The Letter That the Washington Post Chose Not to Publish

Below is the letter that we sent to the Washington Post on June 30, 2010, regarding the stoning execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and the hanging execution of political prisoner Zeinab Jalalian. The Washington Post chose not to publish our letter. To date, they have published nothing related to the executions of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani or Zeinab Jalalian.

The Stoning of Sakine Mohammadi, the Hanging of Zeinab Jalalian, and HR1371

To the Editor:

During the past year, women in Iran have distinguished themselves by their prominent position on the front lines of the struggle against the Islamic Republic’s oppression. Last weekend, Iranian women moved to the front of another kind of line – the execution line.

Less than 2 months after the Islamic Republic’s ascension to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), Sakine Mohammadi, mother of 2, is to be buried up to her waist in the ground, where she will be slaughtered in a hail of stones. Zeinab Jalilian, age 27, is to be hung by her neck from a rope. The former is accused of having extramarital sex, while the latter is accused of being an anti-regime activist.

Neither the UN nor a single national government objected to the Islamic Republic’s seat on the UNCSW, constituting a betrayal of women worldwide: such an anti-woman regime has no standing to set policy on women’s empowerment and gender equality.

People around the world have subsequently demanded that the Islamic Republic be removed from the Commission. H.Res. 1371, introduced by Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, has responded to that demand. Introducing this bill was the right thing to do: we believe that the Islamic Republic’s leaders – from the Supreme leader to the hangmen – should be tried for crimes against humanity in international court, not given responsibility for setting global gender policy. Sakine and Zeinab would agree.

Maria Rohaly
Coordinator,
Mission Free Iran
https://missionfreeiran.wordpress.com