UN human rights experts condemn Taliban over treatment of LGBTQ Afghans

Extremist group regained control of country in 2021

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

United Nations human rights experts on Aug. 14 sharply criticized the Taliban over its treatment of LGBTQ and intersex people and other groups in Afghanistan.

“Two years ago, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. Since then, the policies they have imposed on the Afghan population have resulted in a continuous, systematic and shocking rescinding of a multitude of human rights, including the rights to education, work and freedoms of expression, assembly and association. Consistent credible reports of summary executions and acts tantamount to enforced disappearances, widespread arbitrary detention, torture, and ill treatment, as well as arbitrary displacement have caused increased concern,” reads a statement that Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the independent U.N. expert on LGBTQ and intersex issues, and others signed. “The hardest hit are women and girls, ethnic, religious and other minorities, people with disabilities, displaced persons, LGBTQ+ persons, human rights defenders and other civil society actors, journalists, artists, educators and former government and security officials.”

“Despite reassurances by the Taliban de facto authorities that any restrictions, particularly in terms of access to education would be temporary, the facts on the ground have demonstrated an accelerated, systematic and all engulfing system of segregation, marginalization and persecution,” the statement further notes.

The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021. The last American forces withdrew from the country 15 days later.

The State Department in its 2022 human rights report notes the Taliban “criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual activity, and representatives routinely enforced this position through violence, intimidation, harassment and targeted killings.”

“Under sharia, conviction of same-sex sexual conduct is punishable by death, flogging or imprisonment,” reads the report. “Individual Taliban members made public statements reiterating that their interpretation of sharia includes the death penalty for homosexuality.”

The report further notes the Taliban “takeover of the country increased

Memorial to LGBTQ Holocaust victims vandalized in Berlin

Anti-queer attacks on the rise in Germany

By BRODY LEVESQUE

The Memorial to Persecuted Homosexuals under National Socialism located at the edge of the German capital city’s famed Tiergarten Park was vandalized this past weekend, according to a Berlin Police spokesperson.

The Berlin Police said that a park security official observed a male suspect “papering” the monument with slips of paper later found to contain Biblical verses condemning homosexuality and then attempting to set the memorial ablaze by tossing a burning object at it. The suspect fled when confronted by the guard.

Berlin Police are investigating this incident and another attack against a memorial for victims of the Holocaust, the “Platform 17” memorial, inside the Berlin-Grünewald train station.

The Memorial to Persecuted Homosexuals under National Socialism, in the shape of a cube with a window insert where a video of a same-sex couple kissing can be seen, was first erected in 2008.

German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that under the Nazi regime in Germany from 19331945, gay people were systematically repressed and persecuted, with some 50,000 being convicted on account of their sexuality.

Many thousands of them were deported to concentration camps and large numbers murdered there.

The second arson attack took place at the “Platform 17” memorial, which honors the German Jewish people who were sent to their deaths during the Holocaust from the Grünewald train station.

In a statement issued Monday the Berlin-Brandenburg Lesbian and Gay Association decried both incidents:

“We are shocked by the inflammatory energy of both acts and hope that the person responsible in both cases will be caught quickly.”

These past two weekend incidents are among a rising rate

Malaysia bans Swiss watch maker’s LGBTQ products

Homosexuality remains criminalized in Southeast Asian country

By BRODY LEVESQUE

The Home Ministry in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority conservative Southeast Asia country where homosexuality is illegal, punishable by punishments such as caning and imprisonment, announced that it has banned all Swiss watchmaker Swatch products that contain any LGBTQ elements, whether on watches, boxes or wrappers.

The ministry said the ban has been implemented under the Printing Presses and Publications (Prohibition of Undesirable Publications) Order 2023, noting that the Swatch products are “likely to be prejudicial to morality.”

“(The Swatch products) have been banned as they are detrimental, or possibly detrimental, to morality, public interest and national interest by promoting, supporting and normalizing the LGBTQ movement, which is not accepted by the general public of Malaysia,” the ministry said in its announcement.

“The home ministry again states its commitment to ensure public safety and peace by monitoring and controlling all forms of publications to curb the spread of elements, teachings and movements that contradict the local socio-cultural setup,” the statement continued.

In its announcement, the Malaysian government also warned that anyone found with or owns any such products produced by Swatch could face up to three years in jail or a maximum fine of RM20,000 ($4,372.06), or both, if convicted.

In May of this year, Malaysian authorities seized watches bearing the letters “LGBT” but, according to a lawsuit filed in July by the Swiss company, also confiscated watches from its 2023 Pride collection.

Al Jazeera reported in a lawsuit filed with the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, the Swiss watchmaker is seeking compensation and the return of 172 watches seized by officials over their alleged “LGBT elements.” of anti-LGBTQ sentiments in Germany, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, a German television station, reported. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the number of attacks against queer people increased in 2022. Last year, 1,005 cases were counted, including 227 violent crimes and 341 insults. That is about 15 percent more cases than in the previous year. The gay anti-violence project “Maneo” in Berlin also reports a slightly higher number of cases. According to Maneo, they will be “at a high level” overall in 2022.

The queer commissioner of the federal government assumes that the vast majority wants queer people to be able to live without fear and have equal rights. However, the results of a study from 2023 showed “that this consent is not stable and self-evident.”

Kerstin Thost, the spokesperson for Berlin-Brandenburg Lesbian and Gay Association told ZDF:

“We all have a responsibility now to work tirelessly to protect and treat everyone equally,” said Thost. “In this situation, everyone should position themselves for human rights and democracy. Even those who are not affected by queer hostility themselves.”

Swatch said in the filing that the seizure of the watches, valued at RM64,795 ($14,164.39), had no legal basis as well as including items that had no connection to LGBTQ activism.

“Without a doubt, the seized watches did not and are not in any way capable of causing any disruption to public order or morality or any violations of the law,” Swatch said in the lawsuit, which was filed on June 24 and first reported by the Malay Mail.

Media outlets and LGBTQ activists in Malaysia reported that authorities raided retail shops across the country, including in the nation’s large mega-shopping centers.

According to Al Jazeera, Swatch Group Chief Executive Nick Hayek at the time of the filing of the suit questioned how “peace and love could be harmful” and whether authorities would try to confiscate rainbows in the sky if it was possible.

The ministry and Swatch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

LISA D. T. RICE

a native Washingtonian, is an ANC Commissioner representing single member district 7B07, which includes residents of the Penn Branch, Dupont Park, and Fort Davis neighborhoods. She is a registered Independent and the proposer of the MAKE ALL VOTES COUNT ACT OF 2024.