A/HRC/19/41 homophobic sentiment or harass individuals.51 In each case, LGBT people and those advocating related rights are at risk of violence and discrimination as a result. B. Torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment 34. The Special Rapporteur on torture has noted that “members of sexual minorities are disproportionately subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment because they fail to conform to socially constructed gender expectations. Indeed, discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity may often contribute to the process of the dehumanization of the victim, which is often a necessary condition for torture and illtreatment to take place.”52 In 2010, the Special Rapporteur noted that, in detention facilities, there was usually a strict hierarchy, and that those at the bottom of the hierarchy, such as gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons, suffered double or triple discrimination. 53 The Special Rapporteur has highlighted the susceptibility of male-to-female transgender prisoners to physical and sexual abuse if placed within the general prison population. 54 35. The Special Rapporteur has also reported incidents in which individuals were subjected to victimization by police and prison guards and authorities failed to take reasonable measures to prevent violence against detainees perceived as LGBT.55 For example, in a police station in Indonesia, a man and his male partner were allegedly severely beaten and sexually abused by police officers a day after reportedly having been assaulted by 16 civilians.56 In Uzbekistan, a male human rights defender charged with homosexuality was reportedly beaten by police and threatened with rape with a bottle.57 A lesbian couple in Brazil was allegedly beaten at a police station and forced to perform oral sex.58 In Greece, detainees in a lesbian, gay and transgender section of a prison were reportedly denied access to an outside yard for two years, confined to their cells and a corridor at all times.59 The Special Rapporteur has also reported transsexual women being intentionally beaten on their breasts and cheekbones to burst implants and release toxins. 60 36. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women has highlighted similar cases. In 2006, she detailed allegations of metis in Nepal being beaten by police, who demanded money and sex.61 In 2011, she described a case in El Salvador in which a transgender woman was placed in a male-only prison and detained in a cell with gang members, where she was raped more than 100 times, sometimes with the complicity of prison officials. 62 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 12 See for example the concluding observation of the Human Rights Committee on the Russian Federation (CCPR/C/RUS/CO/6), para. 27. A/56/156, para. 19. See also E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2, para. 199, E/CN.4/2002/76, annex III, p. 11, and E/CN.4/2005/62/Add.1, paras. 1019 and 1161. A/HRC/13/39/Add.5, para. 231. A/56/156, para. 23. See A/56/156, paras. 18, 21 and 23-24; and E/CN.4/2002/76/Add.1, paras. 16 and 1711. A/HRC/10/44/Add.4, para. 92. E/CN.4/2004/56/Add.1, paras. 1878 and 1899. E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2, para. 199. Press statement of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment presenting preliminary findings on his mission to Greece, 20 October 2010. A/56/156, para. 18. See E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.1, para. 131, and A/HRC/4/34/Add.1, paras. 448-454. Meti is a term used in Nepal to describe people who have been assigned a male gender at birth and who have a female gender identity/gender expression. A/HRC/17/26/Add.2, paras. 28-29.