Being an “Enemy of God” in Iran
According to Iran’s penal code an individual that is convicted of conducting “Mohareb”, (which means waging war) against God should be executed. The regime in Iran has used this notion of “Enemy of God” to crack down on all forms of dissident since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
It began when Ayatollah Khomeini labelled the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan the “party of Satan” and declared “Jihad” holy war against the Kurdish on the 17th of August 1979. Since then thousands of Kurdish political activists have been executed after being charged with being an enemy of God.
Kurdish political activists have since 1979 been charged with being enemies of God for everything from handing out leaflets to carrying a message for the Kurdish opposition.
Article 186 of Islamic Penal Code states that when any group or organization attempts confrontation against the Islamic Republic of Iran, so long as its leadership is intact, all its members and supporters who are aware of the organization’s positions and take steps to further its objectives, are “enemies of God”.
Article 190 of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Penal Code states that there are four possible punishments for “war against God or corruption on earth”: death, death by hanging; amputation of the right hand and then the left foot; or permanent internal exile. Article 191 of the Islamic Penal Code gives the judge the discretion to choose the punishment.
After the June 2009 election fraud and the demonstrations that followed the regime also targets people and groups that were loyal to the Islamic Republic with charges of Mohareb. The Associated Press has an interesting article on the subject, read:
A traditional Islamic concept about protecting the faith and its followers has become a judicial weapon for Iran’s rulers: charging opponents as so-called enemies of God with the threat of possible death sentences.
Iran’s accusations of “moharebeh” — literally “waging war” in Arabic — have opened deep rifts between ruling clerics and Islamic scholars questioning how an idea about safeguarding Muslims can be transformed into a tool to punish political protesters.
