20. Juni 2018

 

In February 2018, the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), a Brussels-based NGO that works to raise human rights concerns internationally and promote the rights of vulnerable communities, and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland), a NGO that promotes human rights, release a report on LGBT people in Tajikistan containing the following information in the executive summary:

“The human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Tajikistan are often egregiously abused.

While consensual homosexual relations between (male) adults were decriminalized in 1998, homophobic attitudes run deep in Tajikistan’s society. Homophobia in contemporary Tajikistan appears to have its roots in the criminalization of homosexual relations in Soviet times and related propaganda campaigns, the rise of Islamic religiosity in past-Soviet Tajikistan, influences from contemporary Russia, and anti-Western sentiment. […]

In recent years government agencies in Tajikistan have repeatedly stated that it is necessary to counteract homosexuality. In 2014 and 2015 LGBT people were caught up in police raids along with other vulnerable groups. It appears that subsequently the authorities began to increasingly target sexual minorities specifically. A press release issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2014 referred to ‘homosexuality and lesbianism’ as belonging to the list of crimes and offences against morality and public order that the Ministry is tasked to counteract and in another 2014 press release the Ministry informed that three people had been subjected to ‘the necessary measures for homosexual behaviour’. According to an article by Interior Minister Ramozon Rahimzoda published in the journal Konuniyat in October 2017, his Ministry, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the State Committee on Women’s Affairs and Family jointly launched the operations ‘Morality’ and ‘Purge’ in 2015 to prevent and combat offences against morality and amoral behaviour, targeting a wide range of people including LGBTs. In 2016 the authorities began to single out members of sexual minorities setting up a working group on the issue of youth joining groups of LGBT people. Subsequently, 367 alleged gays and lesbians were detained and registered. The process of registering LGBT people appears to be continuing.

Police frequently intimidate, physically or sexually abuse and arbitrarily detain LGBT people and use their knowledge of an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity to blackmail and extort money from them. As many LGBT people in Tajikistan lead double lives they have much to lose if their wives, husbands, parents, other relatives, neighbours, teachers or employers find out about their sexual orientation or gender identity. Extortion and violence by the police as well as abuse by non-state actors take place with almost complete impunity.

In recent years local and international human rights groups have become increasingly concerned about the shrinking space for independent civil society organizations in Tajikistan. Societal homophobia and transphobia make NGOs and civil society activists working with sexual minorities particularly vulnerable to intrusive government inspection, intimidation and other pressure. Some NGOs working with LGBT clients have been forced to close down in recent years. Tajikistani civil society groups working with LGBT people in the framework of health or human rights programmes are not invited to government-organized round tables or working groups. Thus, they lack opportunities to contribute to policy discussions and the legislative process pertaining to areas of their work or to provide input into Tajikistan’s engagement with United Nations (UN) treaty bodies and mechanisms or the UN’s Universal Periodic Review.“ (IPHR/HFHR, February 2018, pp. 4-5)

“To date, there are very few publicly available reports, which document and/or analyze the human rights situation of LGBT people in Tajikistan. Some NGO reports containing such information have not been published so as not to endanger researchers, local civil society organizations, and other sources of information and some reports commissioned by IGOs such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), an agency that covers LGBT-related issues in the framework of broader HIV prevention work, have reportedly not been published so as not to antagonize the Tajikistani authorities who are said to be reluctant to address the issue due to the high level of homophobia and transphobia in society. […]

Tajikistan is the poorest country of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of approx. USD 968 in 2016, according to the World Bank. The dire economic situation sets the stage for the issues described in this report and has shaped some of the specifics of what it means to be an LGBT person in Tajikistan. For example, LGBT people who lack independent financial resources and are economically dependent on their families are particularly vulnerable to intimidation and abuse. Due to widespread unemployment and additional difficulties for some LGBT people to find legal work, those who leave their parents or heterosexual marriages often end up as sex workers to make ends meet. The close association of sex work and sexual minorities is likely to further stigmatize LGBT people. The police have discovered a source of additional income by blackmailing LGBT people.

