Situation of LGBTQ+ persons under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan

Even before the final capture of Kabul by the Taliban that took place on 15 August 2021, Afghanistan was a country in which same-sex contacts remained illegal. All nonheteronormative behaviours and attitudes in the Islamic world are perceived in a very negative way. Nevertheless, it was just the Taliban takeover in the country which coincided with the withdrawal of the US troops, that leaded LGBTQ+ communities to the edge of despair and desperation. Afghan extremists, who captured this time even the non-captured never before Panjshir Valley, currently exercise absolute power and their only legal and moral code is strict and brutal Sharia.

LGBTQ+ persons and Afghan law

In an interview for the German Bild journal, a Taliban judge declared already in July 2021 that “there are only two punishments for gays: either stoning or he must stand behind a wall that will collapse on him. The wall must be of 2.5-3 m in height.” Thereby, the Taliban representative indicated clearly that the homosexualism will be punished by death. 

The Taliban has their own structures uncontrolled by any external authorities that are supposed to resemble a normal government from an outside perspective. One of the authorial creations of terrorists is the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue that published a manual with instructions for religious leaders in 2020. It comprises among others provisions strictly prohibiting relationships of the same sex persons. According to the manual, each religious leader is obliged to forward information about such relationships to the Ministry in order to judge and punish the perpetrators. 

Afghanistan, just like the most of Islamic countries, was never a LGBTQ+ community-friendly place. Even under a relatively peaceful government, a so-called ‘coming out’ was punished with prison and social ostracism. Moreover, homosexual acts are prohibited not only by Sharia law followed by the Taliban. The Afghan Penal Code of 2017 sets forth severe punishments for homosexual acts and the constitution of this country admits even the capital punishment in such case. As a matter of fact, since 2001, this most severe punishment has not been officially carried out. Nevertheless, since the takeover by the Taliban, finding reliable information on this subject is practically impossible. 

Death lists

There are no illusions. Public institutions do not protect LGBTQ+ communities at all against persecution. The executive director of Rainbow Railroad Organization, in his interview for FRANCE 24 explained clearly: “the Taliban has a list of persons to be killed and it comprises LGBTQ+ persons”. According to him, the Taliban interrogates brutally captured LGBTQ+ persons in order to obtain information about other members of this community in Afghanistan. 

Furthermore, certain persons received crafted messages whose senders were impersonating humanitarian organisations, asking among others for photos of the passport. Probably as a result of such actions, a huge number of sensible data of nonheteronormative persons has leaked. What is worse, the countries neighbouring Afghanistan also stigmatize and punish LGBTQ+ persons to a lower or larger extent. Therefore, the only way of escape remains the widely understood western world.