Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The country does not criminalize consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults or speech that supports LGBTQI+ issues. LGBTQI+ persons whose sexual orientation or gender identity was publicly known risked physical and verbal abuse, possible loss of employment, and unwanted attention from police and other authorities. Inmates and officials often openly victimized incarcerated gay men. Forced marriages of lesbians and bisexual women to men also occurred. The Labrys Public Foundation noted the continued practice of “corrective rape” of lesbians to “cure” their LGBTQI+ status. LGBTQI+ NGOs reported harassment and continuing surveillance of their workers and offices by security services. One LGBTQI+ NGO reported an office break-in. The same NGO reported that the personal information of its staff, including sexual orientation and gender identity, was published.

In 2014 HRW released a report based on interviews with 40 LGBTQI+ persons chronicling instances of official extortion, beatings, and sexual assault. The report described in detail how police patrolling parks and bars frequented by gay men would threaten them with violence and arrest or threaten to reveal their homosexuality to their families if they did not pay bribes. These practices, according to representatives of the LGBTQI+ community, continued during the year. NGO leaders in the southern part of the country reported an even greater threat. During the year members of the LGBTQI+ community reported that authorities regularly monitored chatrooms and dating sites to punish and extort those who were seeking homosexual sex through online venues.

A LGBTQI+ NGO reported that the parents of a bisexual 19-year-old girl attempted to force her to marry a man and held her against her will when she refused. She managed to escape and went to a shelter, but her parents reported her missing to the police and the police returned her to her parents.