Gay men and lesbians are routinely tortured around the world, according to an Amnesty International report.
And countries that continue to criminalize gay sex include the United States (where 17 states still have sodomy laws on the books).
In Uganda, “Carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” carries a sentence of life imprisonment. An activist named Christine was “tortured in a secret detention centre in Uganda. She was raped after being left alone in a room with three male detainees.” After two weeks, Christine and four friends were released – and fled the country.
In 1996, a Romanian woman was sentenced to three years in jail for “attempting to seduce another woman.” She was regularly beaten, handcuffed and left for hours, sometimes left in solitary confinement for days.
Four men arrested in Kingston, Jamaica in 1996 were charged with gross indecency. They spent hours, naked, on display, until they were finally jailed. They say they then were sexually assaulted and inmates were allowed to attack them.
Witnesses claim a 31-year-old nurse’s assistant went to a Chicago police station over a dispute with a landlord – in perfect health. “By the time he was released blood was streaming from his rectum.”
The stories are endless. China, Russia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Argentina also come under fire.
The 74-page report, Crimes Of Hate, Conspiracy Of Silence: Torture And Ill Treatment Based On Sexual Identity, was released around the world on Jun 22.
“Because it relates to the deepest affairs of the heart, the innermost desires of the mind and the most intimate expressions of the body, sexual orientation goes to the core of a person’s right to physical and mental integrity,” reads the study. “That right must include the freedom to determine and express one’s sexual orientation and to do so on the basis of equality – free of fear and discrimination.”
Recommendations include repealing anti-gay laws, governments condemning torture and the psychiatric “treatment” of homosexuality, and providing proper oversight of those in custody.
The report can be downloaded for free from amnestyusa.org.
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