Until at least last month, Qatari authorities arbitrarily detained LGBTI people in the oil state. They were then reportedly held in appalling conditions in prisons, where they were subjected to physical and verbal abuse. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports this in a press release based on interviews with six LGBT people from Qatar.

HRW writes of six cases of “aggravated and repeated assault” and five cases of sexual harassment in captivity. The incidents occurred between 2019 and 2022.

It is said that the people with whom HRW spoke were picked up out of nowhere in public space. Officers from the Department of Preventive Security, which comes under the Ministry of the Interior, then searched their phones and were arrested without charge, including at an underground prison in Doha.

There are four trans women, one bisexual woman and one gay man. One case involved two months of solitary confinement without access to a lawyer. Trans women had their hair cut off. After their release, all were forced to sign a statement that they would stop “immoral activities” and the trans women were required to attend a “therapy session” at a government behavior center.

Qatar: Information clearly wrong

A Qatari government official denied the allegations in a statement to Reuters news agency. According to him, the HRW investigation contains information “that is categorically and unequivocally false” without elaborating on it.

The human rights situation in Qatar will come under scrutiny as the World Cup begins in less than a month in the country. Homosexuality is illegal in conservative and Muslim Qatar.

The organization of the World Cup emphasized in the run-up to the tournament that everyone is welcome in the country, regardless of sexual preference or origin. Human Rights Watch writes that this message should not only be delivered to World Cup visitors, but “must be guaranteed at all times for all residents of Qatar”.

Shortly after the world championship title was awarded, there were concerns about the rights of the many migrant workers, among others. In recent years there have been many reports of the harsh working conditions in the construction of World Cup stadiums, which, according to investigative journalists and human rights organizations, have left thousands dead in the scorching heat.