In the Iranian context, we are far from addressing the broader issue of Capital Punishment. I personally oppose capital punishment. I believe that the death penalty does not serve justice in the civilized world. My intent here however, is not to engage in the capital punishment debate. The intent is to bring attention to one of the many atrocities that persist for decades in Iran. A situation that is grave, inhumane and unacceptable. A topic that injures the core of humanity.
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime has consistently been a world record holder in executing its own citizens. Revenge executions of Kurdish and Beluchistani citizens such as those in the past few weeks are just one example among many. Public executions, execution of minors, stoning, public flogging and humiliation, have never ceased in the thirty-five year history of the Islamic regime. Only in the past ten days, 42 people have been executed in Iran. The circumstances under which people are tried and executed are vague and atrocious by any standard of humanity. Under the Islamic Republic justice system, a person can be executed for crimes such as “Waging war against God”, “Adultery”, “Apostasy” and “Sodomy”. The latter is used to oppress gays. Ambiguous and arbitrary religious interpretations shape the foundation of a justice system that is also used to oppress dissent and political opposition.
The barbarity of the Islamic Republic regime is obvious, deep rooted, and ingrained in its philosophy. There is abundant and indisputable evidence produced by reliable sources which prove that the Iranian regime’s violation of human rights is epidemic, ongoing and expansive. I recommend referring to the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Boroumand Foundation, Reporters Without Borders and a number of other sources’ reports to remove any doubt or ambiguity.
There are two dimensions to the issue of Capital Punishment which make Iran the punishment capital of the world. The regime’s use of violence as a means to suppress dissent on the one hand, and to overcome its incompetence to manage society effectively on the other hand, is only one dimension of a larger problem. As a means to institutionalize violence to achieve its objectives, the Islamic Regime in Iran crosses any boundary of humanity by routinely conducting public executions. This leads to the other dimension of a problem that has vast social and socio-psychological consequences. Thousands of “civilians”, many of whom are not necessarily aligned with the ruling Islamic Regime in Iran, flock to public spaces to view these abhorrent spectacles. Men, women and children of varying walks of life crowd the streets as someone is hanged in public. Imagine the psychological effects of such a spectacle on any human being, let alone an underaged child. Imagine the state of a society that not only seemingly condones such barbaric acts, but also participates in such spectacles as an audience.
Naturally they do not represent the majority of Iranians. It is obvious that the Iranian society does not share the barbarity of it’s ruling regime. These spectacles on the other hand, are not limited to small remote villages like that depicted in the last film I made in Iran. Public executions also take place in large cities. Even if a single civilian stands to watch a public execution in the middle of any given city, that society has a problem. Such spectacles indicate a deep rooted aberration that must be addressed on a grassroots level, especially where the ruling establishment has failed as miserably as the Islamic Republic has failed.
According to an amnesty international report published by the Guardian (April 12, 2013), Iran holds second place in the world with 1663 executions between 2007 and 2012. Third place is Saudi Arabia with 423 executions. The United States executed 220 people in that time period. One piece of information that I have failed to locate, is the average time period between the conviction and actual execution. The death row wait time is key to assessing how the justice system works in any given country. I suspect that Iran holds a world record in the minimum average time spent on death row by those sentenced to capital punishment.
This is not the only example of barbarity that is perpetuated by the Islamic Republic regime of Iran. Torture, rape, intimidation, sexual, gender, religious and political discrimination and persecution, record drug addiction, child abuse and many other problems are endemic in Iran. How do we deal with these problems? How do we prioritize addressing these problems? Which issue is more pressing? How do we effectively communicate that the civilized world cannot accept such barbarity? Do we wait for the world powers to prioritize addressing human crises? Do we sit idly by and fret over the statistics published by the likes of Amnesty International or the United Nations? Is it enough for us to initiate social media petitions and take satisfaction from the number of signatures accumulated in those petitions? Do we simply bury our heads in the sand by claiming that those crowds spectating at public executions do not represent our society? They are part of our society, even if there is a mere handful of them. They are part of the problem and by extension, we are part of the problem by not dealing with it.
Many despots and dictators deny having any blood on their hands. The Islamic Republic regime does not. They visibly provide a hero’s welcome to a convicted assassin when he returns after serving his sentence in France. They name their streets after known international assassins. Numerous assassinations throughout the world have been ordered and carried out by the Iranian regime between 1979 and the mid-nineties. Several thousand political prisoners were executed in a matter of a few weeks in 1987. A multitude of assassinations and suspicious deaths have taken place during the eight-year “reform and moderation” period during the nineties. Hundreds of Iranian youth, artists, intellectuals and ordinary citizens have been persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and killed in the last 5 years alone. Only Apartheid South Africa might be a reasonable comparison to Iran in recent history.
How do we engage with such a regime? Do we start by negotiating over their nuclear programs? Do we adopt an isolation strategy of sanctions? Do we empower international human rights tribunals to expose and publicize the atrocities? Do we side with the silent majority who have no official domestic or international platform? Do we turn a blind eye to the atrocities, forgive and move on in the hopes of gradual positive change? Do we vote for the war mongers to engage militarily? Can we expect the beast to give up if we engage? Do we forgive? Do we forget? Do we forgive and forget?
I don’t have the answers to these questions. Even those answers that come to my mind would be flawed and misguided because I lack the knowledge and expertise to address such problems with this magnitude. All I can do is express my own shame and deep sorrow. I personally can neither forget nor forgive. Can you?
Babak Payami
Toronto, November 2013
Thanks to my friend Sia Ayrom for research and edit
EXTERNAL LINKS FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Boroumand Foundation
New Europe article
Princeton University item on Executions in Iran
Amnesty International report
Market Wired Article on post Rouhani executions
Nabz Iran list of executions in Iran
Daily Beast report on Executions in Iran