One bisexual man was tortured to death in prison and another was lashed 74 times and faces the death penalty in the Court of Sari in Iran, according to reports from the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees.
The report came from the brutal region of Sari (the capital of the northern Iranian province of Mazandaran) and the reports have not been confirmed by CNN, but were posted on the news site.
The first case was of Hamid, a 40-year-old well-respected businessman. In early June, Hamid was arrested when his wife called policed and reported that her husband was having relationships with a 17-year-old boy.
Hamid was sentenced to 74 lashes with a whip, and still faces the death penalty, even though the 17-year-old boy was never identified.
Also, 23-year-old activist Amir Hossein, who was out as a bisexual man, was transferred to a prison in early June where he was severely tortured and died from his injuries. He was taken into custody while having dinner with his girlfriend. The Basij security force took him into custody on charges of his sexuality, which is punishable by death.
The Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees has a mission to try to stop repression of GLBT Iranians. They state: "We believe that Iranian queers are entitled to live, free from persecution and the threat of death just because of who they love. The IRQR works to increase public awareness about, and provide support such as legal services and financial assistance, to refugees and immigrants leaving Iran because of persecution bases on their sexual orientation and gender identity."
Comments
This is important to realize in a global, much larger and frightening scale. There is one country in the middle east that protects gays and lesbians. Israel. And yet, she is under the media attack, particularly the liberal left, of which I often agree with. I hope that the bi, gay and transgendered communities recognize how interconnected hatred is with islamofascism, and does what they can to change the landscape in the middle east so that the real safe haven for what we hold dear - the experience to love, to express our freedoms, to honor diversity - is supported. And that safe haven isn't in Iran, Saudia Arabia, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, or any other locale in the Middle East except for one.
Is there anything we can do to pressure the government of Iran to release Hamid? Especially since it sounds like his wife may have made this up?
it sucks that in foreign countries it illegal to homosexual and your put in jail for being who you are
Yes, Estevan, there is. Pressure your representatives to pressure our president to stop pandering to Iran's leaders! He's practically kissing their feet, giving the green light to pursue policies that are destructive. It's personal even if you think it's happening far far away.
A bouquet of flowers
white for innocence, red
for love
This is good information to have. I had no idea that human beings were treated in this manner anywhere in the world! Thank you, Mike Szymanski, for bringing this to the forefront.
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