Free Republic

As the song goes, “baby, it’s a wild world”. For some that could be somewhat of an underestimation. We live in much more demanding, uncertain and violent times and humankind has never been more vulnerable to the forbidding dangers than it is faced with today. Time and again our ears ring with reports of yet another terrorist attack or yet another kidnapping or beheading and every single time our hearts are left a little sombre. Yet, I cannot deny that I find myself left quite overwhelmed when there are reports of such tragedies bestowed upon our children. I cannot comprehend...

Amnesty International today (24 August 2004) expressed its outrage at the reported execution of a girl believed to be 16 years old for “acts incompatible with chastity”. Ateqeh Rajabi was reportedly publicly hanged on a street in the city centre of Neka, northern Iran, on 15 August 2004.

Amnesty International Outraged at Execution of a 16 Year Old Girl! Public Statement Amnesty International today expressed its outrage at the reported execution of a girl who is believed to be 16 years old, Ateqeh Rajabi, in Neka in the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran, on 15 August, for "acts incompatible with chastity" (amal-e manafe-ye 'ofat). Ateqeh Rajabi was reportedly publicly hanged on a street in the city centre of Neka. Amnesty International is alarmed that this execution was carried out despite reports that Ateqeh Rajabi was not believed to be mentally competent, and that she reportedly did not have...