Over 100 Trans Inmates “Presumed Dead” After Israeli Strike On Iranian Prison

More than 100 trans people are missing and presumed dead after an Israeli strike on an Iranian prison in late June.

Evin Prison was struck on 23 June during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, only hours before a ceasefire was agreed upon. Judiciary spokesman, Asghar Jahangir, said the prison’s medical centre and visiting rooms were specifically targeted.

Located in northern Tehran, the prison primarily holds political prisoners and foreign nationals, and has been accused by human rights groups of torture, extensive solitary confinement, sexual abuse, and other rights abuses. Australian academic, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, was imprisoned there for two years until her release in a prisoner swap in November 2020.

Iranian officials said 79 people had been killed in the attack, including administrative staff, guards, and those visiting inmates, but that casualties were expected to rise. The strike took place in the middle of the day, while the prison was still busy with civillians.

As per The New York Times, prominent human rights lawyer, Reza Shafakhah said about 100 trans inmates were missing and presumed dead after the trans wing of the prison, known as Ward 240, was destroyed.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said the attack was “a grave breach of international humanitarian law.”

Surgery required for legal recognition of Iranian trans people

LGBTQIA+ people in Iran experience systemic discrimination and violence, with same-sex relationships criminalised, carrying a maximum penalty of death.

Although it’s been legal to change gender in Iran since 1987, being transgender is still considered a mental illness, and legal recognition requires surgery, hormone therapy, and sterilisation. Despite this, the country doesn’t carry legal protections for any LGBTQIA+ people.

The bombing has highlighted Israel’s extensive campaign of “pinkwashing” in which the state bolsters its image as a progressive haven for queer people, in comparison to the countries around them. The concept plays on racist, Islamophobic tropes, and global support for LGBTQIA+ rights to manufacture international support for the state’s expansion and the oppression of Palestinian people.

Very little information was publicly available about conditions in Ward 240, although reports from former prisoners allege cells are small and cramped, with a toilet and shower, but no bed.

“Every now and then they beat me on any pretext, insulted me, swore at me, and addressed me in terms that I am still ashamed to repeat now,” a former gay prisoner told IranWire in 2021.

A quote reported to be from a trans inmate at Evin Prison was published in Peace-Mark magazine in 2019.

“When you go to the Transgender Ward, you can’t even see the sunlight,” they said. “The human body needs sunlight. If it’s not available, you need to take pills, but they don’t give us any.

“During my detention, except for the two times I was transferred to the infirmary with begging and pleading, I hadn’t seen the sunlight.”