10. November 2022

 

Die folgenden Ausschnitte aus ausgewählten Quellen enthalten Informationen zu oben genannter Fragestellung (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 10. November 2022):

 

Es konnten keine Informationen zu gegen LGBTIQ+-Personen konstruierte Verfahren gefunden werden. Jedoch konnten Informationen zu parallelen Verfahren gegen LGBTIQ+-Personen gefunden werden, die im Zuge von Ermittlungen wegen anderer Straftaten eingeleitet wurden (siehe Rigot, 7. März 2022, S. 83 und Sarde After Dinner, 8. März 2021, Minuten 1:36:00 – 1:38:00).

Jüngste politische Aktionen gegen LGBTIQ+-Personen im Libanon

·      AI – Amnesty International et al: Lebanon: Unlawful Crackdown on LGBTI Gatherings [MDE 18/5797/2022], 4. Juli 2022
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2074996/MDE1857972022ENGLISH.pdf

„Lebanese authorities have unlawfully banned peaceful gatherings of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, the Coalition to Defend Freedom of Expression in Lebanon said today. […]

On June 24, 2022, Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi sent an urgent letter to the directorates of Internal Security and General Security instructing them to ban any gatherings aimed at ‘promoting sexual perversion.’ The letter includes vague and overly broad grounds, citing no legal basis, to determine that such gatherings violate ‘customs and traditions’ and ‘principles of religion.’ The interior minister said this decision was in response to calls to his ministry from religious groups to ‘reject the spread of this phenomenon.’ The letter is understood to refer to gatherings by LGBTI groups, citing a message circulated on social media that detailed plans for activities organized by LGBTI activists. […]

A wave of anti-LGBTI hate speech on social media by individuals and some religious groups, followed the ministry’s letter, including incitement to violence, death threats, and calls to ban the scheduled events by force. Several parliament members also made statements condemning the ‘promotion of homosexuality.’ Activists who had planned and publicly announced a peaceful march on June 26 against the ban said they indefinitely postponed the protest due to threats of violent counter-protests and fears that the security forces would not protect them.

The same day the ministry sent its letter, officers from General Security, Internal Security, and the Internal Security’s information branch questioned both LGBTI and feminist activists at a cultural center about a planned private seven person workshop, telling them to cancel the event or apply for a permit. Since then, activists said, they have received repeated calls from the Internal Security’s information branch inviting them ‘for a chat over coffee,’ which the activists declined, and indicating that they were monitoring the activists’ social media accounts.“ (AI et al, 4. Juli 2022, S. 1)

Rechtliche Situation von Mitgliedern der LGBTIQ+-Personen im Libanon

·      Morocco World News: Lebanon: A Tale of Leaps and Losses for LGBT Rights, 2. November 2019
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/11/285843/lebanon-leaps-losses-lgbt-rights

„Article 534 of Lebanon’s criminal code implicitly prohibits homosexuality as homosexual acts are usually classified under ‘any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature.’ Punishment can include up to one year in prison. The law, originally enacted by French colonizers, is often cited to prosecute cases against LGBT individuals.

However, legal interpretations of ‘unnatural/indecent acts’ are changing. In a landmark move in late March, a military judge declined to prosecute a sodomy case against four military personnel. Lebanese judges have also recently ruled that Article 534 did not apply to some cases regarding consensual same-sex acts and/or acts involving transgender individuals.

In a ground-breaking 2018 case, one district court dismissed charges under Article 534. ‘The appeals court judge denounced the law’s discriminatory intrusion in people’s private lives and declared that homosexuality is not ‘unnatural,’’ Human Rights Watch reported.

The Lebanese legal system is not based on precedents, which allows for more fluid interpretation by individual judges. At the same time, it means that these recent cases will not necessarily result in similar rulings down the line. Even given such progressive rulings, Helem, Lebanon’s first registered LGBT group, reported a 2018 increase in arrests under Article 534. […]

Gay men and transgender women have spoken out on abuse from police and other security officials. Some reported being raped with an iron rod or beaten with electric cables.

