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“All have been detained with out cost, in a single case for 2 months in solitary confinement, with out entry to authorized counsel,” the report mentioned. “None acquired any report of getting been detained. These acts may represent arbitrary detention below worldwide human rights regulation.”
The Washington Submit couldn’t instantly confirm the accounts from the report. However it provides to considerations expressed by rights teams and soccer gamers in regards to the security of LGBT individuals attending subsequent month’s World Cup.
Qatari regulation prohibits consensual same-sex sexual acts between males, however doesn’t explicitly prohibit them for girls, in line with the 2021 U.S. State Division human rights report. Similar-sex relations between males can land them in jail for as much as seven years.
The Qatari authorities and FIFA didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark Monday night. However Qatari officers have disputed the allegations, saying the report had “info that’s categorically and unequivocally false,” with out elaborating additional, in line with Reuters.
The individuals interviewed by Human Rights Watch mentioned they have been slapped, kicked and punched whereas in custody. At the least one lady mentioned she had misplaced consciousness. Members of Qatar’s Preventive Safety Division, an company below the nation’s Inside Ministry, compelled all six to signal pledges to “stop immoral exercise.”
One of many transgender ladies informed Human Rights Watch that she had been arrested on the road in Doha, and accused of “imitating ladies.” As soon as inside a police car, authorities beat her, bloodying her lips and nostril, and kicking her within the abdomen. One of many authorities informed her that “You gays are immoral, so we would be the similar to you,” in line with the report.
“I used to be detained for 3 weeks with out cost, and officers repeatedly sexually harassed me,” she mentioned. “A part of the discharge requirement was attending periods with a psychologist who ‘would make me a person once more.’ ”
The lady additionally reported seeing no less than seven different LGBT individuals locked up in the identical underground jail.
A second transgender lady mentioned she was arrested for carrying make-up. Authorities shaved her hair, and requested her to signal a vow that she would by no means put on make-up once more as a situation of her launch, she mentioned. Transgender ladies have been required to obtain “conversion remedy” at government-sponsored facilities, the report mentioned.
Human Rights Watch mentioned the arbitrary arrests of the individuals interviewed seemed to be based mostly on a regulation that enables provisional detention if “there exist well-founded causes to consider that the defendant could have dedicated a criminal offense,” together with “violating public morality.”
Qatar has confronted strain from overseas officers, soccer gamers and FIFA over its stance towards LGBT individuals within the lead-up to the World Cup, which begins Nov. 20. Qatari officers have mentioned that everybody is welcome to attend, no matter their background — however with caveats resembling respecting the country’s culture.
Final month, individuals at a human rights congress hosted by the German soccer federation urged the Qatari ambassador to Berlin to abolish penalties for homosexuality in Qatar, the Related Press reported. Josh Cavallo, an Australian soccer participant who got here out as homosexual final 12 months, has expressed considerations in regards to the nation’s homophobic legal guidelines. In March, 16 LGBT teams urged Qatar to repeal these legal guidelines, amongst different calls for.
FIFA has pushed Doha to host an inclusive match, and followers will likely be allowed to fly the rainbow-colored LGBT flag throughout matches after Qatar mentioned it might adjust to the soccer physique’s guidelines selling tolerance and inclusion, in line with experiences in 2020. However in March, a Qatari official warned that regulation enforcement officers may take away rainbow flags from followers to “defend” them from being attacked by locals who could possibly be angered by their assist, the Related Press reported.
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