Iran: Who's Sorry Now?

Doug Ireland has just written an article for Gay City News; An Overdue Apology.
"Human Rights Watch (HRW), the world’s largest and most prestigious human rights organization, has made a stunning public apology to Britain’s iconic gay and human rights activist, Peter Tatchell, for attacks heaped on him by HRW’s Scott Long, who directs the organization’s LGBT program."
But Human Rights Watch apology to Tatchell is far less "stunning" than the above line by Ireland might lead you to believe.
"Human Rights Watch (HRW) apologizes to Peter Tatchell for a number of inappropriate and disparaging comments made about him in recent years by Scott Long, director of HRW's LGBT program. We recognise that personal attacks have no place in the human rights movement."
Scott Long has said; "Although we have our different viewpoints, I respect Peter Tatchell's contribution to human rights and apologize for any condemnatory and intemperate allegations made in haste and for any inaccurate statements made in my personal capacity."
In a statement released on June 30th (available here), Tatchell wrote; “Mr Long’s falsehoods and personal attacks were many and varied. They included a highly libellous and defamatory essay written by him, which appeared in the March 2009 issue of the journal Contemporary Politics, published by Routledge, which is part of the Taylor and Francis publishing group.
"This essay ['Unbearable Witness'] made inaccurate allegations. It grossly misrepresented and denigrated my campaigns in defence of gay people persecuted by Iran and in opposition to Islamist fundamentalism."
“I acted in good faith when I opposed the execution of Iranians accused of homosexuality and when I campaigned against fundamentalist Islam in Britain and worldwide."
Fair enough.
How good of Ireland to write such a nice piece in support of Tatchell.
Indeed the first half of his article is spent documenting Tatchell's campaigning work - you have to wait a while to find out what the apology was actually for.
Ireland's article is also headed by a photo of Tatchell's badly bruised face after he was beaten up by Neo-Nazis at a gay protest in Moscow in 2007.
It's a very emotive image.
As was that now infamous photo of the two Iranian boys, Ayaz Marhoni and Mahmoud Asgari, standing at a makeshift gallows about to be hanged.
Which is how this row started.
Both Doug Ireland and Peter Tatchell claimed that those two young men were hanged because they were gay.
Neither Ireland or Tatchell mention that their row with Long began after he pointed out there was no evidence for this.
Long has argued "Europe and the US have seen a public campaign in recent years to identify executions - often random ones - in Iran as killings of gay men. Pictures of the horrific public hanging in Mashhad in 2005 of Ayaz Marhoni and Mahmoud Asgari - they were "convicted, in all likelihood, of the rape of a 13-year-old boy while both were minors - spread virally round the world like a postmodern Pieta. Monstrous, yes: but there is no conclusive evidence that they were gay or that consensual homosexual acts had anything to do with their judicial killing."
But the earlier version of their story had been retold so often - by journalists who didn't take two minutes to check its veracity - that to point this out had become a heresy, and the hate campaign against Scott Long began.
Doug Ireland has written several articles denouncing Scott Long - check his website.
But it should have been no more controversial than pointing out there's no evidence that German soldiers bounced Belgian babies on their bayonets during the First World War.
It seems to me Scott Long has been rather hounded - and his only "crime" has been trying to find out the truth.
It's not his fault if some other people got angry as they thought it made them look like liars.
To his credit, Ireland's article does provide a link to an essay by Long critical of their position, The Issue Is Torture, but only it seems to express surprise that it remains on HRW's website.
And Ireland does put a "full disclosure" after his article pointing out that; "Long’s attacks have also focused on this newspaper and this reporter."
But neither Tatchell or Ireland have said what they now think Ayaz and Mahmoud's crimes actually were.
Have they changed their minds?
Do they now admit that they may have been wrong?
Both men have a long histories of courageous work for campaigning for socialism and lesbian and gay justice, but I believe this episode has demeaned them.
Maybe Doug Ireland and Peter Tatchell should apologise to Scott Long?