Azerbaijan: Anti-Gay Crackdown | Human Rights Watch

Contents:

• GAY LIFE AZERBAIJAN
• AZERBAIJAN: ANTI-GAY CRACKDOWN
• DOZENS OF GAYS REPORTED ARRTED IN AZERBAIJANI POLICE CRACKDOWN
• BEG GAY AZERBAIJAN
• GAYS BAKU
• BAKU GAY TRAVEL
• AZERBAIJAN WORST PLACE TO BE GAY EUROPE, FDS LGBTI X
• GAY AND GAY-IENDLY HOTELS BAKU
• FD & PARE GAY WELG HOTELS BAKU

GAY LIFE AZERBAIJAN

Although homosexual acts between nsentg male adults were officially crimalized, reports about police ab agast gays, maly male prostut, persisted durg the last year. It has been observed that the state ntrolled media outlets e homosexualy as a tool to harass and discred crics of the ernment and opposn journalist. There is hardly any objective and rrect rmatn on the psychologil, soclogil and legal aspects of homosexualy Azerbaijan, wh the rult that the majory of society simply do not know what homosexualy is.

AZERBAIJAN: ANTI-GAY CRACKDOWN

Some, particular those who are fancially pennt and livg Baku, are able to lead a safe life as a LGBT person, as long as they ‘practice’ their homosexualy the private sphere.

But not all is well for LGBT people Azerbaijan; is, spe some reforms and secularism, still a Mlim-based untry where homophobia has ep roots i the relign.

DOZENS OF GAYS REPORTED ARRTED IN AZERBAIJANI POLICE CRACKDOWN

Officials Azerbaijan sist gay visors are wele to the 2012 Eurovisn song ntt when the event, which has an enthiastic gay followg, is hosted the pal, Baku. “My brother has vowed to kill me, and then kill himself, ” says Babi Badalov (photo right), a radil gay Azeri artist who has recently been granted polil asylum France.

“Durg Eurovisn, no-one will bother gay foreigners Baku, ” says Alekper Aliyev, a wrer and an thor of a ntroversial book about a gay relatnship between an Azeri and a man om Armenia, the untry’s historic enemy.

“Recently there has been much ill-rmed speculatn by some expatriat about how we treat our homosexual muny, ” says Elnur Aslanov, a senr official om the printial admistratn. Homosexualy is not well seen and public homosexual behavr not tolerated, although a uple of bars seem to work as meetg plac for the gay and lbian muny.

BEG GAY AZERBAIJAN

As far as I n remember, an anizatn, official reprentativ of LGBT muny Azerbaijan, exists om 2006 – 2007 [this was ‘Azeri Gay Communy’].

We would like to have discsns about homosexualy an aquate, lite and rmed way universi and schools and mass media on the required level. (Berl) – Police Azerbaijan have nducted a vlent mpaign, arrtg and torturg men prumed to be gay or bisexual, as well as transgenr women, Human Rights Watch said today.

GAYS BAKU

Human Rights Watch terviews wh released tae and lawyers nfirmed that sce mid-September, police Baku, Azerbaijan’s pal, have taed dozens of people on dub charg, beatg and g electric shocks on some of them to erce brib and rmatn about other gay men. “The round-ups Azerbaijan f a faiar horrifyg narrative that explos so-lled tradnal valu to jtify vlence agast sexual and genr mori, ” said Graeme Reid, lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) rights director at Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch terviewed five gay men, three of whom had been taed durg the September 2017 round-ups, as well as human rights activists and lawyers reprentg dozens of tae var urts Baku.

Lawyers Human Rights Watch spoke wh nfirmed the nam of 45 gay and bisexual men, and transgenr women, who were taed and sent by urts to up to 30 days’ admistrative tentn September, along wh at least 10 others who were fed and released immediately. In addn, one of the lawyers said that while the official charge is listed as disobeyg police orrs, “In some wrten official materials at the police statns, I saw that police had wrten that the dividuals were gay or transgenr, and that they were arrted on siwalks as they were shoutg or arrangg sex work. On September 27, Ehsan Zahidov, spokman for the Internal Affairs Mistry, said that police were rpondg to plats om Baku rints that gay men were visible on the streets.

BAKU GAY TRAVEL

While the protectn of public health is a legimate tert of the state, nnot jtify the arbrary tentn of dozens of gay men and transgenr women. In s 2016 review of Azerbaijan, the UN Human Rights Commtee exprsed ncern about “discrimatn and vlence agast persons on the basis of their sexual orientatn and genr inty, cludg wh the fay and by police and prison officials…and extortn of money om lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr persons some police statns return for not disclosg their sexual orientatn or genr inty. One of the five gay men terviewed, “Ram, ” who, like others terviewed, is intified by a psdonym for their protectn, told Human Rights Watch: “On September 19, my iend received a Whatsapp msage that a gay guy, whom he did not know before, wanted to meet him to have sex.

“Elgiz, ” a 21-year-old gay man Baku told Human Rights Watch he was at his male partner’s apartment alone on September 20 when the landlord knocked on the door. And “Taleh, ” a 26-year-old gay man said that on September 18, six pla-cloth officials mand to see his and his iends’ intifitn documents when they were stg central Baku’s Founta Square. Authori appear to have gathered signifint amounts of telligence regardg prumed gay and bisexual men, their sexual partners, and possible sex work clients – both through past raids and surveillance, and the tensified mpaign, rried out September 2017.

From my phone, they reached some of my partners and some very rpected [wealthy] gay persons, and they began to blackmail them [on the premise that] they had an affair wh me. Before releasg him, Organized Crime Un officers orred Elgiz to work as an rmant: “I was orred to operate wh police as an rmer and regularly update police on gays, their gatherg areas, and intify rich gays.

AZERBAIJAN WORST PLACE TO BE GAY EUROPE, FDS LGBTI X

On September 27, Zahidov, the Internal Affairs Mistry spokman, said an terview wh EurasiaNet that police were rpondg to plats om rints Baku that gay men were visible on the streets: “People pla that such people walk among , walk our streets, and s our fés.

Human rights groups have voiced severe ncern and sought ways to help after activists said dozens of gay people had been jailed followg raids by the thori Azerbaijan recent weeks. Javid Nabiyev, print of Nef LGBT Azerbaijan Alliance, said a Facebook vio that police had held tae for up to 30 days and forced them to give the nam and addrs of gay and transgenr acquatanc.

GAY AND GAY-IENDLY HOTELS BAKU

"Everybody have fear that they might be arrted anytime on the street, " Nabiyev said English, referrg to members of the lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) muny the tightly ntrolled South Cs untry.

Lol activists said at least 50 gay and transsexual people had been taed police raids of private hom, subway statns, and LGBT-iendly clubs, pubs, and bars Baku over the past two weeks.

Azerbaijan legalized homosexual activy 2000, but the former Soviet untry was still ranked the worst Europe for gay people a 2016 survey by the ternatnal advocy group ILGA.

FD & PARE GAY WELG HOTELS BAKU

In 2015, the European Parliament voted to nmn the "timidatn and reprsn" of LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr) people Azerbaijan after a strg of homophobic cints. Brish gay-rights group Stonewall also ntend that the thori had sgled out gay and transsexual people, and said that some transsexual women had their heads forcibly shaven. The arrts followed a crackdown on LGBT people the nearby Rsian republic of Chechnya, where media reports and activists say more than 100 gay men are believed to have been taed and tortured, and some s killed, earlier this year.