Lebanese police are known to perform anal examinations on men to prove or force ‘confessions’ of homosexual acts. The government has spoken out against these examinations but has yet to enforce a blanket ban.“ (Morocco World News, 2. November 2019)

Verhaftungen von und Verfahren gegen LGBTIQ+-Personen

·      Rigot, Afsaneh: Digital Crime Scenes: The Role of Digital Evidence in the Persecution of LGBTQ People in Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia, 7. März 2022
https://cyber.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/2022-03/Digital-Crime-Scenes_Afsaneh-Rigot-2022.pdf

„While prosecution of queer people in Lebanon is ongoing, it is also heavily dependent on context, especially in respect to the context provided by the defendant’s gender identity, social-economic background, and nationality. […]

However, Lebanon still criminalizes homosexuality in accordance with Article 534 of the Penal Code, a law that dates back to the late days of the colonial French Mandate when France controlled the country from its modern founding in 1920 until 1943. According to public attitudes report conducted in 2015, 85.1% considered homosexuality to be a danger to the institution of the family. Political opinion and pressure from religious groups continues to have significant impact on the status of Lebanese LGBTQ persons. For example, in 2018, a gender and sexuality conference which had been held annually in Lebanon since 2013 had to be moved outside the country following General Security’s attempt to shut the conference down. General Security also indefinitely denied non-Lebanese LGBTQ activists who attended the 2018 conference permission to re-enter the country. Police and security forces still punish those perceived to be gay or trans. Reports of apps, specifically LGBTQ-oriented apps, being used by police to entrap and arrest users for acting against the law. Reports of LGBTQ people who are stopped at checkpoints, who have their phones checked by police for items such as the LGBTQ-oriented apps, or are arrested, beaten, and/or humiliated based on the contents of their phones, continue.“ (Rigot, 7. März 2022, S. 22)

„Notwithstanding recent judicial decisions favourable to LGBTQ equality, Lebanon’s legal framework still discriminates against LGBTQ people by enabling police harassment, along with raids, arrests, and detentions, with several alleged cases of torture occurring while the defendant is in custody. While gay men and trans women are the main targets of Article 534, queer women have also been targeted, and are additionally subject to harassment, rape and other forms of sexual violence at the hands of non-state actors and family members. […]

Parts of the queer community do not suffer the same targeting that others do more routinely. This of course has been part of the reason why to many Lebanon is seen as a queer oasis in the region and less emphasis has been placed on the disproportionate effect on queer sex workers, trans people, refugees and lower-income queer people.“ (Rigot, 7. März 2022, S. 23)

„In Lebanon, street-level physical surveillance has played a crucial role in the rates of arrests LGBTQ community. Individuals prosecuted on the basis of Article 534 have been identified and stopped by the judicial police based on their appearance and their ‘behavior’ and ‘speech’. […]

Similar tactics were reported in interviews with Lebanese lawyers. For example, one of the interviewees explained: ‘In Lebanon [targeting is] by their looks and the way they behave [...]’. During the search and questioning phases, intimidation and humiliation tactics are often used: ‘When he looks like for example LGBT, they will start asking him ‘You are gay?’ If he said, ‘No,’ they will call his friends and everything and they will collect information about him, they will take his conversations from WhatsApp, his Facebook, and everything. And they will tell him, ‘You should tell us you are homosexual. Just say [that] you will go to the doctor later to get your treatment.’’

While many in Lebanon’s LGBTQ community may be aware of the police’s use of this tactic, the actual encounter is often a shock. An interviewee noted that the stop is ‘usually by surprise. Most of the cases are done by… they catch them in the road doing something.’ Another interviewee outlined that in Lebanon arrest ‘happened to them by luck’, rather than prior investigation, on or off-line. They continue by stating, ‘It’s the way some people dress[...] Of course, for transgender people, trans women, trans men, you know, [it’s] by the looks... they judge them by seeing them and then they start digging into it.’ By ‘digging into it,’ the interviewee meant physical as well as device searches that may reveal ‘the photos that they have probably with somebody else or the sex chats’.“ (Rigot, 7. März 2022, S. 77-78)

„In Lebanon, police and army checkpoints are frequent occurrences in everyday life, and can create points of contact between law enforcement and marginalised groups, including Palestinian and Syrian refugees and queer people. Checkpoints are doubly risky so for queer refugees. Many migrants and refugees require ‘stay permits’ or residence permits to remain in Lebanon, and they face innumerable bureaucratic hurdles in obtaining them, meaning that many lack legal status. This is a common justification both for the establishment of checkpoints as well as for searches of particular individuals. An order to inspect their legal papers becomes an excuse to access their devices. As one lawyer detailed: ‘I’ve had a case recently where the guy got arrested at a checkpoint but for another reason. They wanted to go into his phone’ for evidence relating to the alleged crime, and when they did they found he had deleted a lot of messages. This raised additional suspicion, so ‘he was transferred [to the police station] and he said that he was a gay and they investigated him. [...] You know, it’s always you get pulled for something and they go through your phone and get to article 534.’

