AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Homosexuals and other sexual minorities in Iran face harassment, violence and even death, said a report released by Human Rights Watch Wednesday.
The 102-page document outlining the plight of gays and lesbians in the Islamic republic was based on testimony taken from more than 100 Iranians, Human Rights Watch said.
It calls on Iran to abolish all laws and legislation that criminalize same-sex conduct.
Susan Leah Whitson, Middle East director for the group, said gays and lesbians in Iran face a multitude of problems. "The laws are stacked against them; the state openly discriminates against them; and they are vulnerable to harassment, abuse and violence because their perpetrators feel they can target them with impunity," Whitson said.
A gay man who owns a cafe outside Tehran detailed an attack by two plainclothes members of a paramilitary volunteer group. He said the agents beat him and sexually assaulted him with a flashlight and a baton.
Iran is one of only seven countries with laws allowing execution for consensual same-sex conduct, Human Rights Watch said. The others are Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. UPI
