World Cup 2022: Human rights activist Peter Tatchell detained in Qatar after staging LGBT+ protest – Sky Sports

Human rights activist Peter Tatchell was detained in Qatar on Tuesday after he staged what his foundation claims to be the first-ever public LGBT+ protest in any Gulf state just 26 days before the World Cup.

The Peter Tatchell Foundation says he was detained for around 40 minutes outside the National Museum of Qatar in Doha after staging the one-man protest. They say he has now been released.

Mr Tatchell was holding a placard reading: “Qatar arrests, jails & subjects LGBTs to ‘conversion'” whilst wearing a t-shirt with the hashtag: #QatarAntiGay.

Speaking shortly before his protest, Mr Tatchell said: “I did this protest to shine a light on Qatar’s human rights abuses against LGBT+ people, women, migrant workers and liberal Qataris. I am supporting their brave battle against tyranny.

“FIFA has failed to secure change in Qatar. There have been no legislative reforms on LGBT+ or women’s rights. Improvements for migrant workers have been patchy at best. FIFA is letting Qatar evade many of its pledges when it was granted the right to hold the World Cup.”

Sky Sports News has contacted FIFA and Qatar’s Supreme Committee for comment. Sky News has contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Qatari police.

The Qatari embassy in London told Sky News that Mr Tatchell had not been arrested and a statement from the Qatar Government Communications Office read: “Rumours on social media that a representative from the Peter Tatchell Foundation has been arrested in Qatar are completely false and without merit.

“An individual standing in a traffic roundabout was cordially and professionally asked to move to the sidewalk, no arrests were made.

“We are extremely disappointed to see baseless accusations being freely reported by media outlets, without facts. Many organisations will use increased media attention on Qatar ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 to promote their own profiles.

“We are always open to dialogue with entities that wish to discuss important topics, but spreading false information with the deliberate intention of provoking negative responses is irresponsible and unacceptable.”

McAdam: Tatchell shining ‘big spotlight’ on human rights cause

Sky Sports reporter Mark McAdam:

“We’ve had a statement from the Qatari government communications office in the last few moments.

“Clearly there are two sides to this story. The important thing to remember from all of this is that Peter Tatchell is trying to shine a light on human rights, the migrant workers’ conditions over the past few years, women’s rights and of course LGBTQ rights as well. In that country it’s illegal to be your authentic self.

“This is something we’re going to hear a lot of in the coming weeks, as the rest of the world look upon Qatar and its human rights record. What Peter Tatchell is doing is shining a big spotlight on that at the moment.”

Report: Members of Qatar’s LGBTQ+ community detained and abused

According to a Human Rights Watch report, members of Qatar’s LGBTQ+ community were being detained and physically abused by the country’s security services as recently as last month.

Qatar’s treatment of the community is in the spotlight as it prepares to host the men’s World Cup, which kicks off on November 20.

Same-sex relationships are criminalised in Qatar, and HRW alleges officers belonging to the Qatar Preventive Security Department have arbitrarily arrested members of the LGBTQ+ community and subjected them to ill treatment in detention.

The Qatari government rejects the content of the HRW report, stating that the allegations within it are “categorically and unequivocally false”.

HRW documented six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody between 2019 and 2022. LGBTQ+ people interviewed by HRW said these practices were occurring as recently as September.

HRW said transgender women detainees were mandated to attend conversion therapy sessions at a government-sponsored facility as a condition of their release.

Rasha Younes, an LGBTQ+ rights researcher at HRW, said: “While Qatar prepares to host the World Cup, security forces are detaining and abusing LGBT people simply for who they are, apparently confident that the security force abuses will go unreported and unchecked.

“Qatari authorities need to end impunity for violence against LGBT people. The world is watching.”

Six individuals – four transgender women, a bisexual woman and a gay man – were interviewed by HRW and all said they had been detained in an underground prison in Doha and subjected to physical abuse, ranging from slapping to kicking and being punched until they bled.

The detainees were also verbally abused and forced to issue confessions, HRW said, and denied access to legal counsel, family support and medical care.

All were detained without charge and one of the individuals was detained for two months in solitary confinement, HRW said.

Younes added: “The Qatari government should call an immediate halt to this abuse and FIFA should push the Qatari government to ensure long-term reform that protects LGBT people from discrimination and violence.”

A Qatari government official said: “The allegations contain information that is categorically and unequivocally false. Qatar does not tolerate discrimination against anyone, and our policies and procedures are underpinned by a commitment to human rights for all.

“Despite the Qatari government’s commitment to engage with Human Rights Watch and other critical groups, the claims were not brought to our attention until they were first reported in the media. If Human Rights Watch had contacted us, we would have been able to disprove the allegations.

“The Qatari government does not operate or license any ‘conversion centres’. The rehabilitation clinic mentioned in the report supports individuals suffering from behavioural conditions such as substance dependence, eating disorders and mood disorders, and operates in accordance with the highest international medical standards.

“We understand the role of Human Rights Watch to apply pressure on these topics, but their decision to release demonstrably false information, without first contacting our government to verify the findings and better understand Qatar’s policies and standard procedures, compromises their self-proclaimed commitment to reporting the truth.”

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