Iran's hanging binge

[Eddie Dane]

So...anyone else think an independent Kurdistan would be a good idea?

Chris Hitchens thinks it is a good idea and I agree.

There are forty million Kurds and they have the right to self determination.

Sorry if it makes states like Iran, Iraq and Turkey look look stupid to lose some terrain.

The issue is under-reported.

 

[Cleon]

Chris Hitchens thinks it is a good idea and I agree.

There are forty million Kurds and they have the right to self determination.

Sorry if it makes states like Iran, Iraq and Turkey look look stupid to lose some terrain.

The issue is under-reported.

Yep.

 

[Virus]

and why is that?

The Kurds are the largest stateless minority in the Middle East. They've been persecuted by all other major ethnic groups. The issue of Kurdish independence goes way back before the Israel/Palestine issue. The Iraqi Kurds are our allies, they're pro-West and pro-democracy. They aren't a terminal ****-up like the Palestinians.

 

[Thunder]

The Iraqi Kurds are our allies, they're pro-West and pro-democracy. They aren't a terminal ****-up like the Palestinians Israelis.

fixed for accuracy.

 

[Darth Rotor]

So...anyone else think an independent Kurdistan would be a good idea?

Yes. I do. Odds of it coming about aren't good, with Iran, Iraq, and Turkey not so keen on the idea.

 

[ddt]

Yesterday, the Netherlands recalled its ambassador from Tehran over the execution of Ms. Bahrami, who holds both the Dutch and the Iranian nationality (link).

Ms. Bahrami was convicted primarily of drug trafficking. To be fair, there might be truth to the charge considering she had a previous conviction, but the death sentence is still barbaric.

The Iranian authorities didn't recognize her dual nationality and consequently refused the Dutch embassy access to her. She was sentenced to death and executed last week. The Iranian authorities interred her body yesterday 400 km outside Tehran; they had given the family only a few hours notice so they couldn't even be present.

ETA: due to Iran's refusal to release the body, there are speculations she may have been tortured to death instead of having had a proper execution.

Dutch Foreign Minister Mr. Rosenthal was criticized in parliament for his failure to prevent this and to contact his Iranian counterpart in a timely manner. He had chosen for the "silent diplomacy route". In a previous case of a dual Dutch/Iranian citizen, wide publicity had helped in his death sentence being converted.

 

[Mycroft]

I seem to recall reading an article about Iranian executions. IIRC, it is against the law to execute a woman if she's a virgin. So if the woman is a virgin, they will arrange for her to be "married" and then raped before being executed.

 

[Mycroft]

Found a link:

http://www.news.com.au/iran-virgin-prisoners-raped-for-legal-executions/story-0-1225752873650

Female virgins "forcibly married" Then "raped to make exeuctions legal" Girls feared rape more than executions
MEMBERS of Iran's feared Basij militia forcibly marry female virgin prisoners the night before scheduled executions, raping their new "wives" and making it religiously acceptable to execute them, a self-professed member of the paramilitary group says.
The anonymous militiaman, exposing a part of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's religious regime in Iran, told The Jerusalem Post that at age 18 he was "given the honor to temporarily marry young girls before they were sentenced to death".

In the Islamic Republic of Iran it is illegal to execute a woman if she is a virgin, the former guard said.

Imagine having that duty on your job description.

 

[Giz]

It is long overdue that the foul stench coming from the theocracy of Iran faces the full force of the left.

When you say "face the full force of the left"... what do you have in mind? candlelight vigils in Trafalgar square, serious tut-tut-ing at Islington dinner parties, perhaps a strongly worded letter to the Guardian?

 

[Mycroft]

When you say "face the full force of the left"... what do you have in mind? candlelight vigils in Trafalgar square, serious tut-tut-ing at Islington dinner parties, perhaps a strongly worded letter to the Guardian?

See...if the US or Israel were to befriend Iran, then we'd see protests of US/Israeli complicity with Iranian crimes. Which, while not a condemnation of Iranian crimes, would at least be a step up to acknowledging them.