By Rukhshana Media
In a new report released today, Human Rights Watch and OutRight Action International said the lives and safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Afghans are at risk under the Taliban.
Based on 60 interviews with LGBT Afghans, the new report documented the attacks and threats against them since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August.
At least two interviewees said they have been “raped by members of the Taliban.”
A 20-year-old gay man told Human Rights Watch and OutRight Action International that he was identified as gay in a Taliban checkpoint, beaten and gang-raped by four men for eight hours.
“We spoke with LGBT Afghans who have survived gang rape, mob attacks, or have been hunted by their own family members who joined the Taliban, and they have no hope that state institutions will protect them,” J. Lester Feder, a senior fellow for emergency research at OutRight Action International said in a statement released by Human Rights Watch.
A gay man told Human Rights Watch and OutRight Action International that “Taliban members detained him at a checkpoint, beat him, and gang-raped him, telling him, ‘From now on anytime we want to be able to find you, we will. And we will do whatever we want with you.’”
“The Taliban have explicitly pledged not to respect LGBT Afghans’ rights,” Heather Barr, associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. “It’s critically important for concerned governments to urgently put pressure on the Taliban to respect the rights of LGBT people, ensure that assistance they provide Afghanistan reaches LGBT people, and recognize that LGBT Afghans seeking asylum face a special risk of persecution in Afghanistan and neighboring countries,” Barr urged.
On October 29, a Taliban spokesman for the finance ministry told Reuters that the Taliban will not respect LGBT rights because it is “against Sharia law.”
In November, Rainbow Railroad, the only international LGBT+ organization on the ground in Afghanistan, told FRANCE 24 that the Taliban has “kill lists” to hunt down LGBT Afghans.
