy.
The protest will take place on 11th August between 1-2pm.
Those who cannot attend are being urged to email and phone the Iranian
Ambassador.
Campaigners across the globe may well join the protest,
after action was taken globally on the hangings.
In the UK, the government was criticised for attempting
to forge closer links with the Iranian government, while in other European
countries gay groups called for an update to asylum legislation regarding
lesbian and gay people fleeing conservative regimes.
In the US, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was urged
to publicly denounce the killings.
Details of the protest:
Protest on 11 August, Iranian Embassy, 1pm to 2pm
Iranian Embassy, 16 Prince’s Gate, London SW7 (near
Royal Albert Hall).
Iranian Ambassador details:
info@iran-embassy.org.uk
Tel: 020 7225 3000 Fax: 020 7589 4440
Iranian Ambassador Embassy of Iran 16 Prince’s Gate
London SW7 1PT
[Home] [Iran] [World]
