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HOMOPHOBIA: RAIDS AGAINST GLBT PERSONS IN AZERBAIJAN

published on 9 October 2017

Cercle Etudiant LGBTQI Inqlusion Tels Quels Genres Pluriels

Raids in bars, mass arrests, forced medicals and torture practices. Baku has quickly turned into hell on earth for the GLBT communities.

Is the European continent a ‘safe haven’ for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, intersexuals…? In the Caucasus, hostility and contempt with regard to GLBT persons are nothing new. De concentration camps that were discovered in Chechnya already evidenced the extreme violence in regard to GLBT persons …

Since mid-September, Azerbaijan has been following the example of its neighbour. This time the Swedish NGO « Civil Right Defenders » raises the alarm: Azerbaijan carries out mass arrests against the gays and the transgenders of the country.

The RainbowHouse has been contacted by ILGA EUROPE. According to the report that has been checked by the European organization ILGA, the members of the GLBT community are indeed the new butt of the local Baku authorities.

The big raids occur in the gay bars, but also in the selfsame residences of GLBT persons. Gays en transgenders are the first targets of the persecutions. They are randomly arrested with extreme violence and humiliations. They are subsequently and promptly sent to the commissioner’s office. The heads of transgender women are shaved with force.

In the hope of release, the victims are forced to report the names of the GLTB persons in their entourage. Their cell phones are confiscated and placed under surveillance, so as to determine the sexual inclination of their contacts. The government forces its GLBT victims to undergo medicals. If some STD is found, they are interned by force.

Raids in bars, mass arrests, forced medicals and torture practices. Baku has quickly turned into hell on earth for the GLBT communities.

Is the European continent a ‘safe haven’ for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, intersexuals…? In the Caucasus, hostility and contempt with regard to GLBT persons are nothing new. De concentration camps that were discovered in Chechnya already evidenced the extreme violence in regard to GLBT persons …

Since mid-September, Azerbaijan has been following the example of its neighbour. This time the Swedish NGO « Civil Right Defenders » raises the alarm: Azerbaijan carries out mass arrests against the gays and the transgenders of the country.

The RainbowHouse has been contacted by ILGA EUROPE. According to the report that has been checked by the European organization ILGA, the members of the GLBT community are indeed the new butt of the local Baku authorities.

The big raids occur in the gay bars, but also in the selfsame residences of GLBT persons. Gays en transgenders are the first targets of the persecutions. They are randomly arrested with extreme violence and humiliations. They are subsequently and promptly sent to the commissioner’s office. The heads of transgender women are shaved with force.

In the hope of release, the victims are forced to report the names of the GLTB persons in their entourage. Their cell phones are confiscated and placed under surveillance, so as to determine the sexual inclination of their contacts. The government forces its GLBT victims to undergo medicals. If some STD is found, they are interned by force.

The exact number of detainees is not yet known. According to sources in the region, at least 50 GLTB persons have been apprehended as a result of the mid-September raids.

ILGA Europe makes an urgent call to raise funds for the victims, as well as to meet the expenses of the victims’ defence.

La RaninbowHouse Brussel

#Solidarity with Azerbaijan #LGBTQI+

The fight for the rights of the GLTB persons has to be championed on all fronts and in all countries. The RainbowHouse is indignant at these degrading practices and calls on to our solidarity to denounce this repression.We likewise demand concrete political measures and an immediate intervention to put an end to these raids and violence in Azerbaijan.

#Solidarity with LGBTQI+ in Azerbaijan
#Solidarity with LGBTQI+ in Azerbaijan
#Solidarity with LGBTQI+ in Azerbaijan
#Solidarity with LGBTQI+ in Azerbaijan
#Solidarity with LGBTQI+ in Azerbaijan

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