At checkpoints, searches sometimes happen on the spot, as officers and guards choose to ‘look at people’s phones at the checkpoints before allowing them to pass and [...] arrest some people based on what they can find on the phones.’ Other times, the person is transferred to the police station before the search. In either case, when digital evidence of their LGBTQ identity is found, consequences can include threats or arrest. Checkpoints have played a crucial role in the rates of arrests among queer people, especially trans women.“ (Rigot, 7. März 2022, S. 80-81)

„In Lebanon, the typical pattern is for LGBTQ persons to be identified in the course of an investigation into a different crime. The police have an opportunity to conduct device searches that uncover conversations, photos, or videos deemed to be incriminating.

‘What usually happens is that a person is called in to the precinct for another kind of investigation like something related to drugs [or] prostitution [or] anything else actually and they start[...] searching into the phone or into the computer. They go and find pictures or messages or any kind of interaction and they start the investigation based on that [...] It starts out with something not related to anything LGBT and then when they go into the phones, they start investigating.’

This pattern is evident in 5 of the 8 Lebanese case files reviewed, and the Lebanese NGO Helem has also identified this issue and featured it in their advocacy campaigns. Helem has found that for queer people, any interaction with the police can potentially lead to Article 534 charges. This is supported by data provided by the interviewees, as many of the lawyers analogized this to the concept of ‘parallel cases’ or ‘parallel prosecutions.’ Parallel prosecutions are defined as ‘simultaneous or successive investigation or litigation of separate criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings commenced by different agencies, different branches of government, or private litigants arising out of a common set of facts.’ although the reason for the first contact with the police and the facts underlying a 534 prosecution are often wholly distinct. Still, the charges may be stacked: ‘If he is accused for drugs in the same file they put homosexuality [too and] so he will have the two cases in the criminal court.’ Possible homosexuality charges may play a role in increasing penalties imposed for any other criminal convictions based on the role it plays in discriminatory perceptions of courts and prosecuting teams. Out of the 8 files obtained in Lebanon, 5 are based on parallel prosecutions.“ (Rigot, 7. März 2022, S. 83)

„Charges were brought with higher than usual stakes, seemingly due to the military element and because one of the pieces of evidence found on the accused’s phone was a video of sexual intercourse in which his face was shown. As of early 2021, this case was still being contested. By contrast, another case file reviewed began with a mild disagreement in the street. The person was taken to a police station ‘after a complaint by a woman that claimed [they] insulted her and scratched her car.’ They were then ‘transferred to the morality police to investigate [their] alleged homosexuality because of [their] feminine features’. No charge was brought in relation to the allegations of property damage, but the person was convicted under Article 534 and fined 500000 Lebanese Lira (around $330).

In other cases, it appears that the original investigation is a mere pretext. In a 2017 case, the individual was stopped and questioned on suspicion of substance violations, but following a device search that turned up ‘gay porn videos and photos and WhatsApp conversations,’ an Article 534 charge was substituted. In court, the defense team challenged the Narcotics Bureau’s device search as being without reason, evidence-based suspicion, or a warrant. A mandatory drug test came back negative. The judge agreed with the defense and dismissed both charges for lack of evidence. A similar case that commenced in 2016 and had its final appeal decision in 2018 was built on a pretext of a drugs case, but no evidence of drugs were found and drugs were not even mentioned during the interrogation. The individual received two months’ imprisonment for 534 charges, but this was later overturned.“ (Rigot, 7. März 2022, S. 84-85)

Karim Nammour, libanesischer Anwalt, Mitglied der NGO Legal Agenda und Moderator des Qanuni Podcast, spricht im März 2021 bei Sarde After Dinner, einem libanesischen Podcast aus Beirut, über einen Fall aus dem Jahr 2016, bei dem eine Person bei einem Raubüberfall getötet worden sei. Freunde der getöteten Person, mit denen diese am vorigen Abend beisammen gewesen sei, seien im Rahmen der Ermittlungen befragt worden und hätten während der Befragung angegeben, dass sie homosexuell seien. Als Folge sei ein Parallelverfahren auf Basis ihrer Homosexualität eingeleitet worden. Keine der Personen habe angegeben, ihre Sexualität auszuleben und eine weitere Person habe von ihrem Recht zu Schweigen Gebrauch gemacht. Alle Personen, inklusive dem Mann, der keine Angaben über seine sexuelle Orientierung gemacht habe, seien wegen ihrer Homosexualität angeklagt worden (Sarde After Dinner, 8. März 2021, Minuten 1:36:00 – 1:38:00)

