Human Rights & the anti-war American Christian Leaders
Human rights activists testified before the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of the Canadian Parliament. A few paragraphs below:
Let me now talk about murder, torture, and inhumane treatment by Iranian officials.
Since the Islamic revolution in 1979, it's estimated that more than 120,000 political executions have been committed by the regime. The number of prisoners in Iran is alarming and on the rise, and the number of people in Iranian custody is appalling and consequently widely condemned. For example, in December 2004, when a group of journalists publicly testified about their torture and warrantless arrests, they were threatened by the country's chief prosecutor with bodily harm to both them and their families.
There is also little justice for victims of torture and for subsequent “accidental deaths” that often occur during interrogations. Iran ranks, according to a major human rights group, at the top of the list “with respect to the number of executions in the country”.
More distressing, however, is the inhumane methods of execution, such as hanging, crucifixion, and stoning. Stoning is often a punishment for a crime being compatible with chastity and it is governed by the very specific guidelines under the Iranian penal code. For example, under article 104, the stones are supposedly supposed to be “not large enough to kill a person by one or two strikes”. The intention of this specification is to ensure that a person does not die immediately, but instead suffers a long and painful death.
This is a long paper but it's worth reading it in full. Do you think American anti-war Christian Leaders , meeting the "Christ-loving Ahamdinejad" in Iran ever considered asking him about the heinous and despicable crimes that his regime perpetrated against its own citizens since 1979 and continues to commit?
h/t to: Winston
ABF, for the promotion of human rights and democracy in Iran
4 comments:
hanging,stoning, and crucifixion?!you should remove the last word.
gholi: It's not my word. It's a testimony given by the US President of Human Rights. I know it's long article but if you click on the link and scroll down, you will see it.
Serendip: Awakening and shocking as usual. I don't know what I expect to see, like the picture of someone being hung or stoned should look less jarring, less disconcerting, or less devastating. But each time I see those photos, my heart weeps for humanity. I cannot imagine a more heinous crime against humanity than capital punishment, because, in essence, what it says is that this individual was beyond correction, beyond a second chance, beyond any hope, and disposable. I refuse to believe that. And I refuse to believe that ANYONE should have the right over another's life. I don't know if I believe everything I read about testimonials in Washington, because I have heard enough lies and staged testimonials to know better (remember the hearing on Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991, where an "eyewitness" who gave a tearful testimonial about Iraqi soldiers' atrocities in a hospital in Kuwait turned out to be the daughter of Kuwaiti Ambassador to US who had not been to Kuwait in several years?). I also don't know to what end these testimonials are used and whether I agree with those ends. Nonetheless, I do know that executions take place on a regular basis in Iran and because a) I don't believe in Capital Punishment, and b) I don't believe in Iranian judicial system's health, objectivity, and justice, I find the whole business disgusting and a far cry from humanity. Sorry for the long message, Serendip. You touched a sensitive spot this time. Be good.
Dear Nazy: I appreciate your heartfelt sentments and I hear you.
IMHO, The means are the ends in the process of becoming as Ghandi reminds us. And in the larger scheme of things, the behavior of the regime so far is the only determinant of its fate not anything outside of it. Cruelty is no destiny. And you can't overcome evil with more evil.
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