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Women’s Forum Against Fundamentalism in
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Public Statement
July
20, 2005
Khamenei Inaugurates
Ahmadinejad with Significant Increase in Public Hangings, Detention, and
Violence
BOSTON, MA- On June 25th,
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali
Khamenei, manufactured a presidential victory for Ahmadinejad, an international
terror monger of the fundamentalist regime in Tehran. Wasting no time,
Khamenei launched an intense campaign to instill fear in the society,
particularly among women and youth. While the
fundamentalist regime has no public legitimacy, violence and terror are the
only engines for control of power in Iran.
Over the past two weeks,
Women’s Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran has received various
reports indicating a dangerous renewal of state sponsor of violence in
different cities:
On July 5, a couple was hanged in
the central Iran, city of Esfahan. The wife, Roya M., 28, and the husband Mohammad M, 32, faced public
lashing of 74 strokes before their execution. Reports indicate they were
unconscious when executed.
On July 6, three young men were
publicly hanged in the city of Mashad, northwest of Iran. While the state-run
media reported the hanging as criminal punishment, UN and various NGO’s have
reported on execution of dissidents in the guise of common criminals.
On July 7, a young
man was publicly hanged in the town of Salmaz,
northwest of Iran.
On July 10, State
Security Forces gunned down a young Kurdish man and dragged his body throughout
the city of Mahabad,
northwest of Iran, for
several hours.
On July 11, State Security Forces
launched new wave of crackdown on women targeting “mal-veiled
or unveiled individuals inside and outside of cars”. WFAFI has received reports
on arrests of women in “shops and public places where public chastity and
Islamic values are ignored”.
On July 13, a young
man, accused of killing a State Security Force officer, was publicly hanged in
town of Poldokhtar, western region of Iran.
On July 19, two
young men, one under 18, were publicly hanged in the city of Mashad,
northeast of Iran. Both
faced public lashing of 220 strokes before execution. Despite repeated pleas to
save the minors’ life, Islamic Tribunal of Mashad
upheld the ruling according to Iran’s penal code which sanctions execution of
girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15.
On August 3, 2005, Ahmadinejad will be
sworn into office by Khamenei, in a ceremony to be attended by the heads of the
executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the fundamentalist regime in Tehran. Given
the last two weeks of intense violence and crackdown, the world community
should make the issue of human rights a high priority with respect to Iran.
WFAFI
calls upon all the freedom loving and peace seeking governments of the world to
hold the fundamentalist regime of Tehran
responsible for its continued atrocities and crimes. We can no longer sit on
the sideline while the terror engines of mullahs are crushing women and youth
of Iran.
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WFAFI
P.O.Box 15205,
Boston, MA 02215
Tel: (617) 590-1665
Fax: (610) 862-9110