Der gesamte Podcast kann unter folgendem Link angehört werden:

·      Sarde After Dinner: Karim Nammour: Police State, Cannabis Law LGBTQ Rights in Lebanon, Podcast Nr. 30, 8. März 2021 (verfügbar auf Youtube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJhWteWGLSw&list=PLu-3-73i2PYhWYXrsQoV2KoGhrbq5haj0&index=65

 

·      L’Orient Today: Abuses against the LGBTQ+ community explode in crisis-stricken Lebanon, 30. März 2022
https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1295234/abuses-against-the-lgbtq-community-explode-in-crisis-stricken-lebanon.html

„These hardships are compounded by the fact that homosexuality is criminalized in Lebanon, which prevents members of the community from accessing any state protection, especially SGBV [Sexual and Gender-Based Violence] victims.

Violations of the rights of queer people have traditionally been perpetrated by state institutions, particularly security offices and apparatuses that operate in parallel with each other, according to Helem.

‘Institutions such as the Internal Security Forces (ISF) and General Security (GS) were active in perpetrating the largest number of arbitrary arrests and detention od LGBTQ individuals under Article 534 of the penal code or any other article within the realm of public decency and morality,’ the report read.

‘In 2021, 369 violations were recorded against LGBT+ people, from state or non-state bodies, [based on five indicators analyzing sexual and gender-based violence] that is, 12 arrests, 66 cases of blackmail, 254 cases of physical violence, 30 cases of rape and seven cases of sexual trafficking,’ said Nour el-Khazen, program director at Helem, in a joint statement with the Mawjoudin, a Tunisian NGO, which also campaigns for human rights and those of the queer community.

These figures, which concern both Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees, are largely underestimated.

Many members of the community remain reluctant to speak up or share their experiences ‘mostly due to the shame and danger associated with being outed as LGBTQ+ in Lebanon,’ Helem’s report read.

The same goes for cases of rape, physical abuse, blackmail, or sexual trafficking.

‘Many individuals prefer to tolerate the mistreatment in the police station and not risk the incident being shared with their families and social circle,’ the report said.

‘Furthermore, any arrests that happen outside the Morality Protections Bureau at the Hobeich Police Station in Ras Beirut, the bureau responsible for processing any and all cases involving violations of article 534 of the penal code throughout Lebanon, are generally not reported to Helem as the general dysfunction and lack of resources throughout Lebanon's security apparatuses often leads to complete disregard to protocol,’ the reported explained.

This is not to mention that the reasons for the arrests are diverse, often related to a lack of official papers for Syrian refugees, suspicion of possession of illegal substances or even suspicion of involvement in sex work.

Those arrested have revealed that they have been subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including ‘torture, abusive language,’ Khazen said.

Other arrested people cited, ‘forcibly extracting false confessions as part of the interrogation process in exchange for the promise of reduced sentences and better treatment’.“ (L’Orient Today, 30. März 2022)

Die im obigen Artikel zusammengefassten Informationen finden sich im Original in den folgenden Berichten von Helem:

·      Helem: 5 Key Indicators of LGBTQ+ Rights Violations in Lebanon, January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021, vermutlich 2022
https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/6103f4af16787766f28ab22b/63527edd31e6977216945d30_ENGLISH%20LGBTQ%2B%20Rights%20Violations%202021%20-%20Helem.pdf

·      Helem: LGBTQ+ Rights Violations Report 2021, 2022
https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/6103f4af16787766f28ab22b/63568de1fb2d6ed378fd252b_LGBTQ%2B%20RIGHTS%20VIOLATIONS%20REPORT%202021%20-%20ENGLISH.pdf

Behandlung von LGBTIQ+-Personen durch die Polizei und in Haft

·      Proud Lebanon: Love is Love, The LGBTIQ+ community in Lebanon, third cycle, 2022
http://proudlebanon.org/reports/

„Torture in detention centers:

LGBTIQ+ people have claimed being forced to confess and detained while being refused access to a lawyer. They are denied food and drink, the chance to make a phone call, and are physically tortured in overcrowded quarters.

