Iran: The case of raping a gay man by Basij agents exposed

Source: Committee of Human Rights Reporters

Homosexual people in Iran suffer from problems to the point that their only choice is to hide their sexual identity and comply with prevailing traditions of the main stream society. Not only they have no rights, according to the constitution, but the majority of Iranian folks too refuse to accept and respect the rights of homosexuals.

Ali Reza Naeimian is a 40-year-old gay man who got married under pressures from his environment and his parents. He was loving towards his wife only as a fellow human being but he had no feelings for her as his wife and partner. The couple had a daughter when they got divorced because of many problems.

What you read in this report is the accounts of the rape and assault inflected on Ali Reza by a group of Iranian agents. Based on his recollections and court documents, the agents are members of Basij from the city of Roodhen. He has heard the name of a few of them while they talked among each other and with those names, he pressed charges. The court ruled to release the agents.

As Ali Reza recalls, the agents beat him severely right after they arrest him in the street. Later on, they rape him, and at the end of a long day, they take him to the police station (Kalantari) and hand him over. At present, like many homosexual s of Iran, he has left his country because of unbearable troubles he faced. He is living abroad.

Ali Reza Naemian was a resident of the city of Roodhen, and owned a coffee shop there. On Aug 16, 2007, while in the street, a group of agents approached him and arrested him. They beat him on the spot and insulted him violently. In a dark green Peugeot, they took him to his own house.

As he recalls the scene: “On the way to my house, one of the agents (Hamid Mazinani) kept on beating me and swearing at me. When we got to my home, the agents threw me out of the car and took my keys out of my pocket. They walked in as if they were stepping in a team-house (hidden lodging of under-ground political activists) and took all security measures before entering; they dragged me along inside.

Hamid said to another: Take his cloths off. They un-locked my hand-cuffs and took off my cloths and (…) (threats of rape). I said: I am one of Haj Agha …s’ acquaintances. They punched me in the face so hard I fainted. When I came to, they had taken me into the shower, splashed water on my face. I was wet all over my body and (…) (sexual assaults and threats of rape). I said, “ You tell I am a sinner, I accept it, but please you don’t commit the same sin. If you let me go I promise I will leave Roodhen altogether, and no later then tomorrow morning.”

Musa Showghian, (one of the agents) was inspecting my belongings. He had cut open all the boxes looking for something to use against me. He saw the video receiver. Two of them began beating me again until I couldn’t take it anymore. Hamid said, “Do you have satellite? Then say good by to your house for 6 months. And he began hitting me in the chest with his rifle-stock over and over and I passed out. I must add that I had no sense left in me at that point; the beating didn’t hurt as I couldn’t feel anything. I thought my face was big as a tray. My eyes were swollen and I couldn’t blink easily.

They emptied the drawers of my child’s dresser. Musa Sh’abani took out the jewellery box and said, “These are all women’s jewellery.” I said, “They belong to my ex-wife and daughter, and the rest has come to me from my mother. There is only a wedding ring which is my own.” Musa said, “As if a wretched like you can have any dealings with women. Of course she would divorce you. A man with long hair is not a man.” “And he attacked me again punching and kicking not noticing where in my body he was hitting. I was so weak and breathless I couldn’t move. I don’t know how they had put my cloths back on and took me to the car again.”

Ali Reza continues in his account and recalls that they took him to a place they called “the lounge of entertainment” . The place was a remote and abandoned building in Laleh Boulevard, on the side of the soccer field in Roodhen. Handcuffed, they dragged him and all the while they punched him and kicked him and pulled him into kitchen which stank with fowl smells.

What went on in the kitchen, as Alireza told us in detail, is of a sort we are not comfortable putting it in print so we omit the part. And he says to our reporter that in this kitchen, everyone laughed at him and sexually assaulted him everyway they wanted and raped with their batons. They said things to him in line of “you’ve been with many men, so why not us.”

Then they put a paper in front of him with a text and forced him to sign. Alireza recalls the scene: “Hamid got up and said to me, Put on your cloths. We’ll kill you and throw you in the field for the dogs to eat.” They put a paper in front of me, with some writing on it, and told me to sign it. Although I was too scared I said “What is this that I should sign?” Musa Shovghian said, “Shut up and sign.” And suddenly I felt as if my legs went empty from the inside. The soldier had brought his baton down on my legs. I fell. They dragged me to the kitchen again and placed my foot between the door and the frame, and pressed. I screamed and he hit me and swore at me and said, “He has no shame, wants us to explain for him what he is it he is signing. This is the execution order. You have no choice but to sign it.” They forced me to sign it and put my finger print beside the signature. Then they whispered together for a bit. Then they took me to the courtyard of the house and told me to undress. They put detergent all over me and with a hose on high pressure they poured cold water over me to wash the mess they made to my body. I got dressed after, and they threw me in the car.”

They took Ali Reza to his coffee shop in Roodhen, and inspected the place. With a different car then (Silver Samand) they took him to the Roodhen police station. There the group of on-call sergeant, the security officer and the (on-call) judge objected the fact of the illegal entry to Ali Reza Naeimian’s home and announced the declaration form signed under torture was void of legal validity. They prepared another declaration form. Also, for the third time on that day, a group was sent to Ali Reza’s home and after inspections, they confiscated such stuff as CDs and the accessories for the video receiver and took them to the police station. Based on Ali Reza’s claim, he found out then that his valet has been emptied. They took Ali Reza to the detention center. Ali Reza says that in the detention center, agents’ reaction towards him was good.

After a few days he appeared in court. He recalls the day of the court, “When we went to the public prosecutor’s office, Judge Rahimi was in-charge and he studied my file. He asked the agents whether I was alone, or someone was with me when I was arrested. The agent said, No one was with him. The judge turned to me and said, “You are cleared of this one (Sodomy) but you must pay a fine for the receiver. I pulled my shirt up to show him the wounds and bruises. With much anger he said, “Cover yourself.” I said, “Then, what about all the harm they have done to me?” He said on Saturday (first day of the week in Iran) go to the forensic medical office. I will write to them and ask them to examine you.” After 5 days, they took me to the forensic medical office. They checked the wounds and the bruises. After they examined the anus, doctor said, “48 hours after insertion of sharp object, it’s no longer possible to comment on it, but according to the signs, something is shown very similar to haemorrhoid.”

After 10 days, when Ali Reza visited his own home, accompanied with an agent, he found out that his belongings have been stolen. The agent made a list of the stolen items. After that, even though he had pressed charges against the Basij agents, the court refused to follow up the case and Ali Reza’s repeated visits to the police station and other authorities was left with no results.

[translated by IRQR]

CNN Iranian claims rape in prison