Pictures of gay man beaten and lashed in Iran (warning: graphic)

[kweerwolf]

(Developing story from Page One Q)

Horrific pictures of a 22 - year - old gay Iranian torture victim have been released. SOON TO be posted on PageOneQ: exclusive interview with Amir, the young victim of the anti-gay crackdown -- whose injuries are captured in the photos, and who recently escaped from Iran -- by Senior Contributing Editor Doug for New York's Gay City News. Advance excerpts from the interview will be posted on PageOneQ as soon as they are available. Developing...

http://pageoneq.com/news/2005/gay_iran_09200501.html

I'm expecting the BushCo administration to speak out against human rights violations in Iran any moment now ... NOT!

[DU9598]

1. WTF is with Iran

I am sick to death about these Iranian death squads killing young gay men. Is there nothing that we can do? Oh, if only we had a President ... perhaps then we would have moral authority to speak to the world on issues like this.

Are there any groups working to smuggle gay Iranians out of that deathtrap?

[PageOneQ]

2. Iran Story...

Thank you to kweerwolf who is always so diligent about posting stories from PageOneQ.

I am not sure if there is a group smuggling gay Iranians out, but it is my understanding that the story coming out later (excerpts of a larger item to run later this week in GAY CITY NEWS, will have an impact on countries that deport gay men back to Iran. THis is particularly important as there are a number of asylum cases around the world which relate to his, very very sad story.

Mike Rogers
PageOneQ.com

[kweerwolf]

3. And thank you, Mike ...

... for all the work you put in on Page One Q!

I do a news link page on my LGBT Democratic club web site and between you and a few other sites there is always an abundance of material to choose from.

And I just have to say ... I consider it a real achievement when I can find a story somewhere before it shows up on Page One Q. But it's rare that I can "scoop" you with a story!

Thanks again for all you do!

[greyl]

4. I sympathize with this issue, but

to my eye, those don't look like real injuries. There aren't enough colors, and the lashes are too vertical.
What sort of confirmation do you have that this particular incident actually happened?

[RethugAssKicker]

5. I agree... something looks wrong with that picture

A true lashing.. opens the skin.. it is truly a horrible sight.. This man's back looks more like someone colored it.

[Meldread]

6. I disagree.

They are obvious lashings, and they appear to have come from a whip like object. Take a look:



I think this could be easily recreated. It looks like it came from a whip like object while the above young victim was bent forward. He was probably held into place by someone or something and forced to remain standing, otherwise I think he would have fallen to his knees. The guy doing the whipping would have had to throw the whip behind himself and then swing it over his shoulder -- I think that would have created the marks. It also appears that it would have been his right shoulder and the guy doing it was right handed (look at the angle of the lash marks). The typical reaction to something like this is to fall onto the ground in a fetal position and to cover your head.

It also (in my mind) seems consistent with what I know about how such tortures are carried out, as it isn't just one after another. There is a dramatic pause in-between each lashing. It creates a psychological effect on the victim, which is designed to constantly make the victim await and fear the next blow. From my understanding of how the body reacts to being beaten in such a manor you typically stop feeling the intense pain of actually being beaten around the 10-15th blow or so, and it's the psychology behind the beating not the physical pain that is the real point anyway. If you actually watch something like this happen you'll notice that the victim will tense up before being hit or when they think they are about to be hit, they may even holler out. I counted around 30 visible lash marks on his back, and what appears to be a bruise on his side which I would guess came from a boot to the ribs. He might have gotten that if he had fallen to the ground and someone kicked him, and I would assume that it would have likely come from a steel toe boot. Look at that image here:



It appears to be too large to be from a fist. Looking at various pictures, which are not all that good quality it seems to be darker in the center which would indicate that it came from something like a boot or a shoe. I'd guess it likely came at the end of the lashings when he was allowed to fall to the ground and curled up into the fetal position or if he fell to the ground during the lashings into the fetal position. Either way whoever did it was on his left side and he was leaning on his right side or mostly on his stomach. (Otherwise, I think the mark would be up toward his back a bit more.) I think he was probably leaning on his right side, because it's a big bruise and it's difficult to muster a lot of force when your foot is close to the ground. (If you don't believe me try it out.)

I'm not an expert or anything, but if I wanted to recreate those type of wounds which to me appear plausible and real, that is what would I would do and how I would reenact what likely happened.

[pro_blue_guy]

7. My God.

How can anyone be treated like this? It's so sad to think that gay men and women can be persecuted for their sexual orientation (something which is internally programmed in the mind and not chosen). In no way do GLBT people harm others just because our sexual attraction is not to the opposite sex!

[Ih8dashrub]

9. oriented

i found if you get somebody really stoned theyre more apt to go all the way even if you trick them into it and after they get it on they usually like it

converting heterosexuals into democrats one at a time

[Ih8dashrub]

8. dont insult the s&m community

hey hey hey were making great strides in promoting homosexuality - this is no time to disparage a little s&m

what is wrong is that these people are religiously intolerant

[Meldread]

10. I didn't realize that I was...

Was just pointing out what I think happenedw from the pictures.