“We just ask people to respect our culture,” said the High Commission for Tradition and Heritage in Qatar
A distinguished physician of his Catarrh and a gay rights activist told the Guardian newspaper that Qatari gays were promised safety from physical torture in exchange for helping authorities identify other LGBT people in the country.
THE Dr. Nasser Mohammed, who lives in the United States but is in contact with hundreds of gay Qataris, said some of the secret networks were breached following arrests by Qatar’s Department of Preventive Security. “Many of Qatar’s homosexuals were arrested and physically abused and then recruited as agents,” he said.
Mohammed told the Guardian that foreign gay fans in Catarrh they will not be prosecuted as long as they participate in the World Cup finals. However, he warned, local LGBTI fans face a very different reality. “How does it feel to be gay from Qatar? You live in fear, you live in the shadows, you are persecuted. It is dangerous to be an LGBT person in Qatar.”
Human Rights Watch reported last month that preventive security forces in Qatar arbitrarily detained lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) women and mistreated them during their detention. Human Rights Watch also recorded six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody between 2019 and 2022.
Human Rights Watch calls on the Qatari authorities to repeal Article 285 and all other laws that criminalize consensual sex outside of marriage and to enact legislation that protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, both online and offline . It also wants to permanently guarantee freedom of expression and the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to all Qataris.
FIFA said it is committed to inclusivity and is “confident that all necessary measures will be taken so that LGBT fans can enjoy the tournament in a welcoming and safe environment like everyone else.”
In a statement, the High Commission for Tradition and Heritage in Qatar promised that the World Cup would be free of discrimination. He said: “The High Commission is committed to delivering a comprehensive and non-discriminatory FIFA World Cup experience that will be welcoming, safe and accessible to all participants, spectators and communities in Qatar and around the world.
Everyone is welcome in Qatar, but we are a conservative country and any public display of love, regardless of orientation, is condemned. We’re just asking people to respect our culture.”
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