The Rape of Iranian Women -- Under Reported?

On July 25th, a "global day of action in unity with the people of Iran," I took part in an online project by artist and writers. I contributed an image and text to the website Panteas Roses entitled, "Stop the Rape."

I had been hearing stories about women demonstrators being raped before their
executions, since it was against Islamic law to execute a virgin. I tracked the
information back to an article in
The Jerusalem Post (7/19/09) by reporter Sabina Amidi, which recounted an interview with a member of the Basiji militia.

That same weekend, I learned of a video posted on YouTube about the rape of a young Iranian demonstrator. The person who put it up apologized for the graphic and brutal footage, but defended his choice with a plea for help from the rest of the world.

On July 17, 2009, The National Council of Resistance of Iran headlined the story, "Iran:
The burnt corpse of of female demonstrator found after a month of captivity." This is related to the practice of burning corpses post-rape/torture to cover up the crime.

Most of the people who responded to this information asked me why they hadn't heard anything about these incidents in the main stream media.

I didn't have an answer ... other than main stream media is not the only place to get news.

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Comments

[Phosphoricus]

It is not that rapes could not occur within the prison system in Iran. In in the US rape is common, and the US system may be considered more transparent than Iran's. There probably are rapes in Iranian prisons.

Amidi's "anonymous" reporting, however, simply represents another manifestation of a particularly malicious anti-Iranian rumor. The trope is that the Revolutionary Guards rape and marry virgins so as render them eligible for execution. Plenty of unreliable sources bring up this claim (including Satrapi's "Persepolis") but few reliable sources. Jpost, NCRI, etc. fall more into an anti-Iranian crowd with a reputation for anti-Iranian propaganda.

This is not so much a case of under-reporting as it is 'serious news organizations not publishing unsound anti-Iranian sensationalist propaganda.'

[TJCole]

That's how they roll, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, still think they deserve nuclear weapons..?

[Yank in France]

Excuse me, Simon, but I am writing from France where I hear stories of rape and torture in Iranian prisons every day. Check out this report from the highly respected progressive journal Nouvel Observateur: http://silencedansliran.blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2009/07/06/tortures-et-viols-a-evin.html
Just in case you can't make out the French, the first sentence make reference to numerous reports on Twitter (hard to verify, it is true, but they are adding up FAST), while three paragraphs down, it reads (my translation): "Women but also men are said to be systematically raped at Evin prison (this is not the first time we have heard such reports). Here is the French text; "Les femmes mais aussi les hommes seraient systématiquement violés à Evin (ce n'est pas la première fois que de tels bruits circulent)"
The repression in Iran must be FEROCIOUS since even hardliine conservatives are REPULSED following the murder and toruture of a close relative of the hardline presidential candidate and former Revolutionary Guardians chief.
The "ruling" clergy has every reason to be concerned, since the Revolutionary Guardian and Basjli militias are acting totally outside the framework of the legal structure of the Islamic regime. They have taken over both the police's responsibilities and those of prison management. In today's NYT, you can read of prisoners being beat to death in severely overcrowded cells.
If you support the Iranian people you will support them in their hour of need, instead of apologizing for oppression!!

[S1m0n]

When a single account from a single reporter writing for the most, um, most keenly ideological newspaper in the nation most hostile to Iran writes a scoop that no other paper picks up, the most likely reason isn't "there's a mainstream media conspiracy of silence!". The most likely explanation is: "reporters from other papers can't confirm this story. It's probably not true".

[dmyron]

We would like to think "not true". But just because it cannot be confirmed does not mean it is not true.The sad thing is that given what women in Iran have endured it is sadly plausible.

[Yank in France]

If you are referring to the anti-Iranian, anti-Iranian bias of the Jerusalem Post, I agree with you 100%, but the story is being carried by newspapers throughout the world. Apparently, these stories are based on multiples Twitter messages from a variety of people.
Now, that does not mean the charges are true, but you would be wrong to reject the story based solely on your (very legitimate) disgust with the Jerusalem Post.

[BiBiJan]

Oh, those Twitter accounts?

On the post election violence:

"JPost actually ran a story about 3 people “who joined the social network mere hours ago have already amassed thousands of followers.” Why would a news organization post a story about 3 people who JUST JOINED TWITTER hours earlier? Is that newsworthy? JPost was the first (and only to my knowledge) major news source that mentioned these 3 spammers."

http://www.chartingstocks.net/2009/06/proof-israeli-effort-to-destabilize-iran-via-twitter/