BBC World Service

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63649154

World Cup 2022: 'I don't want to worry about being killed'
Published 17 November

By Aleem Maqbool
Religion editor, BBC News

The focus is on human rights in Qatar as it prepares to host football's World Cup, starting
on Sunday. Two people tell us how the country's strict religious laws and customs have
affected their lives.

Aziz moves around nervously as we chat online. He wanted to speak out, but it is clear
this is taking a huge amount of courage, and he remains solemn throughout our
conversation. "I would like my existence not to be illegal in my country," he says, in a
low voice from Qatar's capital Doha. "I would like reforms that would say I can be gay
and not worry about being killed." Aziz says his day-to-day anxiety comes from having
to constantly watch what he says in case the wrong word to the wrong person leads to
arrest or an attack for being gay. "The difference between being in Qatar and outside
Qatar, is that outside, the law is on your side," he says. "If somebody attacks you, you
would go to the police station and be protected. Whereas here, if something happens to
me, I may even put myself more in danger by going to the police."

In its report last month, non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch said LGBT

people in Qatar have been subject to arbitrary detention by the security forces and to
verbal and physical harassment. The World Cup has of course meant gay rights in
Qatar have been under scrutiny in the Western media. While that sheds light on the
issues, Aziz says it is also making people more vulnerable. "I now see a lot of people
here speaking against LGBT people online and saying we are disgusting and against
religion," he says. He feels the discussion has been badly framed in the outside world
too. "They are asking 'Is it safe for us to come to Qatar and be ourselves without having
to go to jail or being subjected to Qatari law?' but they are not really thinking about
people like us, and how dangerous those laws can be for us."

Qatari authorities are keen to stress all football fans will be welcomed during the
tournament, but also that visitors should show cultural sensitivity. Aziz fears a
successful World Cup, and the portrayal of a fun-loving nation, will mean Qatar is even
less likely to change. He worries about a backlash in the coming months.
Image caption, "Zainab", not her real name, told us about the effect of Qatar's
guardianship laws.

In the UK, we meet Zainab, which is not her real name. Even though she is here, she
worries that being identifiable could mean repercussions for family back in Qatar.
She says elements of the religious conservatism in Qatari law impacted her mental
health and the so-called male guardianship system over women "is like being a minor
for your entire life". "For every single major life decision, you require the explicit written
permission from a male guardian, usually your father, but if he is not alive then your
uncle, brother or grandfather. "If you don't get that permission, you cannot take that
decision, whether it is enrolling at university and studying abroad, travelling, getting
married, getting divorced." Zainab said having a conservative father meant she would
not have been able to live the life she wanted. She did not want us to document her
experience in detail in case it identified her and led to difficulties for her family.
She said some Qatari women, whose liberal families did not stand in their way, would
deny the system was harmful.

Zainab said the system means women can suffer at the hands of controlling family
members and Qatar's strict laws keep the tribal conservatives happy. "They believe that
the idea of women's rights is somehow a Western idea, and something that will clash
with Islamic values, with their culture and traditions," she says.
Doha student Moselle says it is an Islamic value to welcome and respect everyone but
said fans should also show respect.

Qatari World Cup officials have said criticism of their country is ill-informed. That view is
reinforced by one student, Moselle, at Doha's Education City: "We don't need Western
organisations coming here and telling us what we should and shouldn't do," she says.
"It's our own country. We have to get the chance to develop in the way we see suitable,
not in the way that is dictated upon us." But criticism of Qatari society by its own citizens
is heavily censored. As we have seen, those who speak out are often frightened of the
consequences. Those we have spoken to are not complaining about the smaller cultural
differences that are cited, like being able to drink or kiss in public, they are talking about
issues they believe are basic human rights.