KYRGYZSTAN: Human Rights Watch alarmed by gay rights situation mufti issues anti-gay fatwa

Record ID: 278045

  • Title: KYRGYZSTAN: Human Rights Watch alarmed by gay rights situation mufti issues anti-gay fatwa
  • Date: 12th February 2014
  • Summary: BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) GOVERNMENT BUILDING KYRGYZ FLAG VARIOUS PEOPLE IN STREETS WOMAN KISSING MAN TWO MEN SITTING ON BENCH MIKHAIL SITTING ON COUCH TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MIKHAIL, SAYING: "I think I was just living somewhere in a dream world then. I could never imagine that such things, lawlessness, could happen in my country. A guy app
  • Embargoed: 27th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kyrgyzstan
  • Country: Kyrgyzstan
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA9WK31JUG6YTPY96DD61A0BH7G
  • Story Text: Human Rights Watch released a report on January 29 where it said that Kyrgyz police has 'extorted, threatened, arbitrarily detained, beaten, and sexually abused gay and bisexual men'. Although consensual sex between men was decriminalized in Kyrgyzstan in 1998, police target gay and bisexual men for violence and extortion, the report said.
    The report is based on interviews with 40 gay and bisexual men in four regions of Kyrgyzstan.
    Mikhail, a gay man from Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek, realised he had become a target for the police three years ago.
    "I think I was just living somewhere in a dream world then. I could never imagine that such things, lawlessness, could happen in my country. A guy approached me through a dating site. We met in a cafe. He asked me to record a couple of gay films for him. I did it for him and we met again, he treated me to a juice," Mikhail said.
    The man he had met through the dating site turned out to be an undercover police officer. Mikhail was arrested in the cafe where the police officer had offered him a juice and was later accused of distributing pornography. He told HRW that police have subjected him to humiliating abuse forcing to give up the names of other gay men he knew.
    Mikhail was tried and the case hit national headlines. His private life became a matter for public debate with dire consequences.
    "As it happened, the parents of my boyfriend found out about us, he was also beaten up and we were thus separated. We were together for over a year and a half. Then my relatives found out about me from a newspaper and they also disowned me. Practically all my friends who didn't know (about me being gay) also disowned me. I lost my job. The only person who stood up for me was my mum," Mikhail said.
    HRW said that in the country where homosexuality is generally viewed as a sin the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was an easy target for possible extortion. People would do anything to conceal their sexual orientation, HRW said.
    "The situation in Kyrgyzstan is quite difficult because family here, particularly Muslim families, consider homosexuality as a shame - a shame for family, a shame for the whole clan. Therefore the majority of gay and bisexual men, as well as lesbians and transgenders, conceal it," said HRW researcher Anna Kirey.
    The HRW report called 'They Told Us We Deserved This: Police Violence against Gay and Bisexual Men in Kyrgyzstan' is based on interviews with 40 gay and bisexual men in four regions of Kyrgyzstan. HRW wants the government to 'condemn the violence against gay and bisexual men and hold to account the police officers engaged in abuses'.
    Kirey said recent Russian anti-gay legislation was to a large extent to blame for homophobic sentiments in Kyrgyzstan.
    "At the moment in Russia, the LGBT community is seen as one of the main villains. It is being discussed quite widely and in Kyrgyzstan, where the influence of Russia is very strong, we see a similar attitude, it's currently a hot topic, in particular the propaganda issue. Even our report was called a propaganda, though Human Rights Watch regularly releases reports," Kirey said.
    In June last year, Russia passed a law banning gay "propaganda", a measure that human rights groups say has already fuelled attacks on homosexuals as President Vladimir Putin pursues an increasingly conservative social agenda.
    On January 29, the same day as the HRW released the report, acting grand mufti of Kyrgyzstan Maksat Hajji Toktomushev issued a fatwa condemning same-sex relationships.
    "God created a man and a woman for children can be born. Without it people will leave nobody after them. If a man, even a non-religious one, has even a little bit of wisdom, he won't do it. Even animals don't do it. Why does this debate even take place, if one respects mankind ? Therefore I want to say decisively, whether you like it or not, this is forbidden both by Sharia and by our law," Toktomushev told journalists on February 3.
    Toktomushev also challenged the findings of the HRW report.
    Kyrgyzstan is predominantly Muslim and the homophobic sentiment of the leader of the country's main religion has alarmed the country's gay community.
    "As we live in a secular state I think such statements are unacceptable," said Beka, a gay men who did not want to disclose his full identity. "I believe that religion exists for the very reason to inspire kindness in people, inspire clemency, humanity but in no way incite killing and violence."
    In the days that followed the publication of HRW report and Taktomushev's fatwa, Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev convened the Defence Council, a body responsible for the security of the nation, to discuss the growing influence of religion.
    The meeting decided that religious activities should be better regulated and comply with human rights. Religious matters were placed under the direct control of the president, Kyrgyz news agency said at the time.
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