Sahand Kashefi ‎

Living conditions for homosexuals and transsexuals residing in Iran become more difficult with ‎each passing day. Some of them are subjected to various kinds of pressure in Iranian prisons, ‎such that a considerable number of them come to suffer from incurable physical and ‎psychological ailments. ‎

According to Dr. "A. G.," who teaches sociology at one of Iran's universities, "people who are ‎different sexually are neither criminals nor deviant, nor a threat to society's security." He adds, ‎‎"It has been a while since the science of medicine has stopped considering homosexuality as a ‎disease. Transsexuals, however, suffer from an illness that can be cured with a sex change ‎operation." ‎

According to "Shiva," previously a male who received a sex change operation in Iran, such ‎operations are both cheap and easy to have in Iran: "The doctor must first examine patients and ‎conclude that they suffer from gender identity confusion. At that point, the operation takes place ‎in Iran very easily and at a cost much lower than in other countries." ‎

Sex change operations became possible in Iran after Revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini ‎issued a "Fatwa" [religious decree] allowing the operation in the case of people who suffer from ‎gender identity dysfunctions. However, despite the relative tolerance shown to transsexuals, ‎Iranian laws harshly punish homosexuals with sentences ranging from flogging to execution. ‎

In reality, 2007 was one of the hardest years for Iranian homosexuals. According to Amnesty ‎International, Iran had the highest number of execution of homosexuals in that year. Several ‎cases of executions of homosexuals were cited in cities such as Shiraz, Esfahan, Tehran, Rasht, ‎Ahwaz, Tabriz, Kermanshah and Mashhad. ‎

According to reports, the harshest treatments of homosexuals took place in Isfahan last year. ‎Police and security officers in Isfahan orchestrated widespread raids on homosexuals on two ‎occasions, in spring and winter, arresting and torturing a great number of suspected ‎homosexuals. First, in May of 2007, 83 homosexuals were arrested in one day at a private ‎gathering and, after being transported to the "Dastgerd" prison in Esfahan and tortured, 33 of ‎them were summoned for further criminal inquiries. These individuals were tried at branch 114 ‎of the Esfahan criminal court and almost all were ordered to pay hefty fines. ‎

The second occasion began with a simple birthday party. While 17 young men had gathered in ‎one of Esfahan's Armenian neighborhoods to celebrate a friend's birthday, the birthday party was ‎interrupted with a police attack. This time, the arrested individuals were transported not to ‎Dastgerd prison, but to an Intelligence Ministry detention facility in Esfahan, located on Roudaki ‎Avenue. According to an attorney qualified to practice law in Iran, "interrogating and subjecting ‎people to severe torture by the Intelligence Minister on suspicion of being a homosexual is ‎unprecedented." ‎

Furthermore, according to the same attorney, such attack and arrest tactics at private gatherings ‎in which even alcoholic drinks are not served have no legal basis in the laws of the Islamic ‎Republic. ‎