Against the backdrop of economic harship, some LGBT people cooperate with the police as informers in return for a cut of the extorted money and unofficial police protection. This leads to an atmosphere of suspicion within the LGBT ‘community’, fear of socializing outside of trusted networks or of contacting civil society organizations working with sexual minorities. At the same time the poor economic situation also provides opportunities to LGBT people to express their sexual identities without being discovered by their communities. An example is the widespread labour migration to neighbouring and other countries that provide LGBT people, particularly males, with a temporary opportunity to engage in sexual behaviour of their preference without causing suspicion at home.” (IPHR/HFHR, February 2018, pp. 8-9)

In a joint submission to the Committee against Torture, several NGOs in March 2018 provide the following information concerning LGBT people and NGOs working with LGBT people in Tajikistan:

“The human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Tajikistan are often egregiously abused, although consensual homosexual relations between adults were decriminalized in Tajikistan in 1998. In recent years law enforcement agencies have repeatedly stated that it was necessary to counteract homosexuality and they appear to have increasingly targeted LGBT people. The authors of this report are aware of dozens of credible cases in recent years of police intimidating, arbitrarily detaining, physically or sexually abusing or threatening to abuse LGBT people. Police abuse and extort money from LGBT people with almost complete impunity. Societal homophobia and transphobia make NGOs working with LGBT clients particularly vulnerable to government pressure and several have been forced to discontinue their work in recent years.“ (HFHR/IPHR/NOTORTURETJ/OMCT, March 2018, p. 35)

“In November 2017, Rohi Zindaghi (‘Life Path’), an NGO working on LGBT rights in the Sughd region of northern Tajikistan, announced that it had been forced to close down following a series of inspections by the local administration, fire safety officials, the prosecutor’s office and other official bodies. The chair of the organization said that they made this decision since they were tired of all inspections, although these had only found minor violations. She also said that the organization had been under pressure from the authorities since it started addressing the rights of sexual minorities and ‘advised’ to drop this issue if it wanted to continue its work.

In early February 2018, representatives of several organizations that work with and provide assistance to Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in the cities of Kulyab, Kurgantyube and Dushanbe were summoned for interrogation by law enforcement authorities. During the interrogations, the NGO representatives were requested to provide a list of MSM with whom they work and pressured to write statements saying that they would stop addressing MSM issues.

Another NGO activist was detained by a group of law enforcement officials and taken to a local police station. After being interrogated for several hours about the nature of the work of the NGO and its clients, the activist was released. However, law enforcement officials also visited the NGO’s office and confiscated project financial documents, as well as office equipment and several boxes of hygiene packages (which are used for HIV testing of clients). The NGOs’ printer and financial documents were returned three days later.

In connection with the detention of the NGO activist and the raid of the NGO office, police detained eight young MSM who were held and interrogated for several hours at the local police station. The young people reported being subjected to illtreatment and pressured to disclose information about other MSM, especially high-ranking ones. They said that they were severely beaten, including with the use of a truncheon; subjected to electrical shocks; and insulted and humiliated. The detainees were eventually released. However, it was a traumatic experience for them and they subsequently experienced psychological distress.” (HFHR/IPHR/NOTORTURETJ/OMCT, March 2018, p. 39)

The US Department of State (USDOS) in its April 2018 annual report on human rights in 2017 states:

“Acts of Violence, Discrimination, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

While same-sex sexual conduct is legal in the country, and the age of consent is the same as for heterosexual relationships, the law does not provide legal protection against discrimination. Throughout the country there were reports that LGBTI individuals faced physical and psychological abuse, harassment, extortion, and exploitation for revealing their LGBTI status to their families.

