Rape under a
fundamentalist regime
The Islamist
movement''s "justice" and "liberation" excludes women, who
are indeed explicitly discriminated against! A few examples from the Islamic
Republic may help.
In the courts
evidence of female witnesses is inadmissible unless accompanied by that of a
male witness. Even then, the value of a female witness is half that by the male
(Article 33 and 99 of the Law of Retribution: Hodoud and Ghesas,
Section 2 of Article 237)
The diyeh (blood money) for a Muslim woman
in cases of manslaughter and murder is half that of a Muslim man. (Article
300, Law of Retribution). If a male
Muslim intentionally kills a Muslim women, he is subject to retribution (an eye
for an eye) but only if the guardian of the murdered woman pays him half of the
diyeh to the murderer to make up the
deficiency (Article 6 of Diyat, Article 209 Law of Retribution). The blood
money payable to the murderer amounts to 50 camels or 100 cows or the
equivalent (Article 3, Diyat).
A husband can kill
his adulterous wife without punishment while a woman is punishable by death for
a similar crime.
Before the law,
women are not a compete person their testimony is only half that of a man.
These absurd efforts to place arbitrary and discriminatory values on women has
serious repercussions on how women are thought of and treated by society.
Extramarital sex
is prohibited under Islamic law. To this extent Islam recognises rape as a
crime. However rape taking place within the home and prisons is not considered
rape and is therefore legal. It is this situation which I wish to address.
The Koran (Nesa,
34:34) ascribes to men dominance over, but also responsibility for the women
under their care. Women have to be given nafagheh
(upkeep money), but in return must submit to their husband's will. If a woman
disobeys her husband's will, he is instructed to separate their bed and to talk
with his wife. If she continues to thwart his desires, he should hit her. The
moment she stops disobeying, the punishment and sanctions for misbehaviour
should stop. The Koran thus tells a man to respect his wife's rights, while
also instructing him to abuse her.
Moreover women are
sex objects. A man is permitted four "ordinary" wives and as many
"temporary wives" (concubines) as he wishes. A Muslim woman cannot
marry a non-Muslim (Article 1059 of the Civil Law) but a Muslim man can marry a
non-Muslim . Together these laws create a permissive environment for legal
rape.
n I came across Simin in 1979. She was 19
years old and had been pursuing her divorce case through courts for the last
four years. One day on returning from school
her father told Simin point blank she had to marry a certain man. Simin,
being only 15, had no intention of marrying. She was also in love with another
man. Simin refused and her father firmly insisted. She ran away three times,
hiding with relatives, yet her father found her and forced her to marry. Simin
kept running away from her "husband". She could not stand living and
sleeping with him and he hit her and raped her.
When I met her she
was exhausted and despirited. Her family tried to help her get a divorce but
the law did not permit it. The man followed her on the street and beat her.
During the anarchy of the revolutionary days we formed a group to help Simin
and in this way she was able to regain her freedom.
A man divorces his
wife on any pretext (Article 1133, Civil Law). Women, on the other hand, can
obtain divorce only under extreme circumstances: if the man is mentally ill, or
impotent (Articles 1121 and 1122). Given that women cannot chose their partners
and that once married it is near impossible to get divorced, this is clearly
legal rape.
According to
Islamic lay the killing of a virgin woman is prohibited. This reflects the
objectification of women. In prison, if a virgin woman is to be executed, she
is first "married" (raped) by one of the guards before execution.
Afterwards the guard goes to the woman's family and declares that she is their
son-in-law. It is totally distinct from the process of obtaining confession or
to humiliate the prisoner. The prison guards are simply obeying Islamic law.
Nadereh was
educated in France and had been in touch with opposition groups against the
Shah. On the eve of the revolution she returned to Iran to take part in the
anti-dictatorial movement against the Shah. For Naderh, like other Iranian
intellectuals, it was vital to be present in this decisive historic struggle.
During the revolution she worked for a socialist organisation.
She was arrested
three years after the revolution. Although others with her alleged crime
normally received a few years imprisonment, she was executed after a few month
in prison. That was our first shock.
We discovered the
reason later. In prison her interrogator took a fancy to her. She had more than
once complained of her interrogator's advances towads her. When her case went
to court, which consisted of one mullah as judge and no jury, the interrogator
accused Nadereh of attempting to escape during her interrogation. The mullah
accepted this obviously false charge and sentenced her to death. Both the
mullah as the interrogator knew full well that this also gave the interrogator
permission to rape Nadereh. The interrogator got what he wanted and fulfilled his
religious duty in the bargain. Thousands of young women were executed in
Iranian prisons (1), most of them were raped under Islamic law.
Shukuh Jalalie
1. A list of 1,400
has been collected and published by Iranian
Political Prisoners Action Committee. Some were pregnant, many were under
17.