Im so happy Creepyfloyd is back as RhoderickRhodes! Here's some happy stuff about kids in Iran for you. I hope you give me some happy response like you did on the "playing for peace". You're right, I never knew how great the teens have it in Iran, it must be Laguna Beach! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/5217424.stm Execution of a teenage girl A television documentary team has pieced together details surrounding the case of a 16-year-old girl, executed two years ago in Iran. On 15 August, 2004, Atefah Sahaaleh was hanged in a public square in the Iranian city of Neka. Her death sentence was imposed for "crimes against chastity". The state-run newspaper accused her of adultery and described her as 22 years old. But she was not married - and she was just 16. Sharia Law In terms of the number of people executed by the state in 2004, Iran is estimated to be second only to China. In the year of Atefah's death, at least 159 people were executed in accordance with the Islamic law of the country, based on the Sharia code. Since the revolution, Sharia law has been Iran's highest legal authority. Alongside murder and drug smuggling, sex outside marriage is also a capital crime. As a signatory of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, Iran has promised not to execute anyone under the age of 18. But the clerical courts do not answer to parliament. They abide by their religious supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, making it virtually impossible for human rights campaigners to call them to account. Code of behaviour At the time of Atefah's execution in Neka, journalist Asieh Amini heard rumours the girl was just 16 years old and so began to ask questions. "When I met with the family," says Asieh, "they showed me a copy of her birth certificate, and a copy of her death certificate. Both of them show she was born in 1988. This gave me legitimate grounds to investigate the case." So why was such a young girl executed? And how could she have been accused of adultery when she was not even married? Disturbed by the death of her mother when she was only four or five years old, and her distraught father's subsequent drug addiction, Atefah had a difficult childhood. She was also left to care for her elderly grandparents, but they are said to have shown her no affection. In a town like Neka, heavily under the control of religious authorities, Atefah - often seen wandering around on her own - was conspicuous. It was just a matter of time before she came to the attention of the "moral police", a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, whose job it is to enforce the Islamic code of behaviour on Iran's streets. Secret relationship Being stopped or arrested by the moral police is a fact of life for many Iranian teenagers. Previously arrested for attending a party and being alone in a car with a boy, Atefah received her first sentence for "crimes against chastity" when she was just 13. Although the exact nature of the crime is unknown, she spent a short time in prison and received 100 lashes. Atefah was soon caught in a downward spiral of arrest and abuse When she returned to her home town, she told those close to her that lashes were not the only things she had to endure in prison. She described abuse by the moral police guards. Soon after her release, Atefah became involved in an abusive relationship with a man three times her age. Former revolutionary guard, 51-year-old Ali Darabi - a married man with children - raped her several times. She kept the relationship a secret from both her family and the authorities. Atefah was soon caught in a downward spiral of arrest and abuse. Local petition Circumstances surrounding Atefah's fourth and final arrest were unusual. The moral police said the locals had submitted a petition, describing her as a "source of immorality" and a "terrible influence on local schoolgirls". But there were no signatures on the petition - only those of the arresting guards. Men's word is accepted much more clearly and much more easily than women Mohammad Hoshi, Iranian lawyer and exile Three days after her arrest, Atefah was in a court and tried under Sharia law. The judge was the powerful Haji Rezai, head of the judiciary in Neka. No court transcript is available from Atefah's trial, but it is known that for the first time, Atefah confessed to the secret of her sexual abuse by Ali Darabi. However, the age of sexual consent for girls under Sharia law - within the confines of marriage - is nine, and furthermore, rape is very hard to prove in an Iranian court. "Men's word is accepted much more clearly and much more easily than women," according to Iranian lawyer and exile Mohammad Hoshi. "They can say: 'You know she encouraged me' or 'She didn't wear proper dress'." Court of appeal She was my love, my heart... I did everything for her, everything I could Atefah's father When Atefah realised her case was hopeless, she shouted back at the judge and threw off her veil in protest. It was a fatal outburst. She was sentenced to execution by hanging, while Darabi got just 95 lashes. Shortly before the execution, but unbeknown to her family, documents that went to the Supreme Court of Appeal described Atefah as 22. "Neither the judge nor even Atefah's court appointed lawyer did anything to find out her true age," says her father. And a witness claims: "The judge just looked at her body, because of the developed physique... and declared her as 22." Judge Haji Rezai took Atefah's documents to the Supreme Court himself. And at six o'clock on the morning of her execution he put the noose around her neck, before she was hoisted on a crane to her death. Pain and death During the making of the documentary about Atefah's death the production team telephoned Judge Haji Rezai to ask him about the case, but he refused to comment. The human rights organisation Amnesty International says it is concerned that executions are becoming more common again under President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad, who advocates a return to the pure values of the revolution. The judiciary have never admitted there was any mishandling of Atefah's case. For Atefah's father the pain of her death remains raw. "She was my love, my heart... I did everything for her, everything I could," he says. He did not get the chance to say goodbye. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/5217424.stm Published: 2006/07/27 19:01:07 GMT © BBC MMVI
The threat to America by Iran is nothing compared to the threat of Iran to its own people. Its r****ded laws, bad economy, bad international relations, and bad government.