There is no law against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and LGBTI persons were victims of police harassment and faced threats of public beatings by community members. LGBTI representatives claimed law enforcement officials extorted money from LGBTI persons by threatening to tell their employers or families of their activities and in some cases subjected LGBTI persons to sex trafficking. Hate crimes against members of the LGBTI community reportedly went unaddressed. LGBTI representatives claimed health-care providers discriminated against and harassed LGBTI persons. LGBTI advocacy and health groups reported harassment from government officials and clergy, to include violent threats, as well as obstruction of their activities by the Ministry of Health.

Government authorities reportedly compiled a registry of hundreds of persons in the LGBTI community as part of a purported drive to promote moral behavior and protect vulnerable groups in society. The Interior Ministry General Prosecutor’s Office and drew up the list, which comprised 319 men and 48 women.

It was difficult for transgender persons to obtain new official documents from the government. The law allows for changing gender in identity papers if a medical organization provides an authorized document. Because a document of this form does not exist, it was difficult for transgender persons to change their legal identity to match their gender. This created internal problems involving any activity requiring government identification, including the acquisition of a passport for international travel.” (USDOS, 20 April 2018, Section 6)

“Employers discriminated against individuals based on sexual orientation and HIV-positive status, and police generally did not enforce the laws. LGBTI persons and HIV-positive individuals opted not to file complaints due to fear of harassment from law enforcement personnel and the belief that police would not take action.” (USDOS, 20 April 2018, Section 7)

The independent Russian Newspaper Novaya Gazeta in May 2018 publishes an article containing information on the general situation of LGBT persons in Tajikistan, problems the community faces, societal attitudes, persecution by the police and treatment by the authorities:

“Ситуация с правами геев в Центральной Азии - одна из самых тяжёлых в мире. В Таджикистане родственники пытаются их ‚вылечить‘, а милиционеры шантажируют, вымогая деньги. […]

Люди на таджикских улицах в основном одеты скромно, консервативно и более или менее одинаково. Местные не привыкли к туристам. Во время разговора Диловар часто курит. Найти его и уговорить на интервью было сложно - гей-сообщество Таджикистана очень закрытое, все боятся огласки. […]

Диловар осознал свою гомосексуальность примерно в 15 лет. […] Родителям он пока так и не рассказал о своей гомосексуальности. ‚Я в этом плане не боюсь последствий для себя, но дорожу своей мамой, которая может из-за любой нервозности пострадать. Хотя все-таки понимаю, что она это примет‘, - рассуждает Диловар.

Другой гей, Азиз, считает, что окружающие в основном относятся к ЛГБТ негативно: придираются, подкалывают. Парень шутит, что гомосексуалы для местных - как инопланетяне. ‚Для некоторых дико то, как мы себя ведем или танцуем. Да, мы немного манерные, мы отличаемся от других‘, - говорит он.

Гей-клубов в Таджикистане нет - гомосексуалы устраивают квартирники, иногда небольшими компаниями ходят в обычные клубы, бары и кафе. В сообществе говорят, что в 2000-х был клуб, где собирались ЛГБТ, но он просуществовал всего пару месяцев и больше попыток открыть подобное место не было — все боятся разоблачения.

Чтобы избежать неприятных ситуаций, Азиз и его друзья-геи часто ходят в заведения с подругами - так они вызывают меньше подозрений. Он, как и Диловар, не говорит родным о том, что гей, но уверен, что семья подозревает о его ориентации. […] По его словам, для страны типично заставлять своих детей рано вступать в брак. Особенно часто так делают в религиозных семьях - чтобы показать всем, что их дети ‚нормальные‘. ‚[Геям] приходится жениться ради галочки, чтобы их не подозревали. После свадьбы они все равно делают свое дело - изменяют женам‘, - говорит Азиз. Диловар соглашается с ним. […]

По его словам, таджикская милиция относится к геям ‚либо негативно, либо негативно‘. ‚В лучшем случае [милиционеры] тобой постоянно будут манипулировать: шантажировать, высасывать из тебя деньги - и все это, играя на твоем страхе, что люди узнают о тебе. Но самое страшное - летальный исход, когда доводят до того, что человек заканчивает жизнь самоубийством‘, - рассказывает Диловар.

