Matin Yar, a young homosexual man from Iran, describes the torture and rape he was subjected to in Iranian prison. A fear of execution on account of his homosexuality led Matin to flee Iran shortly after his release from prison
Name: Matin Yar (pseudonym)
Place of Birth: Esfahan, Iran
Date of Birth: 1987
Interviewing Organization: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC)
Date of Interview: April 17, 2010
Interviewer: IHRDC Staff
This statement was prepared pursuant to an interview with Matin Yar. The statement was approved by Matin on October 5, 2010.
Witness Statement
My Early Life
1. My name is Matin Yar and I am twenty four years old. I was born in Esfahan, Iran in 1987 and was a university student there when I fled the country 17 months ago. I left the country because I was imprisoned, tortured and raped in prison, and because of fear of execution at the hands of the Islamic Republic. I faced these forms of persecution because government officials discovered that I am homosexual and under Iranian law, homosexuality is a crime punishable by death.
2. Sometime between the ages of nine and twelve, I realized that I had fundamentally different feelings towards my male friends than other boys my age. While other boys felt mere friendship, I felt a deeper attraction. At first, I believed I suffered from a disease of the mind and blamed myself for what I perceived to be immoral feelings; with time and maturation, I came to realize that nobody was to blame for my feelings because they were not fundamentally wrong. I accepted that I was homosexual and that there was nothing I could do but accept it.
3. Throughout my adult life, I was forced to keep my homosexuality a secret. I think my mother may have suspected there was something different about me but I never volunteered my secret to her or to the rest of my family. I kept my homosexuality to myself because I was afraid my family would disown me for feelings I could not control. Keeping such a secret from my family had an injurious impact on me both physically and psychologically; it was a very difficult time in my life.
My Arrest
4. In 2007, a group of four or five of my homosexual friends and I decided to go for a walk at a local garden in the province of Esfahan. While in a secluded garden, we acted recklessly by taking part in homosexual activities. People in an adjacent garden saw us engaged in the homosexual acts and attacked us. After a brief skirmish, our attackers reported the homosexual acts to the father of one of the boys in my group. The boy’s father subsequently filed a complaint against all of us with the local police.
5. The Esfahan police summoned me to their barracks about a week after the incident for questioning. The Esfahan police were notorious for their cruel and sadistic treatment of prisoners. Upon introducing myself at the station, I was detained and taken into a cell block administered by the detective branch for interrogation.
My First Stint in Detention
6. I was held in a detention facility in Esfahan province for two to three weeks during which time I was interrogated by local authorities. My interrogators wanted me to confess to “Lewat” (involvement in homosexual activity with men) and to being homosexual; they also wanted information about the locations where homosexuals in Esfahan congregate. Even though I made it clear that I was not privy to the information the authorities sought, I was tortured by my captors.
7. My primary interrogator’s name was Arzani. He was a short, pudgy man who was notorious in Esfahan for his ruthless attitude and inhumane interrogation tactics.
8. When I first entered the interrogation room, I noticed a large iron shaft hanging from the ceiling. As my terrified eyes fixed themselves upon the suspicious device, I heard the unmistakable sound of Arzani’s menacing laugh. For a moment, my eyes darted in his direction and he informed me the apparatus was called a “speaking rod.” Unsure of what to make of his statement, I continued to examine the device, intent on determining how my interrogators planned to use it. Without warning, the guards grabbed me by my ankles and hoisted me into the air. Hanging upside down from the speaking rod, I learned of its true nature. In this position, I was subject to the vicious beatings by my torturers.
9. While on the speaking rod, my interrogators used a myriad of techniques to extract information from me. They punched me and kicked me, intent on shattering bone with each consecutive blow. When their hands and feet turned numb, they used batons and whips. When they grew too tired to lift their tools, they subjected me to powerful electric shocks. All the while, I hung in place, defenseless to the assault. I suffered several injuries from my time on the speaking rod including a broken nose, several broken ribs and numerous other injuries to my head and my core. The beating was so severe that within my two weeks of interrogation, I attempted to commit suicide. I was at the point mentally where I would rather have died than go back onto the speaking rod.
10. Horrifying as it was, the speaking rod was only one of many kinds of torture to which I was subjected. In Esfahan, my torture was comprehensive, permeating every single moment of my detention.
11. We were not allowed doctors or familial visits in detention in Esfahan. We were given insufficient food. The guards forced us to clean the toilet with our tongues. All the while we were insulted and degraded.
My Charges
12. After about a week in detention, I was brought to a courtroom where a Judge officially informed me of the charges I faced. Due to the fact that I owned the car we used to get to the garden, I was charged with organizing the entire event and held as the principal offender. Each of my friends were released under 10,000,000 Toman bail while I was hurried back to the detention facility. Upon my return, the torture was intensified.
My Second Stint in Detention
13. The second time around, my torturers diversified their techniques. Sometimes, they stripped me naked and exposed me to uncomfortable positions. In these humiliating positions they degraded me, insulted my mother and whipped me sadistically. I was hung from the ceiling, soaked in icy water and exposed to the elements. At one point, I began to pray aloud to God to help me. Arzani overheard my prayer and scoffed, “I am your God now.” He was right; I was completely at his mercy.
