The Turkey-based Persian Gay & Lesbian Organization has posted graphic photos on its Web site of an Iranian gay man who escaped Iran after being beaten by the police because of his sexuality.
The photos can be seen at http://pglo.org/pglo-web/english/index.htm.
'Amir' said an undercover policeman made a date with him over the Internet, then arrested him when they met. A week later he was sentenced to 100 lashes, which were administered in jail. Amir says the police told him that if he were apprehended again, he would be hanged like the two male teens recently executed in the city of Mashad. The government claims those teens were hanged for raping a boy, but some human-rights groups say they have information that the boys were executed solely for being gay.
'Iranian homosexuals are ... subjected to oppression, injustice and death and it is likely that only a small fraction of it comes to light,' the Persian gay group said. 'The largest part of such disaster gets left [ in ] silence behind the curtain of fear—or many of [ those cases ] get mixed with ... accusations so that the main story gets disguised.'