Trans women were detained in male-only cells.

Nine of the trans women questioned by Human Rights Watch revealed how the police forced them to confess to crimes after they were jailed.

A 27-year-old trans woman from Lebanon, told how the LSF imprisoned her without reason because of her gender presentation, then mistreated her in custody and compelled her to sign a pressured confession.

When incarcerated, members of the LGBTIQ+ community are required to undergo HIV testing and are regularly transferred to Roumieh prison's blue block, which houses HIV-positive inmates. The blue building is known to be a mental health facility, which does not justify relocating LGBTIQ+ people there.

Some law enforcement officers bully LGBTIQ+ detainees, which often leads to bullying, rape, sexual assault, and abuse from their fellow convicts.“ (Proud Lebanon, 2022, S. 9)

„Due to threats and fear of public exposure, LGBTIQ+ people do not submit complaints against law enforcement. They lack confidence in the criminal justice system's ability to provide justice. The lack of anti-discrimination laws fosters an environment that allows law enforcement officers to mistreat people without consequence. According to our study, respondents claimed they would not disclose crimes against them for fear of being blamed or having their plea rejected because of their non-conformity to gender identification. Moreover, the Police refuses to respond to trans people's complaints about access protection and other fundamental human rights. LGBTIQ+ persons are more likely to seek justice through a credible NGO.“ (Proud Lebanon, 2022, S. 10)

„LGBTIQ+ people can utilize power based on socioeconomic status and personal/familial ties to protect themselves against arbitrary imprisonment, harassment, and violence. For instance, a 42-year-old Lebanese trans woman who is also a performer, told Human Rights Watch how an IF [Internal Forces] officer harassed and assaulted her at a checkpoint until he realized who she was. LGBTIQ+ people who lack social ties are more vulnerable to abuse.“ (Proud Lebanon, 2022, S. 12)

·      Proud Lebanon: Universal Periodic Review – Lebanon, The LGBTIQ+ community in Lebanon, 2020
http://proudlebanon.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/UNIVERSAL-PERIODIC-REVIEW-LEBANON-The-LGBTIQ-community-in-Lebanon-by-Proud-Lebanon.pdf

„Lebanon has ratified the convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1984, and has implemented the law of October 26 2017 that condemns torture. However, the LGBTIQ+ community is among the ones suffering from ill-treatment during detention committed by security forces.

In addition, the anal probe tests remain the ultimate tortuous action LGBTIQ+ individuals face during detention and that continues to be used every time an individual has been arrested under article 534 of the Lebanese penal code. Effectively, detainees have the right to refuse to undergo such tests, but are left no choice when detained.

LGBTIQ+ individuals are often detained for long periods of time without having any legal justification for their detention. The conditions in which those individuals are kept are horrific and inhuman, in addition to the humiliation that they face from law enforcement personnel, other inmates, in addition, having that lawyers are not allowed to meet with the LGBTIQ+ detainees nor attend the interrogations.“ (Proud Lebanon, 2020, S. 4)

„Detained LGBTIQ+ are subject to bullying from some law enforcement personnel, which often leads to bullying, rape, sexual assault and abuse from their fellow inmates.“ (Proud Lebanon, 2020, S. 5)

·      USDOS – US Department of State: 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Lebanon, 12. April 2022
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2071165.html

„Although human rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) organizations acknowledged some improvements in detainee treatment during the year, these organizations and former detainees also reported that ISF [Internal Security Forces] officers mistreated drug users, persons involved in commercial sex, and LGBTQI+ individuals in custody, particularly outside of Beirut, including through forced HIV testing, threats of prolonged detention, and threats to expose their identities to family or friends. LGBTQI+ rights NGOs reported forced anal exams of men suspected of same-sex sexual activity have been banned in Beirut police stations but were carried out in Tripoli and other cities. While physician syndicates in Beirut banned their members from performing such procedures, NGOs stated that local syndicates outside the capital had not all done so.“ (USDOS, 12. April 2022, Section 1c)

„According to local NGOs, cases of arbitrary arrest occurred, but most victims chose not to report violations committed against them to authorities. NGOs reported most cases involved vulnerable groups such as refugees, drug users, LGBTQI+ individuals, and migrant workers who often feared retribution by authorities while having limited access to legal recourse.“ (USDOS, 12. April 2022, Section 1d)

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