Women Should Be Treasured Not Shamed, Valued Not Blamed.

May 24th, 2007· Posted by Velvet Hammer · No Comments ·

There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to men. - Mohandas K. Gandhi

A distressing yet necessary trip down memory lane, highlighting the harsh reality of the abuse Iranian women suffered after the revolution. Sadly enough it is in the not so distant past. My concern is that history may be on the path to repeating itself.

Women, Islam & Equality

Excerpts:

Chapter Two - Prime Victims

The revolution of 1979 marked the end of an era for Iran. After 2,500 years, the monarchy had been abolished. A new era of freedom, the people believed, had dawned, and they would at last live under a system which reflected both their aspirations for modern democracy and their national heritage. But all too soon, the dream became a nightmare, with the return of dictatorship, this time under the guise of religion.

This medieval theocracy’s first and foremost victims have been women. Khomeini and his heirs view women as sub-human, and deny their fundamental rights. Indeed, misogyny is the underpinning of the velayat-e faqih mentality. Under the mullahs’ rule, discrimination against women was institutionalized, and violence against them became the norm. In every aspect of life, women were doubly oppressed.

Brutalizing Dissident Women

On February 3, 1984, Khomeini said: “Killing is a form of mercy because it rectifies the person. Sometimes a person cannot be reformed unless he is cut up and burnt….You must kill, burn and lock up those in opposition.” To survive, the clerical rulers must kill the thirst for freedom in all human beings, or they will reject its monopoly on power. With its cruel massacres, stoning and hangings in public, the regime wants to instill despair in the lives of all Iranians. For this reason, 100,000 Iranians, among them tens of thousands of women, have been executed and another 150,000 have been incarcerated, and subjected to 74 forms of physical and psychological tortures.

The Iranian regime is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. According to article 6 of the Covenant, the execution of individuals under the age of 18 as well as pregnant women is prohibited.

Disregarding their international commitments, the mullahs have shown no qualms about executing women of all ages; from 13-year-old adolescents like Fatemeh Mesbah, Maryam Ghodsi-Maab, 16; Ezzat Mesbah, 15; Mojgan Jamshidi, 14; and Nooshin Emami, 16; to 70-year-old grandmothers like Ettesamossadat Karbasi; Arasteh Qolivand, 56; Soqra Davari, 54; and Massoumeh Shadmani, 50.

Mina Mohammadian was executed on February 29, 1987, on political charges. She was held in solitary confinement for eleven months prior to her execution. During that period, she went through forty interrogation sessions, during which she was subjected to the most horrendous tortures. She was repeatedly raped by the regime’s Guards. She was 22 at the time of her execution.

Women political prisoners are kept in so-called “residential units” (cement cages, 50 cm square), with their heads cramped down onto their knees, for months at a time. They are beaten regularly, up to 50 times a day. Another common torture of women political prisoners, besides systematic flogging, is suspension for hours from the ceiling by the hands, or upside down, by the feet. In some cases, the torture leads first to paralysis, then to the woman’s death. Nahid Shahrokhi- Mahalati, a 22-year-old teacher, was suspended from the ceiling for a prolonged period. She died under torture.

Violence against women

The penal code subjects women to extreme penalties if they do not comply with dress codes laid down by the clerical establishment. In his final report on January 2, 1992, to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, the Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Iran wrote: “… the Prosecutor General, Abolfazl Musavi Tabrizi, said that `anyone who rejects the principle of the `Hijab’ (dress code) is an apostate and the punishment for an apostate under Islamic law is death.’” According to Ressalat on January 6, 1987, Khomeini declared, “Hijab is a requirement, and those who reject it must be condemned to Takfir (excommunication).” It goes without saying that under the mullahs’ rule, Takfir translates into execution.

In some occasions, the punitive action leads to the death of the woman. On September 2, 1993, in Tehran, Bahareh Vojdani, a 20-year-old girl, was stopped by the vice squads for mal-veiling. She resisted the Guards’ condescending behavior and the public reprimand. The Guards shot and killed her on the spot in broad daylight, as onlookers watched.

Read it all.

Is the atmosphere surrounding ahmadinejad’s presidency, emulating the evil misogynistic repressiveness of the revolution? From where I sit, it is frighteningly damn close.

Warning: Video contains nauseating images of monkey man ahmadinejad.

What a lying deceitful bastard. Lull the people into a false sense of security, then lower the boom!

Ahmadinejad on (the Iranian) People

Updated March 12 2008:
The YouTube video I had posted is no longer available. User ‘Divoonezanjiri’s’ accounted has been suspended. I am glad I had copied and pasted the translation in lieu of linking to it.

Added: April 27, 2007
From: Divoonezanjiri

There is a distinct contradiction between ahmadinejad’s claims and his actions.
He promised people to avoid dressing control (Hijab censorship) but these days we can see the fascistic atmosphere all around the country.

Translation of video:

Is our arch problem our youth’s hairstyle?
Well, our youth can get any hairstyle as they want.
It does not concern us.
We should organize basic problems of country.
It means government should settle economy.
Government should pacify country’s atmosphere.
[Government should] bring psychological security.
[Government should] support the people.
People have various interests.
[They have] various customs.
[We have] various races.
[We have] various types of people.
Government serves all of the people.
Why we belittle people?
Assume that we belittle the people, so our youth’s main trouble is their hairstyle and government disturbs them.
Is this status of government?
Is this status of people?
This is really insulting to our people.
Why we belittle the people?
Is our country’s problem type of girls’ clothing?
Is this our country’s problem?
Is this our people’s problem?

(more)

Actions truly do speak louder than words. In the case of the present day treatment of women in Iran, it is achingly loud and clear.

This has been posted as a companion piece to Mane[ia] Which I am pleased to say, is my debut posting at ‘Infidel Bloggers Alliance’.

And a follow-up (of sorts) to “A less cruel execution”

Related articles from around the blogosphere.

It happened in Tehran, June 12, 2006, at 5 p.m. @ Lady Sun

Mullah Compares Unveiled Women to Buses: “Anyone Can Ride Them” @ Gateway Pundit

Sugiero has an amazing video of one particular Iranian woman fighting back. Linked post is also where I obtained, the ‘Mustafa Pour Mohammadi’ quote I have used above.

Islamic Dress Code - Supression of Women @ sugiero

Updated: Islamic Police of Iran: torturing youths in the street (II) @ Spanish Pundit

*A special thank you to The_Editrix for inspiring me to delve into this subject.

Height OpenTrackback Weekend @ Woman Honor Thyself

Comment posted by Ping,Ping,Ping… « in2thefray
at 5/28/2007 8:05:40 PM

[…] VelvetHammer had a great post regarding the absolute crazy onslaught Iran is unleashing on it’s citizens. I had a post cooking on the subject but I’m yielding,pinging and feeling right about it. The Iranian government and with that I mean radical Islamic nuts are arresting women and young people due to their appearances. A great series of moving images can be found here. […]

Comment posted by plodon
at 5/25/2007 5:40:21 PM

I think one of the things that bugs me most about the “thinking” behind stuff like what’s talked about in this post is the underlying idea men have no self-control [ladies, no commentary on that will be necessary, thankyouverymuch ]. That malarky is an excuse to avoid personal responsibility and doesn’t see men in a very positive light, if you think about it. There were people in what’s now Iran a long time before the veil-or-die thing, yet they somehow managed not to destroy their society in a frenzy of uncontrollable rape at the sight of an ankle or something.