"We are a buried generation" : discrimination and violence against sexual minorities in Iran

This report - based on interviews with more than 125 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Iranians inside and outside Iran over the past five years - documents discrimination and violence against Iran's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens, and others whose sexual practices and gender expression do not conform to socio-religious norms. Human Rights Watch analyzed these abuses within the context of systematic human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian government against its citizens generally, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, invasions of privacy, mistreatment and torture of detainees, and the lack of due process and fair trial standards. Iran's security forces, including police and forces of the hard-line paramilitary basij, rely upon discriminatory laws to harass, arrest, and detain individuals whom they suspect of being gay. The incidents often occur in parks and cafes, but Human Rights Watch also documented cases in which security forces raided homes and monitored internet sites for the purpose of detaining people they suspected of engaging in non-conforming sexual conduct or gender expression. The report also documents instances in which police and basij allegedly ill-treated and in some cases tortured actual or suspected LGBT people, both in public spaces and in detention facilities. Several individuals interviewed made allegations that members of the security forces had sexually assaulted or raped them. Abuses resulting from the application of Iranian law are also discussed. For example, people charged with sexual crimes often endure summary trials that do not adhere to principles of fairness.