Частая практика, как утверждают таджикские ЛГБТ – ‚сотрудничество‘ милиционеров и пойманных ими геев. Сотрудники правоохранительных органов либо просят выдать других геев, от которых можно получить деньги через шантаж, либо используют пойманных парней для того, чтобы подставить богатых людей. Это еще одна причина закрытости ЛГБТ-сообщества. Другие возможные последствия задержания геев милицией — пытки и унижения в отделе.

‚Многих геев ловят и там же в отделах насилуют [милиционеры] — есть и такие истории. Но они не считают себя ‚голубыми‘. Они же *** (грубо: трахают), как они говорят - значит, они не ‚голубые‘. Вот так потешаются‘, -рассказывает он.

Диловар говорит, что как-то пытался со своей подругой помешать милиционерам задержать ‚парня в женской одежде‘. ‚Естественным было то, что мы пытались защитить его, но в итоге подруга вовремя остановила меня, иначе мы бы каким-то образом пострадали […] Нам просто явно сказали: ‚Либо вы сейчас заткнетесь и уйдете, либо мы вас тоже повяжем и закроем‘. А мы знаем, что происходит в отделах: там и пытки, и много чего другого‘, - вспоминает он.

В регионах Таджикистана ситуация еще сложнее, чем в столице - там маленькие поселки, где все друг друга знают, и люди более религиозные. ‚У меня есть знакомые, которые работают по защите прав геев. Они рассказывают, как это происходит [в регионах] - и там куча историй, вплоть до того, что отец узнал, что его сын - гей, и начал его насиловать. Вся семья знала об этом и молчала, - говорит Диловар. - Семьи в селах, если узнают, и попытки ‚излечить‘ сына или дочь не увенчаются успехом - убивают прямо моментально‘. […]

Как указывается в отчете неправительственной организации ‚Международное партнерство по правам человека‘ за 2017 год, таджикские власти пытаются бороться с ЛГБТ. ‚Есть основания полагать, что органы Министерства внутренних дел получили негласные инструкции по поводу противодействия ‚распространению гомосексуализма‘‘, — пишут правозащитники.

В июне 2014 года милиция, по указанию министра внутренних дел страны Рамазона Рахимзоды, провела серию ночных рейдов ‚по выявлению тех, кто занимается проституцией и сводничеством и содержанием притонов‘. Как утверждают правозащитники, во время этих рейдов задерживали не только работников секс-индустрии, но также членов ЛГБТ-сообщества, которые не были связаны с проституцией и содержанием притонов.

В том же году глава Исламского центра Таджикистана Саидмукаррам Абдулкодирзода публично осудил гомосексуальные отношения во время пятничной проповеди. Он назвал гомосексуальность ‚бедствием‘ и ‚несчастьем‘. ‚Мне стыдно, что приходится в мечети говорить на эту тему. К сожалению, приходилось слышать о гомосексуальной ориентации образованных и культурных людей, которые отказываются от отношений со своими женами, с женщинами и совершают грех мужеложства‘, - цитирует Абдулкодирзода издание ‚Би-би-си‘.

В октябре 2017 года в таджикских и зарубежных СМИ начали появляться статьи о том, что МВД и Генпрокуратура Таджикистана составили списки 380 представителей ЛГБТ-сообщества. Официально власти объяснили, что это было сделано из-за того, что представители сообщества ‚подвержены высокому риску заражения ВИЧ-инфекцией‘. Активисты говорят, что информация о списках была лишь поводом для поднятия рейтингов СМИ и никакого рейда по выявлению представителей ЛГБТ не было. ‚По-моему, никакого списка нет‘, — говорит Баходур. Он рассказывает, что в СМИ опубликовали абзац из журнала Генеральной прокуратуры со статистикой о проведенном в 2015 году рейде по выявлению секс-работников, во время которого были задержаны и мужчины, и женщины. Так же считает и активистка Сайера, которая работает в одной из правозащитных организаций Таджикистана. Но сами представители ЛГБТ Таджикистана, с которыми поговорили журналисты ‚Клоопа‘, не согласны с этим мнением. Они говорят, что рейд в конце 2017 года действительно был, и во время него и правда составляли списки задержанных гомосексуалов. Министерство внутренних дел и Генеральная прокуратура Таджикистана не ответили на официальные запросы журналистов ‚Клоопа‘.

