Iran Tries to Suppress Rape Allegations

[steven johnson]

Source: NY Times

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Iran's clerical leadership on Friday stepped up a campaign to silence opposition claims that protesters had been raped in prison, with prayer leaders in at least three major cities denouncing the accusations and their chief sponsor.
The accusations of rape - usually a taboo subject in Iran - have multiplied and provoked strong reactions in the days since a reformist cleric and presidential candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, broached the subject last weekend. His allegations added fuel to an already volatile debate about prison abuse in the wake of Iran's disputed June 12 election.
Also on Friday, a group of reformist former lawmakers issued an extraordinary statement on opposition Web sites in which they denounced the government's harsh tactics and appealed to a powerful state body to investigate the qualifications of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although it was not clear who had endorsed the statement, or even if all of the lawmakers were in the country, it appeared to be the most direct challenge to the supreme leader's authority yet in the unrest following the election.


Read more: http://mobile.nytimes.com/article;jsessionid=2EC993238E97D6EFE02C5AA5CFB24BF4.w6?a=422292&f=110

[Warpy]

1. I was reading the message boards earlier

and one of the conservative clerics led Friday prayers. It's ordinarily a big deal there, well attended. It was heavily boycotted to the point the cleric complained about the poor attendance.

Some see the absence of large demonstrations as evidence that the anti Ahmedinejad movement has ended.

I think it's just beginning.

[formercia]

2. The opposition is becoming smart.

Being a martyr serves only the Regime.

[Wizard777]

3. Some people enact strict moral codes as a means of selecting victims for the perversions of those -

enacted the code. They think it justifies their perverse amoral behavior. You violated the code and now I violate you. You spoke your mind and now we will rape you. YOU are a bad person. Look at what YOU forced us to do to you. YOUR evil knows no end. Then the self righteous soul savers go off to pray that the person speaks their mind again tomorrow so they can get laid again. These are not Holy men or law enforcers. They are simply perverts that try to conceal their perversions behind authority.

[Odin2005]

4. Just like how rapists blame the victim for being raped. Same evil, BS reasoning!

:cry: :puke: :grr:

[Wizard777]

6. We've moved very far beyond that here in America. But we are not without sin.

There was a point in time when a woman showing her ankles in public made her a harlot and a temptress that was begging for it. After all if the woman didn't want men subscribing to masculine nature. All they had to do was keep their ankles covered. She was giving the go signal by exposing her ankles in public. This was a valid defense to a rape charge. But we have come very far beyond those day of our own self righteous morality to achieve the equality of Justice. We haven't achieved perfect justice. But we continue to strive for that more perfect union.

[Odin2005]

5. The heads of these MONSTERS should roll!

:grr: