Iran executes 2 men for ‘sodomy by force’
Iran has executed two men for homosexual rape. The charge against them — “sodomy by force” — refers to “homosexual rape and/or non-consensual same-sex intercourse,” according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
HRANA is a press association established in 2009 by Iranian human rights advocates in order to report and disseminate news of human rights violations in Iran.
On the morning of January 30, two inmates accused of and convicted for “forced sodomy” were executed in Maragheh Central Prison.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, the executed inmates were Mehrdad (Akbar) Karimpour, age 32, and Farid Mohammadi.
Six years ago, they were arrested, accused of forcible sodomy, and subsequently sentenced to death. They have since been imprisoned.
In Iran’s law, forcible sodomy is ascribed to homosexual rape and/or non-consensual same-sex intercourse.
These executions have not yet been announced by judicial officials or reported by media inside Iran.
Subsequent news accounts in the West have mentioned the charge of “forced sodomy” but have not focused on the crime as rape.
Pink News, for example, reported:
Two gay men executed by Iran’s cruel regime for the ‘crime of sodomy’
Two men have been executed in Iran after they were imprisoned for six years on anti-gay “sodomy” charges, according to human rights groups and reports.
Mehrdad Karimpou and Farid Mohammadi are said to have been killed in the Maragheh prison in northwestern Iran, according to the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA).
According to HRANA, the two men were arrested six years ago on charges of “sodomy by force” and have been in prison ever since.
LGBT+ people in Iran often face horrific violence and discrimination just for living their truth. Sex between people of the same gender is illegal in the country and can be punishable by death or imprisonment.
Iran currently criminalises sex between men with the death penalty or 100 lashes and sex between women with 100 lashes.
Karmel Melamed, a journalist covering Iran, wrote on Twitter that the “Ayatollah regime” in the country “just executed two gay men” by “hanging” for the “crime of sodomy”.
He also called out US secretary of state Antony Blinken, LGBT+ organisation GLAAD and “other LGBT groups” in the US for not being “outraged” by “this horrific crime”.
Human rights and LGBT+ rights campaigner Peter Tatchell told the Jerusalem Post that the execution of the two men “follows a long-standing regime” of “state-sanctioned murder of gay men”.
He added these executions often involve “disputed charges after unfair trials”.
For more information, see these articles:
- Report: Iran executes two gay men for sodomy (Los Angeles Blade)
- Rights group: Iran executes 2 gay men over sodomy charges (Associated Press)
- Iran purportedly executes 2 gay men over sodomy charges (CBS News)
- Two gay men are hanged in Iran six years after they were jailed on ‘sodomy’ charges (Daily Mail)
