His name was Alireza Fazeli Monfared and he was only 20 years old.
Fazeli Monfared was homosexual and due to the difficulties he faced because of his sexual orientation, was about to flee his native Iran for Turkey.
But he was reportedly killed by his family members before he could leave the southwestern province of Khuzestan after they accused him of dishonoring the family.
Fazeli Monfared's killing has put the plight of Iran's LGBT community in the spotlight amid concerns that this will not be the last suspected case of so-called honor killings of homosexuals in the Islamic republic.
"There's no guarantee that this won't happen again until our society becomes educated and informed," Arsham Parsi, a Toronto-based, Iranian gay-rights activist and head of the International Railroad for Queer Refugees, told RFE/RL.
Killed For Being Gay
Fazeli Monfared was reportedly killed on May 4 by his half-brother and cousins who, according to some reports, beheaded him and dumped his body under a tree near the provincial capital of Ahvaz.
They reportedly called his mother to tell her where to find him.
The Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network 6rang said in a May 7 statement that Fazeli Monfared's half-brother learned about his sexual orientation after seeing his military service exemption card. In Iran, homosexuals are allowed to skip military duty due to "mental disorders."
Even before he was killed, Fazeli Monfared had complained to friends about threats from his relatives due to his sexual orientation.
In an audio recording obtained by the BBC, Fazeli Monfared said that his family had threatened to kill him and that he was planning to flee Iran to seek asylum in Norway or Sweden.
Fazeli Monfared's partner, activist Aghil Abyat, told RFE/RL that he was due to travel to Turkey on May 8 to join him.
"He had told me that he had been threatened by his half-brother," he said.
'Lively' And 'Very Happy' Man
Abyat described Fazeli Monfared as a "lively" and "very happy" young man who liked to travel, listen to music, and post videos on TikTok. His Instagram posts also suggest an interest in fashion.
Parsi, who had in recent weeks interacted with Fazeli Monfared on Clubhouse, said the young man had complained about family pressure and intolerance in society.
"He didn't clearly say that he had been threatened with murder because if he had done so I would have contacted him privately since we take these issues very seriously, but he spoke about his family not accepting him and the pressure families put on homosexuals," Parsi told RFE/RL.
Members of Iran's gay community are forced to hide their sexual orientation, often leading double lives due to fear of persecution by the state, which criminalizes homosexual acts, while society views homosexuality as a disease.
Many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community are shunned by their families who view them as a stain on the family's honor.
Homosexuality is punishable by death in Iran but proving that a sexual act has taken place is not easy and requires the testimony of four adult men.
Horrific Punishments, Abuse
Parsi said the LGBT community is "extremely vulnerable" while being exposed to horrific punishment and harassment.
"On the one hand, the establishment has laws that includes the death penalty and stoning for homosexuals, on the other hand their families do not accept them, neither does the society," he said. "If something happens to them at work or school, if they get abused or raped, they don't have anywhere to turn to."
Fazeli Monfared's murder has sent a chilling message to Iran's gay community, reminding them of the dire threats they face.
"Today, I received the 86th message from [a homosexual inside Iran] who said this could have been us," said Parsi, adding that "the fear homosexuals experience is real and must be taken seriously."
Berlin-based human rights activist Kaveh Kermanshahi said the killing has shocked many.
"Whoever has gone through similar problems can relate and go through the trauma again, they have been reminded of their hardships," said Kermanshahi, who came out only after leaving Iran several years ago.
"The reasons for not coming out are many more than those in favor of coming out," he said.
"I was politically active, I was active in the human rights sphere, I was also a journalist faced with the risk of arrest, which happened. Due to of all these issues I had decided that [my sexuality] should not be revealed," Kermanshahi added.
Honor Killings Often Unreported
Both Kermanshahi and Parsi believe that a large number of killings in Iran due to someone's sexual orientation go unreported.
"Queers who have been in contact with these people fear reporting or investigating the cases because they can be outed in the society therefore these cases often happen in silence," Kermanshahi said.
"When it comes to uxoricide [husband who kills his wife - DPN], we have women's rights activists who highlight these cases," he said. "But in Iran we don't have the possibility of queer activists working actively therefore it is possible that other cases -- like [Fazeli Monfared's] murder and [gay suicides] -- are not being reported."
In 2017, 6rang reported that a 23-year-old transsexual identified as Siavash was killed in Khorramabad in western Iran by his father who, according to the report, committed suicide afterward.
"Apparently the sexual identity of Siavash was not acceptable to the family at all," 6rang said.
Parsi said in 2004 that a local newspaper reported the killing of a member of Iran's gay community by his father in a northern Iranian village.
"It never became clear whether the father was arrested and punished," he said.
According to a 2020 poll published by the 6rang advocacy group, 62 percent of LGBT members surveyed had said that they had experienced one or more forms of violence by their immediate family.