По словам активистов, в Таджикистане работает около пяти правозащитных организаций, которые, помимо всего прочего, работают и с ЛГБТ-сообществом. В Таджикистане нет правозащитников, которые бы официально занимались только проблемами ЛГБТ - активисты говорят, что власти этого бы не допустили. Однако, геи не доверяют правозащитникам. Они считают, что те сотрудничают с милицией. ‚Оказывается, они дают отчеты в МВД, и они в курсе, куда мы ходим и как тусим‘, - рассказывает Азиз. Того же мнения придерживается и Диловар. Он говорит, что никогда не собирается обращаться в правозащитные организации Таджикистана.“ (Novaya Gazeta, 17 May 2018)

Freedom House, a US-based NGO which conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights, in an April 2018 report mentions:

“Tajikistan’s LGBT population continues to face discrimination and harassment. In October 2017, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Tajik Prosecutor General’s Office announced that they had compiled a list of 370 individuals with ‘unconventional’ sexual orientation. According to the office, the list was compiled based on investigative operations called ‘Morality’ and ‘Cleaning,’ both ostensibly aimed at protecting the ‘vulnerability’ of this group. In November, Rozi Zindagi, an organization supporting the LGBT community, ceased operating, citing ‘pressure from the government.’“ (Freedom House, 11 April 2018)

The international human rights organisation Amnesty International (AI) in its annual report published in February 2018 provides the following assessment of the rights of LGBT people in Tajikistan:

“Consensual same-sex sexual relations were not criminalized but continued to be highly stigmatized. Since 2014, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) included ‘homosexuality and lesbianism’ in its list of ‘amoral crimes, prostitution and procurement’. LGBTI people were targeted in two public campaigns to prevent and combat ‘amoral behaviour’ and crimes against ‘morality’ launched in 2015 by the Office of the Prosecutor General, MIA and the State Committee on Women’s Affairs and Family. LGBTI individuals were subjected to violence, arbitrary arrests, detention and discrimination, including being forcibly registered on MIA lists. In October, the Minister of Internal Affairs announced that the names and personal details of 367 individuals suspected of being LGBTI had been entered on an MIA register ostensibly to protect them and to ‘prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS’. The authorities accused NGOs working with LGBTI people in the context of sexual health of undermining traditional cultural values.“ (AI, 22 February 2018)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, notes in a February 2018 article:

“Three police officers in Tajikistan have been detained for allegedly blackmailing a gay man in order to extort money from him. Officials at the Anticorruption Agency told RFE/RL on February 13 that Major Shoramazon Boronov, Captain Oyatullo Saifiddinov, and Captain Narzullo Aslamzoda had been detained several days ago while receiving 3,000 somonis ($340) from a gay man. The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, had on a previous occasion been forced to give the trio 2,000 somonis ($225) to buy the officers' silence regarding his sexual orientation. The agency says the police officers were charged with extortion and abuse of office.

In November, Tajik authorities officially registered 319 gay men and 48 lesbian women in a move purportedly aimed at protecting sexual minorities and halting the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Days after that, a group defending gay rights in the country’s northern region of Sughd said it had been forced to stop its operations following a series of inspections by local authorities.

