Manuel Guerrero Aviña arranged a meeting with a man who called himself “Gio”; via gay dating app
A British-Mexican man who was ensnared by police on the gay dating app Grindr has been found guilty of drug charges in Qatar.
Human rights groups are calling for a conviction and a ban on 45-year-old Manuel Guerrero Aviña to be lifted, saying authorities unfairly targeted him because of his homosexuality.
Aviña was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance at a hearing in Doha on Wednesday – a charge he and his family deny.
The airline worker was given a six-month suspended sentence on Wednesday and will be deported from Qatar after a “grossly unfair trial”, as three organizations described it , including Amnesty International, a human rights group.
“There are serious concerns that Guerrero Avinha was targeted because of his sexual orientation and was forced to provide authorities with information that they could use for a broader crackdown on LGBTI people in Qatar,” said Aya Majub, Amnesty's deputy regional director for Middle East and North Africa.
In early February, Avinya arranged to meet a man calling himself “Gio” through Grindr, a gay dating app.
But instead of meeting with “Gio” “He was arrested by Qatari police on drug charges, and spent 42 days in jail.
During his detention, Qatari authorities “interrogated him about his sexual relationships and subjected him to ill-treatment based on his sexual orientation and HIV-positive status, according to Amnesty's statement.
His family claims he was forced to leave his fingerprint on a “confession” in Arabic he did not understand. Qatari authorities also “threatened to beat him” unless he unlocked his phone to identify other LGBT people, including previous sexual partners.
Denied access to food and water
Avinya was placed in solitary confinement and was denied access to food and water. access to food and water for 15 hours a day, forcing him to beg for something to eat, his relatives told Amnesty International. Authorities also refused to provide him with necessary HIV medication for a month.
“Qatari authorities are using this case to stigmatize and criminalize LGBTI people,” Amnesty said.
In March, the UN Human Rights Office took urgent action to demand Qatar justify its detention.
>Avinya was released from custody after agreeing to surrender his passport.
“British The government has an urgent responsibility to provide the Qatari government with information about the deeply unfair and discriminatory process its citizen has been subjected to,” said James Lynch, co-director of FairSquare, a Gulf human rights organization. .
“They should also put pressure on Qatari authorities to stop persecuting people on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
A range of consensual same-sex activities are possible in Qatar. are prohibited, and those found guilty can be jailed for up to seven years.
Avinya, who has lived in Qatar for seven years, could not be reached directly for comment.
The Qatari official said in a statement: “Mr. Avinha was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. He admitted to being in possession of the seized substances and was subsequently detained, booked and presented to court.
“A drug test later came back positive, confirming the presence of amphetamine and methamphetamine in Mr. Avigna's system at the hospital. the time of his arrest. Since his arrest, Mr. Avinya and his family have made numerous false accusations in an attempt to gain public sympathy and support for his case.”
It is unclear when Qatari authorities will carry out Avinya's deportation.
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