July 24
SAUDI ARABIA:
Amnesty International urges Saudi King to alter death sentences of 3 Sri
Lankans
London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) has called
on the King of Saudi Arabia to alter the death sentences of 3 Sri Lankans.
Issuing a special appeal, AI said the three Sri Lankan men, D.D. Ranjith
de Silva, E.J. Victor Corea, and Sanath Pushpakumara, have reportedly had
their death sentences referred to the King, which is the final appeal
stage in Saudi Arabias judicial system.
"The King may grant clemency, but if he chooses to ratify their sentences,
they could be executed at any time," AI said.
These 3 Sri Lankans are facing execution after they were sentenced to
death by a Saudi court for robberies and threatening civilians.
AI said that at least 55 people, 2/3 of whom were foreign nationals, are
known to have been executed in Saudi Arabia so far this year.
(source: The (Sri Lanka) Colombo Page)
IRAN:
Iran's Execution of Gays Part of Ethnic Repression
The execution of 2 young men in Iran for the alleged rape of a 13 year old
boy could be an attempt by the regime to smear and terrorise the
indigenous Ahwazi Arab population of Khuzestan, claim Ahwazi human rights
activists.
The teenagers - an 18 year old and a 16 year old described - were hung in
Edalat Square in the city of Mashhad on 19 July. The London-based Times
newspaper pointed to reports in Iranian newspapers that claimed the young
men were originally from the Arab-majority province of Khuzestan. Human
rights activists believe they were tortured into confessing to homosexual
acts, which are punishable by death in Iran. Similar executions took place
in May when three indigenous Ahwazi Arab men were executed in Susangerd,
Khuzestan, for the alleged rape and murder of a 6 year old. In each case,
the men's names were continually repeated in the Iranian press, to
highlight their Arab identity.
Human rights groups in Iran and the West have condemned the recent
executions. Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi claimed that Iran
has violated its obligations under the International Convention on the
Rights of the Child, which bans such executions. Since 1999, 11 children
have been killed in public executions.
Peter Tatchell of the British gay human rights group Outrage! said: "This
is just the latest barbarity by the Islamo-fascists in Iran.
"The entire country is a gigantic prison, with Islamic rule sustained by
detention without trial, torture and state-sanctioned murder.
"Britain's Labour government is pursuing friendly relations with this
murderous regime, including aid and trade. We urge the international
community to treat Iran as a pariah state, break off diplomatic relations,
impose trade sanctions and give practical support to the democratic and
left opposition inside Iran."
Outrage! claims that of the 100,000 people executed in Iran since 1979,
4,000 have been killed for alleged homosexual acts, adding that "The
victims include ... political opponents of the Islamist government."
Amnesty International said that Iran executed 159 people in 2004, a figure
exceeded only by China.
By targetting Arabs, the Iranian regime is clearly using the social taboo
of homosexuality and the heinous crime of child rape to justify the social
marginalisation of the Ahwazi Arab population. Racial discrimination
against Arabs and the summary nature of the Iranian justice system mean
that Arabs rarely receive a fair trial. Criminal charges are often trumped
up to achieve political ends, in this case the portrayal of Arabs as
morally degenerate.
In the past, the government used a moral purge on pornography to raid
shops that sell Arabic language literature and seize satellite dishes
capable of receiving foreign transmissions. The regime is keen to
highlight problems of alcoholism and heroin addiction in Khuzestan -
problems that are also prevalent in many other impoverished areas of Iran
- to under-line its portrayal of Arabs as lawless, backward and immoral.
The regime equates Arabs with moral depravity to justify ethnic repression
and state terrorism against Iran's 4.5 million Ahwazi Arabs.
The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS) calls for an end to the use
of the death penalty against homosexuals and urges the international
community act against the persecution of all minority groups in Iran.
(source: British Ahwazi Friendship Society)
