A/HRC/28/70 including representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Information and Technology and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, to investigate the potential health effects of satellite jamming.55 The committee has yet to announce its findings. In October, Saeed Motassadi, of the Department of the Environment, noted that the topic of jamming causing cancer had been studied many times, and that the possibility existed of the illness occurring in individuals as a result of the effects of jamming.56 2. Transgender Iranians 60. During its review of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2013, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concern that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community faced discrimination with respect to access to employment, housing, education and health care, as well as social stigma and marginalization (see E/C.12/IRN/CO/2, para. 7). 61. The Special Rapporteur notes favourably that Iranian law and practice allows for transgender persons to undergo gender confirmation surgery. 57 However, information received from victims who underwent such surgeries suggested that the quality of health care they received was at times clearly substandard and not in line with professional norms or the right to adequate and attainable health enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.58 Interviewees claimed that gender confirmation surgeries often led to serious complications, including severe bleeding, severe infection, scarring, chronic pain and rectovaginal fistulas. A number of transgender Iranians also reported that their operations had resulted in sexual organs that were abnormally shaped or located and vaginal stenosis. 62. There are reports of licensed doctors giving patients a “discounted” rate for surgeries that ultimately deviated from standard procedures. Those budget operations were allegedly conducted outside operating rooms, with limited anaesthesia and post-operation care, and sometimes without genital reconstruction. Several transgender interviewees said the “discounted” surgeries were attractive, because it was difficult to gain access to the costly surgical care, owing to insufficient subsidies and a lengthy pre-surgery bureaucratic process. The Special Rapporteur takes note that transgender persons must undergo gender confirmation operations in order to attain legal recognition of their gender in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which may create undue pressure to undergo surgery. C. Landmines 63. Concern over the situation of landmines in the Islamic Republic of Iran was expressed during the country’s universal periodic review in 2014. Reports indicate that the initial demining process has been accomplished, and that 2 million local residents have 55 56 57 58 16 International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, “Government committee to review satellite jamming signals’ effects on public health”, 5 February 2014. Available from www.iranhumanrights.org/2014/02/satellite-jamming/. AlMonitor, “Iran official says satellite jamming can cause cancer”, 2 October 2014. Available from www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/iran-satellite-jamming-cancer.html#. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and Iranian Queer Organization, “Human rights violations of people in the Islamic Republic of Iran on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity” (2014). Available from http://iglhrc.org/sites/default/files/UPRSubmission.pdf. E. Coleman and others, “Standards of Care (SOC)for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People, Version 7”, International Journal of Transgenderism, vol. 13, (2011). Available from www.wpath.org/uploaded_files/140/files/IJT%20SOC,%20V7.pdf.