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Against Sexual Minorities in Iran WATCH Iran HUMAN We are a Buried Generation RIGHTS Discrimination and Violence Against Sexual Minorities in Iran WATCH “We Are a Buried Generation” Discrimination and Violence against Sexual Minorities in Iran Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-732-9 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org december 2010 isbn: 1-56432-732-9 “We Are a Buried Generation” Discrimination and Violence against Sexual Minorities in Iran Terminology ....................................................................................................................... 1 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 3 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 7 To the Government of Iran ............................................................................................... 7 To the Government of Turkey and Other Refugee-Receiving States in the Region ............. 9 To the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ............................................... 10 To Other Concerned Governments, including EU Member States, Canada, Australia, and the United States ........................................................................................................... 11 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 12 I. Legal Framework under International Law ...................................................................... 13 The Right to Life ............................................................................................................. 13 The Right to Liberty and Security .................................................................................... 14 Protection against Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment ................................ 14 Right to a “Fair Hearing” ................................................................................................ 15 Non-Discrimination and Fundamental Rights ................................................................. 15 Medical Treatment and Protection of Children ............................................................... 17 II. Legal Discrimination against Sexual Minorities ............................................................ 19 Prima Facie Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities .................................................... 19 Other Laws that May Apply to Sexual Minorities ........................................................... 22 Morality Laws Affecting Sexual Minorities ............................................................... 22 Military Exemption Regulations .............................................................................. 23 III. The Death Penalty for Same-Sex Acts .......................................................................... 27 Executions for the Crime of Lavat (Sodomy) ................................................................... 27 Current Death Sentences for the Crime of Lavat ............................................................ 30 Death Sentences against Juvenile Offenders.................................................................. 31 IV. Family, School and Society .......................................................................................... 33 Harassment and Abuse by Family and Relatives ........................................................... 34 Medical and Psychological Treatment ........................................................................... 38 Harassment and Abuse at School, University, and Society at Large ............................... 41 V. Government Harassment and Abuse in Public Space ..................................................... 44 VI. Government Abuse Stemming from Invasions of Privacy .............................................. 50 Home Raids .................................................................................................................. 50 Internet Surveillance ..................................................................................................... 54 VII. Ill-Treatment and Abuse by Security Forces during Detention ...................................... 61 VIII. Abuses During Administration of Justice .................................................................... 68 IX. Lesbian and Bisexual Women ...................................................................................... 74 Pressures to Marry ......................................................................................................... 74 Lesbian and Bisexual Women in Public Space ............................................................... 77 X. Transgender and Transsexual Iranians ......................................................................... 79 Sex Reassignment Surgery ........................................................................................... 79 Afsaneh’s Story ............................................................................................................ 84 XI. Restrictions on Human Rights Defenders Working on Issues Affecting Sexual Minorities ........................................................................................................................................ 87 XII. The Situation of Iranian LGBT Refugees and Asylum Seekers ...................................... 91 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 96 Appendix 1: Letter from Human Rights Watch to the Iranian Government requesting information for this report ................................................................................................ 97 Appendix 2: Follow-up Letter from Human Rights Watch to the Iranian Government requesting information for this report .............................................................................. 101 Terminology Biological sex: the biological classification of bodies as male or female based on factors including external sex organs, internal sexual and reproductive organs, hormones, or chromosomes. Bisexual: a person who is attracted both to women and men. Gay: a synonym for homosexual in English and some other languages, sometimes used to describe only males who are attracted primarily to other males. Gender: the social and cultural codes (as opposed to biological sex) used to distinguish between what a society considers “masculine” or “feminine” conduct. Gender Identity: a person’s internal, deeply felt sense of being female or male, or something other than female or male. Gender-based violence: violence directed against a person on the basis of gender or perceived sexual orientation. Gender-based violence can include sexual violence, domestic violence, psychological abuse, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, harmful traditional practices, and discriminatory practices based on gender. The term originally described violence against women but is now taken to include violence targeted at both women and men because of how they experience and express their genders and sexualities. Hamjensbaz: a derogatory but commonly used Persian term for homosexuals. Heterosexual: a person attracted primarily to people of the opposite sex. Homosexual: a person attracted primarily to people of the same sex. Intersex: a person who is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the typical definitions of female or male. Lesbian: a female attracted primarily to other females. LGBT: lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender; an inclusive term for groups and identities sometimes associated together as “sexual minorities.” In this report the term LGBT is 1 Human Rights Watch | December 2010 generally used to refer to individuals who self-identify as either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. MSM: men (or males) who have sex with men. Men who have sex with men may or may not identify as gay or bisexual. Sexual minorities: an all-inclusive term that includes all persons with non-conforming sexualities and gender identities, such as LGBT, men who have sex with men (and may not self-identify as LGBT) and women who have sex with women. Sexual orientation: the way in which a person’s sexual and emotional desires are directed. The term categorizes according to the sex of the object of desire—that is, it describes whether a person is attracted primarily toward people of the same or opposite sex or to both. Transgender: one whose inner gender identity or outward gender expression differs from the physical characteristics of their body at
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