From: Grace Poore <gpoore@iglhrc.org>
Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:32:20 -0800 (PST)
Subject: EXECUTION IN IRAN HALTED
To: "YThelwell@cs.com" <YThelwell@cs.com>, Yasmin Tambiah
<ytambiah@yahoo.co.uk>, yeewon@haymarket.org, Yanin Senachai
<ysenachai@apiahf.org>, palak_shah@yahoo.com, cyril.ghosh@gmail.com,
Sonia Kumari <kaligrrrl@yahoo.com>, sonia.mansoor@egothemag.com, Ahmed
<mfondini@yahoo.com>, Sahar Shafqat <sshafqat@yahoo.com>, Saadia Toor
<saadiatoor@hotmail.com>, Faisal Alam <alam.faisal@gmail.com>,
minaal_fatiha@yahoo.com, andy yentriyani <syiw4@yahoo.com>,
nskhan46@yahoo.com, neni@komnasperempuan.or.id, Dinny Jusuf
<dinnyjusuf@yahoo.com>, Nina Jusuf <ninajusuf@gmail.com>, ChikaNoya
<chikanoya@gmail.com>, neng dara affiah <nengdara@yahoo.com>
Cc: gpoore@iglhrc.org
Hi everyone -
In case you haven't seen it, I am sending IGLHRC's
Information Update about the recent halted execution
in Iran. I would appreciate a conversation with you
if you have thoughts to share, particularly my friends
and colleagues who are anti death penalty advocates,
child rights advocates, transformative justice
advocates, LGBT advocates, anti-violence advocates ...
Please feel free to circulate this widely. Text
included below. Or read it online:
http://www.iglhrc.org/site/iglhrc/section.php?id=5&detail=801
In the spirit of shared resistance,
Grace Poore
============
EXECUTION IN IRAN HALTED: IGLHRC CITES GLOBAL PROTEST
AS CENTRAL
(New York, Wednesday Novermber 14, 2007) - The
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC) has learned that the Iranian Chief Justice,
Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, has
nullified the impending death sentence of Mr. Makvan
Mouloodzadeh, a 21-year old Iranian citizen found
guilty of multiple counts of anal rape (ighab),
allegedly committed when he was 13 years old. The
Iranian Chief Justice described the death sentence to
be in violation of Islamic teachings, the religious
decrees of high-ranking Shiite clerics, and the law of
the land.
"This is a stunning victory for human rights and a
reminder of the power of global protest," said Paula
Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's executive director, who on
November 5 sent a letter in Persian and English asking
that Iranian authorities intervene to halt the
execution.
The verdict in Mr. Mouloodzadeh's case was
questionable from the outset. Although no one ever
accused him of rape, the court declared otherwise. All
parties involved in the case told the court that their
statements during the investigation were either
untruthful or coerced. The investigation was also
riddled with procedural irregularities.
Recognizing that the death sentence in this case
violated both international law and the Penal Code of
the Islamic Republic of Iran, IGLHRC took action. In
addition to writing letters to the Iranian
authorities, IGLHRC issued an action alert on November
5, 2007, which prompted activists from around the
world to respond by sending over 100 emails demanding
an immediate halt to Makvan's execution. Other human
rights organizations, including Amnesty International,
Human Rights Watch, and the Iranian Queer Organization
issued action alerts of their own.
"It is absolutely imperative that we halt the
deplorable use of the death penalty to force social
conformity," said Ettelbrick. "We hope that Makvan's
case and the profound rejection of the death penalty
by the Iranian Chief Justice sets the course for the
future in Iran."
After a designated group of judges from the Chief
Justice's office formally nullifies the court's
decision, the case will be sent to a local court for
retrial.
You can read IGLHRC's action alert on our website:
http://www.iglhrc.org/site/iglhrc/section.php?id=5&detail=797
Our Letter to the Iranian authorities is also posted
on our website in both English and Persian:
http://www.iglhrc.org/site/iglhrc/section.php?id=5&detail=798
=================
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Faisal Alam
alam.faisal@gmail.com
"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted."
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
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