By: Rukhshana Media
In an indoor protest in Kabul on Wednesday, December 28, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people in Afghanistan say they have been murdered, raped, and tortured since the Taliban took full control of the country on August 15, 2021.
In a statement, they claim that the LGBTQ community lives in a very difficult situation in Afghanistan.
“LGBT people have been in the most difficult situation possible for one year and six months,” the statement says. “Not only the Taliban, but all the people of Afghanistan consider us unwanted and discarded by this land.”
“We are homebound and if the situation continues,” one of the LGBTQ people, who does not want to be named tells Rukhshana Media. “We will perish.”
He adds that they struggle with a difficult economic situation and don’t have access to even basic life facilities.
They claim that after the Taliban takeover of the country, two LGBTQ people have been killed and a transgender named “Laila” was burned in Herat.
“Some LGBT people are imprisoned in the forced labor camp of Paktika Province,” another member of the LGBT community in Kabul tells Rukhshana Media.
He adds that there are 104 LGBTQ people in Afghanistan and none of them have been able to get out of the country.
“In Afghanistan, our LGBTQ members have been targeted both physically and mentally,” the statement adds. “And there have been several cases of murder, gang rape, beatings, and forced confessions and beatings by the Taliban.”
According to them, none of them are safe under the Taliban regime.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch reports that LGBTQ people in Afghanistan face grave threats after the Taliban seized power in mid-August last year.