Tajikistan decriminalized homosexuality in 1998, scrapping a Soviet-era law, but sexual minorities still face firmly entrenched social taboos. Rights groups say LGBT people face discrimination and persecution across the former Soviet Union.” (RFE/RL, 13 February 2018)

Under the following link you find a video of a man who ”had to flee Tajikistan just because he was gay. He calls his country ‘hell for the LGBT community’ and appeals to the government to let them live their lives.”:

·      DW – Deutsche Welle: #MessageBackHome: Stop LGBT discrimination, 7 February 2018
http://www.dw.com/en/messagebackhome-stop-lgbt-discrimination/av-42432080

The AIDS Foundation East West (AFEW), a network of independent local organisations in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia that promotes health and increased access to prevention, treatment and care for public health concerns, writes in a December 2017 article:

“In Tajikistan, gays and lesbians were included into a register maintained by law enforcement agencies. However, there are cases when this information is used for blackmailing and intimidation. […]

HIV experts emphasize that this category of people is one of the populations vulnerable to HIV. ‘The data of sentinel surveillance in Tajikistan show that in 2015 the level of HIV prevalence among gay men was 2.7%, whereas in 2011 – 1.5%,’ says Dilshod Sayburkhanov, the Deputy Director of the Republican AIDS Centre in Tajikistan. […]

Our interviewees – representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and LGBTI groups – agreed to comment on the situation provided that they will stay anonymous.

Representative of an NGO protecting the rights of LGBTI (the abbreviation was first used in English and stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) told us that, according to the official statistics, currently there are 13.5 thousand members of sexual minorities residing in Tajikistan.

In his opinion, registration with police may lead to people from LGBTI going underground, exposing their partners to even higher risks. ‘It will be difficult to regain their trust. This is not a way to resolve the problem of HIV. Vice versa, the problem will grow bigger,’ he says. […]

Our interviewee is sure that the register of LGBT community members is illegal and harmful for the community members. ‘It is harmful because all law enforcers will have access to this register, which will lead to the lack of confidentiality, intimidation and blackmailing to earn some money,’ he shares his thoughts.

Aziz became a victim of such blackmailing. ‘When an officer of the local police precinct learned that I belong to the community, he started demanding two thousand dollars from me. He threatened that otherwise my photo and information about me will be on TV and in the internet. I have a wife and a family. Therefore, I had to agree, but where is the guarantee that this situation will not be repeated?’ he asks.

Rustam, another representative of the LGBTI community said that just recently he suffered an attack in the entrance hall of the apartment building where he lives. ‘Two guys attacked me, kicked me down on the floor and were beating me with their feet yelling: ‘No fags in Tajikistan!’ Then they ran away. I do not know where they got information about me as I try to hide my way of life. I am afraid that it came from this register. In fact, I could go to the police, since we have got a security camera at the entrance, but decided against it. I know that law enforcers will not protect the rights of such people as myself and it will only worsen my situation,’ he says.

In Tajikistan, LGBTI face not only blackmailing and intimidation but also cyberbullying – harassment in the internet.“ (AFEW, 20 December 2017)

In an October 2017 article RFE/RL provides the following information:

“Firuz, a 30-year-old gay man in Dushanbe, was not surprised by the announcement from the Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office that it had compiled a list of what it says are 370 gay men and women in the poor Central Asian nation. Firuz thinks he was added to the registry in 2016 when he was detained during a police raid on a nightclub in the Tajik capital. He says he was interrogated at a police station, asked about his sexual preferences and the names of his sexual partners. Police also forced him to take a blood test to determine whether he was infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, he says.

Asking that his real name not be used because he fears castigation by relatives and discrimination from his employer, Firuz says the Prosecutor-General Office’s list is flawed, containing the names of nongays who have been wrongly labeled as homosexuals. ‘Those who are implementing this order to build a list of gays in Tajikistan just want to satisfy the government and bosses who have ordered them to create this list,’ Firuz says. ‘I know that there are nongays on this list.’

