The latest campaign against Iran: 'I wed Iranian girls before execution'

[Ilsa]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443842931&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Jul 19, 2009 2:32 | Updated Jul 19, 2009 10:23
'I wed Iranian girls before execution'
By SABINA AMIDI, SPECIAL TO THE JERUSALEM POST

In a shocking and unprecedented interview, directly exposing the inhumanity of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's religious regime in Iran, a serving member of the paramilitary Basiji militia has told this reporter of his role in suppressing opposition street protests in recent weeks.

He has also detailed aspects of his earlier service in the force, including his enforced participation in the rape of young Iranian girls prior to their execution.

The interview took place by telephone, and on condition of anonymity. It was arranged by a reliable source whose identity can also not be revealed.

SNIP

The Basiji member, who is married with children, spoke soon after his release by the Iranian authorities from detention. He had been held for the "crime" of having set free two Iranian teenagers - a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl - who had been arrested during the disturbances that have followed the disputed June presidential elections.

"There have been many other police and members of the security forces arrested because they have shown leniency toward the protesters out on the streets, or released them from custody without consulting our superiors," he said.

SNIP

The rest of the article is about how he was arrested for freeing young women.

Fox news ate this up, naturally. Does anyone know if the Jerusalem Post is reliable?

[Ian David]

1. Yes, they are reliable. n/t

[Captain Hilts]

2. This kind of rape took place in Yugoslavia also. nt

[Ilsa]

5. I guess that was rape of female prisoners in general, death row or not? nt

[Captain Hilts]

7. They just made sure the deed was done before they were executed.

Doin' the women a favor, ya know...

[mike_c]

3. reminds me of that "Iraqis killed babies in their incubators" story...

...from back in the run-up to Gulf War One, frankly. Not saying it isn't true, because I don't have any data to refute it-- but I do note the scarcity of real data to support it, as well.

[JonQ]

4. Doesn't seem all that unbelievable

Iran isn't exactly famous for their good treatment of women, or respect for human rights. I could absolutely believe they would include rape as an additional punishment for women.

That doesn't mean this story is true, but it certainly can't be written off at face value.

[11cents]

6. "Against Iran?" Khamenei/Ahmadinejad = Iran?

If negative reports about the Iranian coup regime are "against Iran," the majority of Iranians are also "against Iran."

The JPost isn't very reliable. There were, however, well-attested examples of teenage girls being "wedded" and raped before execution during the regime's mass killings of political prisoners in the 80s, to get around a prohibition against executing virgins. So there's a precedent.

[Ilsa]

9. To clarify: a story to aggravate Americans into action against

Iran based on some unverified stories. And the people inthe US yelling the loudest about these stories aren't going to distinguish between the people and the current regime. They'll eventually call for an invasion to "stop the rape rooms".

[11cents]

17. You're applying an irrelevant template.

The Iraq incubator story came out as part of a propaganda campaign that the Bush I administration instigated itself. The decision to go to war had already been made; the story came out in support of that decision. By contrast, there has been zero evidence that the Obama administration wants to invade Iraq. Quite the opposite. Are you really afraid that the US is going to be mobilized into an invasion without the administration's involvement? Are we all going to grab our guns and ship ourselves over?

This JPost story, at any rate, is not much worse than events in Iran over the last few weeks which we know happened. People have been killed, tortured, and raped in prison. When faced with horrible facts about the coup regime, Americans don't seem to have a problem distinguishing between the people and the perpetrators. But you think when faced with "unverified stories" we'll suddenly lose our ability to make the distinction?

[Ilsa]

20. Whoa! I'm not attributing this to the administration. But there are

other war-loving people that like to talk BS about us needing to invade Iran, etc. Thank goodness we don't have worry about Obama wanting to do anything like that.

[Xithras]

8. Long history of this. It's illegal to execute a virgin in Iran.

There's a prohibition against it in the Koran.

Forced marriage, however, is perfectly legal. The Iranian authorities sidestep the law by forcing the women to marry a guard or soldier. A marriage isn't legal in the Islamic system until it's consummated, so the husband forces his new "wife" to have sex with him.

Voila. The woman isn't a virgin anymore, no rape has been committed under their legal system, and she can now be executed.

[Captain Hilts]

10. A very tidy system, eh? nt

[Flaneur]

12. Did you take that directly from the black propaganda piece that is the OP?

'Cuz is sure seems like it.

[Xithras]

16. No, I took it from the Chaldean sitting 15 feet from me.

If you have a question about Iran, ask an Iranian. While many (possibly most) do consider it shameful, these types of forced marriages aren't even a secret there and have been going on institutionally at least since the 1980's, and at a smaller scale back to the days of the shahs. The practice itself is even older, and can be traced back over a thousand years (as long as there have been virgin criminals, there has been a need for a way to "deal" with them since the Koran prohibits their execution).

No propaganda, just history.

[Odin2005]

22. OMG, that's fucking barbaric.

That is why I have no respect for barbaric cultures and cultural relativists who apologize of this BS.

[Flaneur]

11. Uh, the sourcing on this is pretty questionable.

What do we have here?

1. Supposed anonymous Basiji member
2. Interviewed anonymously by phone
3. Arranged by a "reliable source" whose identity can also not be revealed.

Why should anyone believe a word of this?

This smells like black propaganda of the rankest sort. Right up there with Kuwaiti incubator babies.

[Ilsa]

13. I hear you. That's why I came to DU with it, to get more experienced

opinions on the story in general and specifically. Also, to warn DUers that they'll probably be hearing more propaganda like this.

[cali]

14. I have no idea if this is propaganda or not.

What I do know is that the Iranian justice system is strongly biased against women. That is NOT propaganda.

[vixengrl]

15. I found this from some years ago--

http://www.aljadid.com/reviews/0942tarabishi.html

It remains to be said that the fate of women in the prisons of the Iranian Islamic Revolution is worse than the fate of men. It is not necessarily because women are less resistant and less tolerant to torture, but because women are considered from the theological perspective of the Iranian regime to be an element of seduction, and their bodies a place of evil and impurity. The torture of a woman's body may take the form of rape. Despite the necessity of secrecy that imposes itself in these cases, some women political prisoners have dared to speak up in their memoirs about the torture and rape they were subjected to. However most of the women either were not given the chance to talk or have chosen not to talk. In fact, raped women were often executed. A woman's rape is frequently the last act that precedes her execution. This is explained by the rule in Iranian political prisons that the sentence of execution cannot be carried out if the woman is a virgin. Since there is a theological belief that if a woman dies a virgin she will go to heaven, the politically active virgin is forced to "marry" before her execution and thus to insure she will go to hell. She is forced to "marry" the hangman who will carry out her execution.. This marriage is conducted as a legitimate and official contract which includes, among other things, an estimated dowry. This "dowry" is subsequently paid to the family of the victim; it simultaneously becomes the equivalent of an official notification that she was executed.

I have heard of such things happening in Iran before, as well as other Islamic countries.

[MoonRiver]

18. My understanding is that the Koran doesn't allow a virgin 8 or under to be executed.

So, they were raped to allow a Koran sanctioned execution. :puke:

[SidneyCarton]

19. Someday there will be justice done to this regime for its sins.

I pity these men, I pity their families, for if it comes through blood it will end poorly for them.

[Odin2005]

21. OMG, There are no words...

:cry: :grr:

Sick, evil, monsters. May they burn in Hell!