Galloway's Iranian propaganda?

international | gender and sexuality | other press

Thursday March 27, 2008 17:20

by pat c

In this article, Peter Tatchell deals with the latest lies and homophobic outbursts from George Galloway. In this case Galloway is supporting the Iranian Regiome even when it comes to the execution of gays using any lies to cover for them.

George Galloway, the Respect MP, has made allegations that border on paedophile smears and play to homophobic prejudice. He claims the boyfriend of gay Iranian asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi was executed (1) for "committing sex crimes against young men". The insinuation of such a claim is that Mehdi's boyfriend was a rapist or a child sex abuser and also stigmatises Mehdi as he was his partner. He will suffer this stigma when he is returned to the UK and could face personal hostility from people who believe these allegations . Galloway made his astonishing allegation on Channel Five's The Wright Stuff. He has been asked to explain the source of his claim, but has so far failed to do so.

I am not aware of any paedophile-style abuse claims against Mehdi's partner. No human rights group has mentioned any evidence that Mehdi's boyfriend was a rapist or a child molester. The Tehran Regime frequently defame political, ethnic and sexual dissidents with false claims of rape, alcoholism, adultery, drug-taking, not even the most extreme ayatollahs have alleged that Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend was involved in sex abuse. But Galloway broadcast this serious, defamatory, allegation and has failed to back it up with evidence.

To some people, Galloway's claims look like propaganda in defence of the totalitarian, homophobic Islamic Republic of Iran. His passionate opposition to a war against Iran, which I share, seems to have clouded his judgement; leading him to downplay the regime's persecution of lesbians and gays, which includes state-sanctioned executions. In the same interview for The Wright Stuff, Galloway went on to state: "All the [British] papers seem to imply that you get executed in Iran for being gay. That's not true."

His claim that lesbian and gay people are not at risk of execution in Iran is refuted by every reputable human rights organisation, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and the International Lesbian and Gay Association. None of these esteemed bodies are anti-Iran warmongers, as Galloway has subsequently seemed to imply.

The leftwing US journalist, Doug Ireland, has documented (2) cases of the flogging and execution of men who have sex with men in Iran. These are just the cases we know about. It is likely that some similar executions never get media coverage in Iran and are therefore unknown to the outside world.

The Iranian Queer Rights Organisation (3) also confirms that homosexuality is a capital offence and that gay Iranians are subjected to brutal punishments, including torture and hanging.

The government of Iran admits that it has the death penalty for homosexuality. Gay people are sometimes tortured to make confessions - even false confessions. Iranian law makes no distinction between consensual and non-consensual same-sex relations. Both are punishable by execution.

If Iran doesn't execute queers, why does it need to retain the death penalty for same-sex relations? Why doesn't it repeal a law it supposedly never enforces? Why doesn't it announce a moratorium on hangings for homosexuality?

1. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/a-life-o....html

2. http://www.petertatchell.net/international/iranhomophob...d.htm

3. http://www.irqo.net/

The Galloway interview is on the embedded vid link.

Full article by Peter Tatchell at link below.