In fact, homosexuality was decriminalized in Tajikistan in 1998 when officials rescinded a Soviet-era law. But the newly announced registry shows that authorities act as if it is still a crime, employing a tactic of posing as the protector of the country’s cultural, religious, and moral values, Firuz says. ‘The government’s mindset is above the law in this situation,’ he says. ‘Even though homosexuality is not a crime, there are raids in the evening at nightclubs and restaurants and at disco clubs.’ ‘They are trying to catch homosexuals and force them to take medical examinations in which they must give blood for HIV tests,’ Firuz says. ‘We are in this situation because the government of Tajikistan consists of radical secularists who have their own culture,’ he says. ‘They answer only to themselves.’

It’s unclear exactly when authorities first began compiling lists of names; news of the registry’s existence first came to light this month. Contacted by RFE/RL, the Tajik Interior Ministry refused to comment on the list. The Prosecutor-General’s Office, meanwhile, defended the registry, saying that individuals were listed ‘due to their vulnerability in society and for their safety and to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.’ Firuz says he also is concerned that he may become a target for harassment by authorities and from the public because he is listed on the registry.

Indeed, rights activists say Tajikistan’s gay community is especially vulnerable to extortion because of fears that their sexual orientation could be publicly revealed with negative consequences in a country of conservative, Muslim values, where homosexuality is frowned upon. […]

Boris Dittrich, advocacy director for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights program at Human Rights Watch, told RFE/RL that the registry is part of ‘a trend going on in which authorities in former Soviet republics are targeting gays.’ […]

‘What we know about Tajikistan is that it is a homophobic country that is very conservative and not very open about sexuality,’ Dittrich said. ‘It is a very difficult country for gay men, in particular, to live in.’ ‘It is a predominantly Muslim country where clerics sometimes speak at the mosque in an attempt to turn worshippers against gays,’ he said.

Human Rights Watch has documented many cases of police violence against gays in the country. In 2014, the U.S.-based rights organization said, Tajikistan's State Committee for Religious Affairs instructed imams at mosques across the country to preach against so-called ‘nontraditional sexual relations.’ Amnesty International in 2014 documented what it said was a ‘new campaign of harassment and violence against gay people who’ve been accused of ‘moral crimes.’’“ (RFE/RL, 18 October 2017)

 

 

 

References: (all links accessed 20 June 2018)

·      AFEW - AIDS Foundation East West: In Tajikistan LGBTI Face Blackmailing and Threats, 20 December 2017
http://www.afew.org/eecaaids2018/lgbti-tajikistan-eng/

·      AI – Amnesty International: Amnesty International Report 2017/18 - The State of the World's Human Rights - Tajikistan, 22 February 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1425694.html

·      DW – Deutsche Welle: #MessageBackHome: Stop LGBT discrimination, 7 February 2018
http://www.dw.com/en/messagebackhome-stop-lgbt-discrimination/av-42432080

·      Freedom House: Nations in Transit 2018 - Tajikistan, 11 April 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1429180.html

·      HFHR/IPHR/NOTORTURETJ/OMCT - Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights/International Partnership for Human Rights/Civil Society Coalition against Torture and Impunity in Tajikistan/World Organisation Against Torture: Tajikistan: Joint Submission to the Committee against Torture on the Review of Tajikistan, 63rd Session, April/May 2018, March 2018 (published by OMCT)
http://www.omct.org/files/2018/03/24787/cat_joint_ngo_submission.pdf

·      IPHR/HFHR - International Partnership for Human Rights/Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights: “We just want to be who we are!” - LGBT people in Tajikistan: Beaten, raped and exploited by police, February 2018
http://iphronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/13.02.18-layout-LGBT.pdf

·      Novaya Gazeta: Страх, унижения и неофициальные списки, 17 May 2018
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/05/17/76497-strah-unizheniya-i-neofitsialnye-spiski

·      RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: 'Very Scary': Tajikistan's Registry Frightens Gays, Alarms Rights Activists, 18 October 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1416246.html

·      RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Tajik Officers Detained For Allegedly Blackmailing Gay Man, 13 February 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1424398.html

·      USDOS – US Department of State: Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2017 - Tajikistan, 20 April 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1430381.html