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State-Sanctioned Killing of Sexual Minorities MONASH LAW STATE-SANCTIONED KILLING OF SEXUAL MINORITIES LOOKING BEYOND THE DEATH PENALTY MAI SATO & CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER FEBRUARY 2021 In partnership between ELEOS JUSTICE Eleos Justice Faculty of Law, Monash University, Building 12, 15 Ancora Imparo Way Clayton, Victoria, 3800 Australia Telephone: +61 3 9902 6000 Website: https://www.monash.edu/law/research/eleos © Authors CRICOS provider: Monash University 00008C Capital Punishment Justice Project Room 24, Level 9, 460 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Website: https://cpjp.org.au Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this report are not necessarily those held by Monash University. Except where otherwise noted, all photography featured in this report is by Robin Hammond, founder of Witness Change, from Where Love Is Illegal, a Witness Change project. Cover image: ‘Untitled’, There Are No Homosexuals In Iran, 2014-2016, Laurence Rasti. ELEOS JUSTICE ‘I have the right to live.’ Ibrahim, Nigeria 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................8 Preface ..........................................................................................................................................................9 Foreword ....................................................................................................................................................11 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................13 Scope of the Report ................................................................................................................................16 State-Sanctioned Killing ....................................................................................................................16 Sexual Minorities ................................................................................................................................16 Data: Access, Completeness, & Accuracy .....................................................................................17 Part 1: The Death Penalty ......................................................................................................................20 Sources Prescribing the Death Penalty ..........................................................................................20 Islam & the Death Penalty ...............................................................................................................25 Known Judicial Executions & Enforcement by Criminal Justice Agencies ..........................28 Case Study: Iran ..................................................................................................................................33 Recent Developments .......................................................................................................................43 Part 2: Beyond the Death Penalty .........................................................................................................48 Extrajudicial killings ...........................................................................................................................48 ‘Gay purges’ ...................................................................................................................................48 Insurrectional movements ..........................................................................................................53 Lawful Excuses for Homicide .........................................................................................................57 Conversion Practices .........................................................................................................................67 Conclusions ...............................................................................................................................................71 Appendices ................................................................................................................................................75 Bibliography ..............................................................................................................................................83 Useful Resources ......................................................................................................................................93 About the Authors ...................................................................................................................................95 About Eleos Justice .................................................................................................................................96 About Capital Punishment Justice Project .........................................................................................97 6 TABLES & FIGURES Table 1: Criminalisation of Same-Sex Sexual Acts in the Iranian Penal Code 2013 .................23 Table 2: Countries that (Could) Impose the Death Penalty for Same-Sex Sexual Acts ............27 Table 3: State Involvement in Conversion Practices ........................................................................70 Figure 1: Countries Where State-Sanctioned Killing of Sexual Minorities Takes Place ...........15 Figure 2: Number of Executions for Consensual and Non-consensual Same-Sex Sexual Act in Iran: 1979-2020 ............................................................................................................................41 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Criminalisation and Legalisation of Same-Sex Sexual Acts ....................................75 Appendix 2: List of Interviewees .........................................................................................................77 Appendix 3: Punishment for Livat (Penetrative Anal Intercourse Between Men) in Iran .......78 Appendix 4: Criminalisation of Same-sex Sexual Acts in Majority Muslim States ....................79 Appendix 5: Executions for Same-Sex Sexual Acts in Iran: 2004-2020 .......................................80 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS By Mai Sato and Christopher Alexander We would like to thank everyone who shared their expertise, insight, and experience with us from across the globe: Hind Al-Eryani, Mani AQ (Co-Founder & Program Executor, HOPE Pakistan), Shadi Amin (Executive Director, Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network: 6Rang), Roya Boroumand (Executive Director, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights), Sana Farrukh, Bijan Kardouni (University of Western Sydney), Mehri Jafari, Veronika Lapina (Russian LGBT Network), Enrique López de la Peña (ILGA; New York University Abu Dhabi), Victor Madrigal-Borloz (UN Independent Expert on Protection Against Violence And Discrimination Based On Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity), Osman Mobarak, Arsham Parsi (Founder and Executive Director of International Railroad for Queer Refugees), Hossein Raeesi, Rainbow Railroad, Mary Rasekh, Mehran Rezaei, Rasha Younes (Human Rights Watch). A big thank you to the team behind Welcome to Chechnya for sharing your film and introducing us to your contacts: special thanks to Alison, whose ongoing support was instrumental in our research. We would also like to thank the team at Where Love Is Illegal for the testimonies featured in this report: special thanks to William Lounsbury (Witness Change) for making this possible, and to Robin Hammond for the moving photography. Thank you also to our other wonderful photographers, Hoda Afshar, Ura Iturralde, and Laurence Rasti, for letting us use your powerful work. Some of you asked not to be named: please know that this report would not have been possible without your contribution. We are extremely grateful to Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP) for this opportunity. Eleos Justice is a collaboration between CPJP and Monash Law Faculty, and this report marks our first joint research project. Special thanks to Simone Abel, Stephen Keim SC, Julian McMahon AC SC, and Jacinta Smith for your ideas, support, and camaraderie. We would like to acknowledge Julian McMahon AC SC for the idea behind this project. Our heartfelt thanks to Sara Kowal (Eleos Justice) who has been an invaluable support throughout this process: you were instrumental in opening doors to many of our expert interviewees and getting this report into its final form, which has been no easy task. We benefited enormously from thoughtful feedback on earlier versions of this report. Many thanks to Professor Mike Hough, Professor Aleardo Zanghellini, Ffion Gorman, Enrique López de la Peña, Professor Peter Grabosky, Professor Paula Gerber (Eleos Justice), Sara Kowal, Julian McMahon AC SC, Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman (Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network), Matthew Goldberg (Eleos Justice), Mary Rasekh, Dr Nadir Hosen (Eleos Justice), Thomas Tapmeier, Ramona Koval, David Mayes, Montanna Tassell, and Professor Jean Allain (Eleos Justice). We are grateful to Mark Hudson (Mosaic Studios) and Kathy Illot for the design and layout of this report. We received generous funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, John Willem de Wijn AM QC, and the Faculty of Law, Monash University. 8 PREFACE By Capital Punishment Justice Project In 2019, then President of Capital Punishment Justice Project (formerly Reprieve Australia), Julian McMahon AC SC, devised an ambitious idea for further research in the area of state- sanctioned killing of sexual minorities. The purpose of this research was to uncover the true extent to which the death penalty
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