Careful tinman, don't launch into a 'knee-jerk' anti-Iran tirade just because you're upset with Rhodes or Creepy or whomever else. Don't abandon that cheery presence you have in the D&D, lest you force me to take you more seriously.
RodrickRhodes Answer my questions: Did you have any problems with the sexist regime of Iran? Do you have any problems with Iranian judges killing 16 year olds because they were raped? Do you have any problems with the sexist policies of Iran towards Arab and Muslim women? I'm sure Hakeem does. Please try to answer the questions directly, if not, your silence on the issues will condemn you. Don't be like the original RodrickRhodes who had no heart.
i dont think iran poses any threat to the united states. the economy wouldn't be fixed tomorrow if they started being secular. its systemic. its got too many people. it snot a simple solution. and the bad international relations are primarily only with the US. the europeans and asians are fine with it. as is most of the arab world. not lovey dovey. but they're ok. as far as the bad government...a lot of this nonsense was slowly changing under khatami. but honestly the axis of evil speech hurt iran a lot more than people think.
I was keeping the flow from RodrickRhodes original post. Call it creative license. And 3% of Iran's population is Arab so it is not technically incorrect.
there's always a hidden important message in my post. kinda like south park! dont worry tigermission, i'm keeping it real!
Otto, The fact that this dude drags Hakeem's name into this mess is a good reason to get kicked. Hakeem (for you Creepy) did speak out AGAINST CHRIS JACKSON (Adul Rauf) about his not respecting the National Anthem. The women do have it bad. I went to a screening of some Iranian documentaries from the Austin Film Society and it just proves normal things are hard. One documentary had a women who really hated her husband and wanted a divorce. It was such a long process to get a divorce, but if the guy wanted to divorce her, it would be simple as pie. Also for this article, i feel bad for the teenagers. I mean high school is bad enough for kids here, but having 'moral police' around? that's a good way to screw up a kid's life.
if your daughter goes out with some dude in high school, does she get 100 lashes? I'll take our messed up system any day of the week, year, century over Irans. The whole Laguna beach crew would be hanged in Iran.
It is bad from our point of view. Make no mistake about it. But at the same time, the free flowing democratic capitalistic Singapore would execute people on non-violent drug violation, which is generally treated as lowest degree of legal offense in the U.S. And there are those ultra-liberal, socialist, pansy-pacifist hippie European countries that consider us god fearing Jesus loving red blooded Americans barbaric and cruel for executing women, mentally challenged, and minors.
The USA should do everything in its' power to tip Iran's government over.....but DO NOT invade.....do it through economic and ideologic pressures.... Take the Reagan approach let the system collapse by itself ala Russia. DD
tinman seems upset and is now trying to be taken seriously here in the debate and discussion section i don't know anything about iran, but it seems that they have some problems and i'm against the death penalty i mainly follow the situation in the arab world and for the record i'm not creepyfloyd
Okay let me preface this comment im going to make. I'm not a political buff i only have my thoughts and ideas from what i see and read and i don't claim to understand the inner workings of Iran's goverment let alone the US's. Yes im of Iranian Decent and i hardly post in the D&D but i do read it a lot to get peoples views and i sometimes will post if i think i have something worthy to say. I for one can't stand the ideas and laws that these regilious governments have, whether it's Iran or anyone else. The way they handle things really brings me to a point of rage and i can't understand why it's like that. However when i look at it further the happenings in this case can be likened to so many more in the world that we will never hear about. Iran is not the only country in this world that hash harsh penalties for crimes against others or anything in general. I'm sure we all remember the US kid that spit gum on the floor in Singapore that got caned? Even in the begining of the article it says Iran is second behind China in executions, why have they not been every brought up before. Im sure there is enough injustices in their country regarding their executions as much as Irans. I guess it's a shame how political things and whoever is in the limelight of the news will always get lights shined on things that go on there but others can be swept under the rug. Don't get me wrong i am not condoning it, but to everyone that says i can't believe this or that, look to other countries that have the same crap going on or even worse but never make it to your ears. Some of the injustices in our own country are too crappy to hear and listen to. In a country that is so advanced as we are we still have a backwards way of handling so many things. It's easy to just go and agree with things and believe its one way or another but to be honest this kind of crap goes on in countries every day and we don't ever see or hear or it at all. I'm the first one that wants reform in my country. It used to be something else there before all this crap happened with the Mollahs. The country needs reform from it's goverment and will need help from countries to do it. Not by intervening but someway letting it kill it self. These type of executions are sickening to hear about. They were even present back in early times in the United States. Adultery and improper behaivor were always looked down upon. Over time our country has adapted and became more relaxed and these don't apply. Unfortunantly in some countries such as Iran and others, these morals and laws are still concrete and they are not going to change.
you're right, you are rodrickrhodes, creepyfloyd's alternative name now gimme my name back! oh and we in texas have a new goal to shoot for - - we had 23 executions in '04
They enforce their morality through laws I cannot argue what they beleive because I am not them and it is their country . . why is wrong for them to set their rules? I don't like it I don't endorse it While we scream how barberic this is . . . Do they have as many STDS, Teen pregnancies, abortions as we? to them they feel the death of a few . . . is better than those social ills As stated I don't endorse it but I wonder . . . how does it affect their society as a whole Rocket River
