LGBT+ people in Qatar have allegedly been arrested and ill-treated with some instances documented just weeks before the country hosts the men's World Cup, Human Rights Watch has claimed. The NGO has released a report which alleges that the preventive security department in Qatar has subjected LGBT+ people to arbitrary arrest and, in some cases, maltreatment during detention. A Qatari official has said the report contains claims which are "unequivocally false" and added the country "does not tolerate discrimination against anyone".
The country is under intense scrutiny over its human rights record and treatment of groups including LGBT+ people and migrant workers ahead of the international showpiece. Wales will compete in the tournament for the first time since 1958 but some fans have said they will boycott the tournament over the host nation's anti-LGBT+ laws, which make homosexuality illegal and punishable with a jail sentence of up to seven years. Fans who do intend to travel to the tournament have also been warned to expect a different atmosphere to previous World Cups.
The Human Rights Watch report documented six cases of "severe" beatings and sexual harassment by police between 2019 and 2022. The report claims the people in question were arrested in public places based on their gender expression with security forces searching their phones. Transgender women were targeted specifically and were forced to attend mandatory conversion therapy sessions at government-funded "behavioural healthcare" centres, the report claims.
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Human Rights Watch interviewed four transgender women, one gay man, and one bisexual woman. All alleged they were detained in an underground prison located in Doha where they claimed they were victims of physical abuse and verbal harassment. One woman alleged she lost consciousness due to the severity of the abuse.
One transgender Qatari woman claimed that after she was arrested she was accused of "imitating a woman". She alleged she was later beaten until bleeding in the police car. "I saw many other LGBT people detained there – two Moroccan lesbians, four Filipino gay men, and one Nepalese gay man," she told Human Rights Watch.
“I was detained for three weeks without charge and officers repeatedly sexually harassed me. Part of the release requirement was attending sessions with a psychologist who ‘would make me a man again’.”
Another transgender woman reported her treatment at the hands of the preventive security department forces and alleged: “They gave me hand wipes and made me wipe the make-up off my face. They used the make-up-stained wipes as evidence against me and took a picture of me with the wipes in my hand. They also shaved my hair.”
A Qatari bisexual woman claimed she was beaten until she lost consciousness. She said: "[Officers] beat me until I lost consciousness several times. An officer took me blindfolded by car to another place that felt like a private home from the inside and forced me to watch restrained people getting beaten as an intimidation tactic.”
In 2020 Qatari authorities assured the world that visitors to the country would have nothing to fear if they were LGBT+ and said fans would be able to fly "rainbow flags" at matches. "When it comes to the rainbow flags in the stadiums Fifa have their own guidelines, they have their rules and regulations," 2022 World Cup chief executive Nasser Al-Khater said in December 2020. "Whatever they may be, we will respect them." Fifa said at that time it was determined to push Qatar on staging a "tournament that is inclusive" when the World Cup is held in the Middle East for the first time in November and December 2022.
Human Rights Watch has said Qatari security forces should immediately release LGBT people who are being detained. They said: "Qatari security forces should end arrests for adult, consensual sexual relations, including same-sex conduct, or those based on gender expression, and immediately release LGBT people who remain arbitrarily detained. The Qatari government should put an end to security force ill-treatment against LGBT people, including by halting any government-sponsored programmes aimed at conversion practices. Countries sending external security forces to Qatar during the World Cup should ensure they comply with international human rights law and refrain from adding to Qatari security forces’ abuses."
Sky News reported a statement from a Qatari official which said the Human Rights Watch report contained information that is categorically and unequivocally false”. He added: “Qatar does not tolerate discrimination against anyone and our policies and procedures are underpinned by a commitment to human rights for all. “The Qatari government does not operate or license any ‘conversion centres’.
“The rehabilitation clinic mentioned in the report supports individuals suffering from behavioural conditions such as substance dependence, eating disorders, and mood disorders and operates in accordance with the highest international medical standards.”
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