LGBT+ people still arrested and beaten one year on from Qatar World Cup
The World Cup in Qatar has done nothing to improve the lives of LGBT+ people, with authorities continuing to arbitrarily arrest, detain and abuse members of the community one year on from the tournament.
Senior figures within football, including FIFA president Gianni Infantino, frequently claimed that the tournament would help to inspire reform in the Middle East state. On the eve of the World Cup, Infantino insisted that "engaging" was the only way to incite change and that the tournament was the reason progress was being made.
But those claims have now been rubbished by Human Rights Watch, who insist that the lives of LGBT+ people have only worsened. Rasha Younes, senior researcher on LGBT rights at the NGO, has revealed the scale of the abuses that the community still faces.
Speaking exclusively to Mirror Football, she said: "LGBT people in Qatar face arbitrary arrests by Qatar’s Preventive Security Department and ill-treatment in detention. We documented several cases of severe and repeated beatings and sexual harassment in police custody.
"Security forces arrested people in public places based solely on their gender expression and unlawfully searched their phones. Preventive Security Department officers detained them in an underground prison in Doha.
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"They verbally harassed and subjected detainees to physical abuse, ranging from slapping to kicking and punching until they bled. Qatari authorities censor mainstream media related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
"And people who have experienced government repression have told us that the government surveils and arrests LGBT people based on their online activity."
Gianni Infantino's claims that the World Cup could spark reform have been rubbished (Gongora/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)Younes also took aim at the suggestion that the World Cup had done anything to change the situation in Qatar. Instead, she believes that the tournament was a missed opportunity to bring about reform.
"While the World Cup could have been an opportunity to inspire true change, Qatari authorities were unwilling to make reforms to improve the lives of LGBT people and advance their rights," Younes added.
"Qatar’s steady reference to 'culture' to deny LGBT people’s rights deflects responsibility away from abusive state systems. 'Culture' should not be used as a cover for discourse, practices, and legislation that have effectively excluded content related to sexual orientation and gender identity from the public sphere.
Fans in Switzerland kiss to protest against Qatar (MICHAEL BUHOLZER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)"We knew that temporary measures adopted to appeal to 'visitors' risked erasing the lived repressive reality of LGBT residents of Qatar. Without long-term local reform, LGBT residents of Qatar would be left suspended, and that is what remained after the World Cup was over."
While Younes does believe the World Cup brought much-needed attention to the plight of LGBT+ Qataris, she insisted that the state's authorities have gone back to 'business as usual'. She also blasted the likes of Infantino and David Beckham for defending the country.
"To an extent, the World Cup brought an empowering visibility to the lives of LGBT people living in Qatar. Their stories and experiences with egregious and cyclical violence were heard, and the world paid attention to their daily struggles," Younes concluded.
"Gestures of yielding to Qatari authorities’ abuses contribute to sports-washing Qatar’s image on the world stage, leaving survivors of violence without an effective remedy and erasing their resistance in the face of systemic discrimination.
"When the world shifted its gaze from Qatar’s abuses after the World Cup ended, Qatari authorities resumed business as usual, which included maintaining the status quo that oppresses marginalised factions of society, including LGBT people."
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