14. On three or four different occasions, I was subjected to mock executions at Esfahan. The first time, several guards came into my cell and told me they had received my sentence and that I was to be executed. They marched me to the basement of the detention facility. Once in the basement, they asked if I had any last words for my family and whether I wished to revise my will. Following these pleasantries, the guards lined me up against a wall and cocked their rifles. Finally they fired. The guards walked up to my body and told me I was dead. They said that any sensation of life I felt was purely a psychological illusion attributable to the massive blood loss I suffered. Soon thereafter they picked me up and escorted me back to my room.
15. Within three weeks, the authorities broke my spirit and I agreed to sign whatever papers they put in front of me. After my dehumanizing experiences, I hoped that a confession would put an end to my suffering. I confessed to “Lewat” (engaging in homosexual activities) and to being homosexual.
My Day in Court
16. After three weeks in Esfahan, I was taken once again to court; here I saw the judge for a second time. This time, the judge was quite kind and nurturing. He told me that I looked very young and that he wanted to help me but could only do so if I confessed to my crimes in court. Crying, I told him that I was not a bad person and I could not help the fact that I was homosexual. I told him that I had a right to live and pleaded with him to help me with my charges. Upon hearing my pleas his tone changed entirely. He compared me to a sodomite, called me a curse on society and ordered me out of his courtroom.
My Experience in Prison
17. From the courtroom, I was taken to a prison facility known as Dastgerd. Before Dastgerd would accept me, however, the prison required a full medical examination. Due to the severity of my injuries from the preceding weeks of torture, Dastgerd did not want to admit me until I had been treated for my wounds. After several hours of negotiation, the Esfahan police convinced the Dastgerd prison authorities to admit me and I was brought into the grounds.
18. At Dastgerd, I surrendered what clothes and personal belongings I had to the prison authorities. I donned the prison garb assigned to me and was shuffled back into line with the other incoming prisoners. The line led me to a small room where prison authorities took my picture and my fingerprints before issuing me an ID card. From there, I was transferred to the health clinic where I was vaccinated, cleaned and shaved. I stayed in the health clinic for three days nursing my wounds before a man named Amini took me to my general ward.
19. I was 20 years old at the time of my imprisonment; consequently, I was assigned to the juvenile ward. On my first night at the juvenile ward, I was placed on the floor of the mosque of the ward and instructed to sleep there. The next day, the head of our ward, Baqiri, spoke to all of the new prisoners at the main office. Bariqi told us that we were to grow beards and enlightened us to the rules of the prison. From there we were divided into small groups and sent to our respective rooms in the ward
20. The rooms were small and crowded. My room had 14 people living in it but could only comfortably fit. Due to the space constraints, when it came time to sleep, we were forced to do so in shifts with some people sleeping and others staying in the praying room. We occupied every square inch of that room.
21. Living in such close quarters with other prisoners, I learned many of their stories. I was living with men who had murdered, smuggled contraband and were addicted to hard core drugs. Even with their long rap sheets, none of my cell mates would admit to being homosexual. They would not make such an admission because they feared the consequences. If prison authorities discovered you were homosexual, they made life very difficult for you. Unfortunately, my file was clearly marked; in Esfahan, I confessed to “engaging in homosexual activity” and to “being a homosexual.”
22. Due to the fact that I am homosexual, I was transferred from the juvenile section to the consultation ward. The purpose of the consultation ward is indoctrination. There, I was forced to read the Quran, take ideological classes and pray to Allah.
Rape
23. The difficulties of being homosexual did not begin and end at the consultation ward. During my time at Dastgerd, I was targeted as homosexual and brutally raped several times by prison authorities. I know it was prison authorities who raped me because of the ease with which they bypassed the prison’s intricate security system. The men who raped me did not do so in a solitary cell but navigated the prison and moved me from a public cell to a more private cell so they could take their time with me. An ordinary prisoner would not have been able to move another prisoner from a public cell to a private cell without being disturbed by prison authorities.
24. The first time I was raped was three or four weeks after my initial transfer to Dastgerd from Esfahan. Three men came into my room in the evening while the other prisoners were out for fresh air, kidnapped me from my cell and took me to a private room where they took turns forcing themselves on me. As they raped me, the men tried to humiliate me. One of my attackers told me that my young skin was soft, bare and smooth. Once they were finished, the men told me that if I complained to anyone, they would kill me and make it look like a suicide. My attackers were sadistic individuals and I did not know what to do. I was too frightened to inform other prison authorities because I did not think they would sympathize with a homosexual. I also feared my attackers would carry out their threats to kill me if I complained. On the other hand, I bled for days after each attack and was unable to treat my wounds. I was unable to walk or use the restroom. My health was worsening and the situation was coming to a head.
My Release from Prison
25. Thankfully, soon thereafter I met with my attorney and signed a document that changed my temporary imprisonment status to release under bail. I spent two months in prison under the “temporary imprisonment status” because the prosecutor had not completed my files and had neglected to submit them to the court. My bail was set at 30,000,000 Toman which my uncle put up for me by giving the deed to his house; from there I was released on my own reconnaissance.
26. I was hospitalized for two months after my release to recover from the torture and the rapes I endured. By this time, my family knew that I am homosexual and treated me very differently than they had before I had left for prison. Some relatives cut off communication with me entirely; others refused to loan me money to help me pay for the expenses I had accrued while in prison.
My Escape from Iran
27. Throughout the whole ordeal my only thoughts were of escaping Iran. I knew there was no way I would survive a public trial. Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death and the system of justice is merciless in Iran. The trip to Turkey did not require a visa and it was the cheapest way to get out of Iran so I decided to travel by train to Turkey seventeen months ago.