Nearly 30 percent of them complained of sexual violence, while 77 percent said they had been subjected to physical violence.
The pressure and persecution force many members of Iran's LGBT community to flee the country, while many others undergo gender-reassignment surgery.
Iran: The Islamic Penal Code Promotes Violence Against the LGBT Community
Iran Human Rights considers the Islamic Penal Code (IPC), which sets flogging and the death penalty for homosexual relations to be one of the main causes of violence against the LGBT community.
“Not only does the current system not recognise homosexuality, but the inhumane punishments prescribed by law also lead to more homophobic attacks on the LGBT community. These laws must be repealed and sexual relations between two consenting adults should decriminalised, regardless of their sexual orientation,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, IHR director.
According to Radio Zamaneh, Ali Fazeli Monfared (known as Alireza), a gay Ahvazi man was murdered on May 6. It appears that he was murdered due to his sexual orientation but no report has been released on the perpetrators and their motives.
The BBC Persian is reportedly in possession of voice notes from Alireza in which he said that his life “was being threatened by his family.” In the notes, he says he wants to move to Turkey and then to a European country.
Some LGBT rights activists have also pointed to the fact that he may have been murdered after his family discovered his military exemption card.
A two-year military service is compulsory for all men in Iran unless they are exempted on one of the sanctioned grounds. Gay men may be exempted after going through a long and arduous process. According to the army’s 2020 Medical Exemption Regulations, “Article 33, Paragraph 8” will be written in the exemption section of their military cards. Article 33 Psychological exemptions are covered by Article 33, and Paragraph 8 refers to “behavioural disorders (neural and mental imbalances) and deviancies contrary to military etiquette, as well moral and sexual deviancies such as transsexualism.”
Speaking to IHR, a gay man who recently went through the long process of obtaining a military exemption card said: “The hardest parts were the personal questions about the details of my sex life and that as part of the long examination process, we were asked to bring a family member with us to a military examination centre. Most families are unaware of their children’s situation due to societal conditions and this makes things so difficult that many are forced to forgo their exemptions and choose the harsh and degrading conditions in the military.”
Death penalty
Article 234 of the Islamic Penal Code sets out the hadd (fixed punishment for offences mandated by Sharia) punishments for sodomy. It states that the “active” party will only be sentenced to death if he is married or resorted to force and rape. While the “passive” party will be sentenced to death regardless of their marital status. According to Note 1 of the Article, an “active” non-Muslim party with a Muslim “passive” party shall also be sentenced to death. The Note to Article 236 which sets out the punishment for homosexual intercrural sex also states that if the “active” party is a non-Muslim and the “passive” party a Muslim, the hadd punishment for the “active” party shall be the death penalty.
Furthermore, Article 302 of the new IPC sets out a list of those that are mahdoor-ol-dam, one whose blood may be shed with immunity or deserving of death. Article 302(a) states that anyone charged with committing a crime against an individual who has committed a hadd crime punishable by death is considered mahdoor-ol-dam and the perpetrators of the murder against them will not be sentenced to qisas or have to pay diya (blood money).
This has raised concerns that Ali Fazeli Monfared’s murderers may escape punishment.
Mohammad Moghimi, a lawyer in Iran, told IHR: “It seems that in the case of Ali Fazeli Monfared (Alireza), it will hard to prove that he is mahdoor-ol-dam. If those accused of his murder raise such a claim, the sodomy allegations must be heard before a competent court and a ruling must be issued in that regard, which is impossible in practice, due to Alireza’s death. Therefore, it is legally impossible for the defendants in the case to prove that the victim was mahdoor-ol-dam. In my opinion, the court will treat this case as premeditated murder. Should the court find them guilty of premeditated murder, it will also depend whether the victim’s family, ie. Alireza’s mother and father, will demand qisas (retribution-in-kind) or not. Overall, I can say that proving that the victim was mahdoor-ol-dam is not a simple task, but the possibility of it being raised, however small, if the victim was homosexual, particularly a homosexual man and the issue of sodomy, is still there.”
Speaking to IHR, lawyer Hossein Ahmadi-Niaz said: “Being a lesbian or gay is a crime in Iran and its punishments range from flogging to execution. The judiciary and police system in Iran are against them and this lack of judicial support leads to more violence against them and the occurrence of such crimes. “
“The interpretation of mahdoor-ol-dam is not an explicit interpretation under Iranian law, anything can thus be covered by the law. Unfortunately, tragic and inhumane acts are perpetrated against them in the name of being mahdoor-ol-dam or an issue of honour. Particularly the murder in Ahvaz which is also a crime, it comes from existing incorrect traditions. But the point is, unfortunately, the various interpretations and abuses in the law leave room for different interpretations and abuses of the law, or in the name of the law and they issue these permits to individuals which gives them the courage to commit such crimes in society.”
Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, May 15, 201
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde