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2 From Jordan to Qatar

3 The Crown Prince of Qatar should be stoned to death for being gay 8/05

The Cornell Daily Sun, Inc.
http://www.cornelldailysun.com/articles/7169/

December 04, 2002

1
Qatar's Gay Rights Policy Under Scrutiny

by Freda Ready
Renewed concern is arising around the Cornell Weill Medical College-Qatar (opened October 18, 2002) because of the country's recent record on lesbian and gay rights.

According to the International Lesbian and Gay Association's (ILGA) world legal survey, "Article 201 of the Qatari Penal Code punishes sodomy between consenting adults (irrespective of sex) with up to five years of imprisonment."

Qatar's sodomy laws hardly make it unique, especially in the Arab world. According to Amnesty International, 83 countries explicitly condemn homosexuality in their criminal codes. 26 of those 83 countries are Muslim. Most convictions in those 26 countries happen in the Sharia courts, which use the Koran, Sunna and Ijma as sources for law.

In the Sharia courts, "Law is not a product of human intelligence and adaptation to changing social needs, but of divine inspiration, which makes it immutable," according to H.A.R. Gibb in Mohammedanism, An Historical Survey.

What makes Qatar's laws unique, however, is how they are put into practice. In most countries, foreigners, especially Westerners, are often immune to punitive action based on sexuality. In 1995, while the country's government was still under Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani, the father of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, with whom Cornell has been largely negotiating, an American citizen in Qatar was sentenced to receive 90 lashes during a 6-month prison term for "homosexual activity," according to the U.S. Department of State's report on human rights practices for 1996.

In October of 1997, 36 gay Filipino workers were deported, according to the Manila daily newspaper, Today.

Provost Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin, however, remains confident that the University will be able to protect those students, faculty members and staff of the medical school who may be affected by Qatar's sodomy laws.

"The Qatari government has agreed to abide by Cornell University's standards for admissions and the status of students. The criteria for Cornell University medical students are all academic," she said.

But, one student worried that it is the gesture itself that is important. "I think it's outrageous that Cornell would consider opening a school in a place where its students could be arrested for what they do in the privacy of their own bedrooms," said Jake Lazarus '05.

Qatar currently has no medical schools of its own, a fact that has consistently been given as one of the important reasons for opening this branch of the medical school. But such arguments are of little comfort to Lazarus. "If they want access to our education, they can get a student visa and come to Ithaca. Cornell shouldn't disregard its commitment to inclusiveness and diversity just because they want to make a few quick tuition bucks off rich Arab oilmen sending their sons to med school," he said.

Martin agreed that the Qatari laws in relation to Cornell's commitment to diversity was an important issue. "It's certainly worth my mentioning it directly to the Board of Trustees," she said.

Martin also pointed out, however, that there are "a lot of provisions in the agreement [between Cornell and the Qatar Foundation] for protection of people in any emergency situation."

Gay Middle East Web Site (http://www.gaymiddleeast.com/)

2
From Jordan to Qatar

 
08 August 2003
 
It's not easy to have a gay life in an Arabian Moslem country. In spite of this, gays in Jordan have come a long way toward creating their own society. I spent several years in Jordan before moving to Qatar. I was shocked when I realized the difference between the gay life in Jordan and Qatar.

In Jordan I used to hang out everyday with gay fiends, go to gay places, and make new gay friendships.

In Qatar, the situation is different. There are no gay places here, except one - and in my opinion, we can't say that it's really gay because it's the only place where guys can enter without girls, and a lot of straight guys go there as well.

Another big difference here is the lack of gay relationships. After living in Qatar for quite a while, and talking to a lot of guys in the net, only one or two guys have told me that they have boyfriends. And it's not only love relationships, but friendships are also rare in Qatar among gays.

In Jordan, I knew many people and 90% of my friends were gay, but here, after a long time, I have succeeded in finding only one gay friend whom I have met and stayed in touch with by the phone. I think that the the reason for this is the lack of gay places in Qatar. I'm sure that if there were a gay cafe and everyone went there every week, the bond between guys here would be stronger. I really would love to talk more about these issue of "relationships & friendships" but I need to know if there is anyone who is interested.
 

Footnote from GME:  This letter was sent to us by a reader in Qatar.  The English has been corrected from the original in order to make it more understandable - but we have not changed the meaning of the content in any way. At his request, we have not mentioned his name.

Aljazeera News

August 5, 2005

3
The Crown Prince of Qatar should be stoned to death for being gay, according to Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim fundamentalist scholar who is based in Qatar.


These allegatons appear in the Middle East news magazine Aljazeera. Dr Qaradawi was defended by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, in a Guardian comment article only yesterday, Thursday 4 August.

Aljazeera quotes Dr Qaradawi as saying: "The scholars of Islam, such as Malik, Ash-Shafi`i, Ahmad and Ishaaq said that (the person guilty of this crime) should be stoned, whether he is married or unmarried."
According to Aljazeera, this is the verdict of Dr Qaradawi in response to allegations that Qatar's 25 year old Crown Prince Tameem Bin Hamad Al-Thani was spotted at the popular London gay night club, G.A.Y. The prince and his male partner, Michael Heard, were allegedly banned from G.A.Y. for a month following a fight.

"Dr Qaradawi appears to be encouraging the murder of a person in the UK, which is a serious criminal offence," says OutRage! "We are astonished that Mayor Livingstone is still supporting him."
Dr Qaradawi's support for the execution of the Crown Prince was reported by Aljazeera.

The Aljazeera story states it was based on a report on the IslamOnline.net website.
Aljazeera has effectively outed the Crown Prince to a worldwide audience. It puts his freedom and life in danger.
Aljazeera reports that other scholars from Islamonline.net, have also endorsed the execution of the prince, citing the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad to justify the death penalty for the heir to the Qatari throne: "Whoever you find committing the sin of the people of Lut, kill them, both the one who does it and the one to whom it is done." (At-Tirmidhi: 1376)

Dr Qaradawi's comment to Aljazeera reiterated his "gays should executed" opinion delivered in the fatwa "Homosexuality and Lesbianism: Sexual Perversions" issued last year (17 May 2004), shortly before he was welcomed to London by Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Dr Qaradawi’s recommendation that the prince be stoned to death far exceeds the current penalty for homosexuality in Qatar, which is 5 to 10 years in prison. " This is a clear example of how fundamentalist clerics like Dr Qaradawi incite the execution of lesbian and gay people," said Aaron Saeed, Muslim spokesperson for the LGBT human rights group OutRage!

"Dr Qaradawi's apparent endorsement of the death penalty endangers the freedom and life of the Crown Prince. The actions of Aljazeera in outing Prince Tameem put him at risk of arrest, imprisonment and so-called honour killing.
"We are appalled that Dr Qaradawi continues to be supported by fundamentalist organisations such as the Muslim Association of Britain, and by far left groups like the Socialist Workers Party and Respect.
"These people are betraying lesbian and gay Muslims. They are appeasing a fundamentalist cleric who believes that queers should be put to death. While we deplore Islamophobia and defend the Muslim communities, there can be no collusion with those who sanction the murder of lesbian, gay and bisexual people," said Mr Saeed.

NOTE: OutRage! has been unable to establish whether the Crown Prince was involved in a fight at G.A.Y. According to the club's management, they do not keep a record of ejected patron's identities. The police say they have no record of any charges. We cannot discount the posibility that the story was put out by the Prince's political enemies in a bid to discredit him and to destabilise the government of Qatar. It is suspicious that IslamOnline.net, which Dr Qaradawi

supervises, has been cited as the source of the story and that the story seems to have disappeared from that website. Whether or not the fight at G.A.Y. occurred, Dr Qaradawi's fatwas have endorsed the execution of gay people. He should be asked to clarify his views on the death penalty for homosexuality.