Jamaica: Cops save gay man from angry mob

An openly gay man was rescued by police after an angry mob cornered him inside a bank parking lot in Half Way Tree.

Loop News arrived on the scene just in time to see police keeping the crowd at bay. The man said that he was walking with three friends when the mob descended on them and they ran in different directions. He ran into a popular bank's parking lot where a policeman arrived quickly and called for backup. 

"I am gay and they wanted to beat me because I am gay. But I am comfortable with who I am," added the man.

Members of the crowd were unsympathetic towards the man. "Ah lucky him lucky, you saved his life," a man told the cop who arrived first on the scene. Ironically, some members of the crowd praised the policeman for his efforts.  Read More via Loop Jamaica

Belgrade: Lesbians cruelly attacked in Café

After a book-reading public event, Dragoslava Barzut, a lesbian writer and feminist activist went the nearest café with three other lesbian friends from the lesbian football team. They were relaxed & singing in the small cafe with live music, filled with around 40 people altogether. After midnight men came in and started to beat them, screaming and cursing ‘Lesbians Lesbians!’.

Barzut noted a ‘thin and small’ waitress helped the women escape by intervening in the attack and locking the women in a bathroom until the police arrived. 

Representatives from the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights said they will file the case as a hate crime. Read More via Labris 

UK: Figures reveal a 'shocking' rise in homophobic hate crimes

The number of homophobic attacks reported to police leapt by nearly a quarter last year, Home Office figures have revealed.

Forces in England and Wales recorded 5,597 hate crimes against gays and lesbians in 2014-15, a rise of 22 per cent on the previous 12 months. The spike in violence and abuse based on victims’ sexual orientation emerged in statistics revealing a continued rise in offences which are classified as “hate crimes”. 

Although some of the increase could be explained by victims being more willing to come forward, David Cameron described the latest figures as unacceptable and said more needed to be done to fight hate crime. Read More via the Independent

Kenya: Pervasive homophobic violence in coastal region

Mobs in Kenya’s coastal region have repeatedly attacked people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, says a new report. In at least six incidents between 2008 and 2015, mobs in the coastal counties of Mombasa, Kwale, and Kilifi have attacked or threatened LGBT people or health workers serving the LGBT community, without sufficient response from authorities.

The 70-page report, “The Issue is Violence: Attacks on LGBT People on Kenya’s Coast,” is based on research conducted in 2014 and 2015 by Human Rights Watch and PEMA Kenya, a community organization in Mombasa that provides support to gender and sexual minorities on human rights, health, HIV/AIDS, and economic well-being. 

Unchecked violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity not only constitutes a serious human rights abuse, it also jeopardizes Kenya’s efforts to address an HIV epidemic that is highly concentrated among vulnerable populations. In three of the mob attacks, violence or threats from residents and local religious leaders caused health providers serving MSM to temporarily or permanently close their doors or shut down workshops.  Read More via Human Rights Watch 

Two gay men who fled ISIS just made UN history

Refugee Subhi Nahas never could have predicted that so soon after being granted refugee protection he would become one of the first people in history to address the U.N. Security Council on LGBT persecution. The historic meeting, an informal session known as an “Arria,” was prompted by attacks by ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq against LGBT individuals.

The meeting, organized by the U.S. and Chilean delegations, was held behind closed doors to protect the privacy of an anonymous Iraqi gay man who used the pseudonym “Adnan” and delivered testimony via telephone. It was attended by 13 of the 15 member nations of the powerful chamber, with only Chad and Angola refusing to participate. Four countries with troubling LGBT rights records of their own — China, Russia, Nigeria, and Malaysia — declined to speak, but remained present for the entire meeting.

“This is the first time in history that the council has held a meeting on the victimization of LGBT persons,” U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said. “It is the first time we are saying, in a single voice, that it is wrong to target people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. It is a historic step. And it is, as we all know, long overdue.” Read More via Buzzfeed

Israel: 11 police disciplined over Jerusalem Pride attack security failures

Israel’s Police Force is taking strong disciplinary action against a group of officers who were tasked with ensuring a safe 2015 Jerusalem Pride march after intelligence failings allowed religious extremist Yishai Schlissel into the parade area despite his only being released for a similar attack a month before.

Schlissel stabbed three marchers in the 2005 Jerusalem Pride march and was released in early July this year. On 30 July, just weeks after being set free, he carried out a stabbing attack on this year’s parade which wounded six and ultimately resulted in the death of 16-year-old victim Shira Banki.

Reacting to the announcement, the Banki family released a public statement earlier today. ‘The report won’t bring Shira back to her family,’ they say. ‘However, the family hopes that to the degree that deficiencies were found, they will be corrected and the conclusions drawn applied in the most thorough possible fashion to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.’ Read More via Gay Star News 

Turkey: Police question mourners after tipoff

Boysan Yakar, LGBTI activist and advisor to Şişli Mayor, Zeliş Deniz, feminist LGBTI activist, and Mert Serçe have passed away in a highway car crash.

Stepping into action in light of a tip off given by “neighbors” about a rainbow flag draped over the caskets of LGBTI activists Boysan Yakar and Zeliş Deniz, who lost their lives in a traffic accident, police went to the mourners’ home wanting to take a statement. 

According to Yıldırım, the police said that they had come after getting a tip off that the funerals had been performed with an illegal organization’s flag. Neriman Deniz, who asked whether the feminist movement’s flag and the LGBTI movement’s rainbow flag were considered illegal, got “no, of course not,” as an answer.   Read More via LGBTI News Turkey 

Gambia: Two decades of fear and repression

Gambia’s government commits serious human rights violations against perceived critics and political opponents, perpetuating a climate of fear and repression, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 81-page report, “State of Fear: Arbitrary Arrests, Torture, and Killings,” describes the human rights situation in Gambia since President Yahya Jammeh took power in 1994 and ruthlessly repressed all forms of dissent. See more at Human Rights Watch 

Gambia: This gay man survived torture in one of Africa’s most horrific dictatorships

After more than six months in prison, several rounds of torture, and two hospitalizations for his injuries, Alieu Sarr fled his country by boat under cover of night late last month. Sarr was arrested last fall, alongside at least 15 others, by security forces controlled by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, one of the world’s most ruthless dictators. Jammeh had launched a new witch hunt in the months following the August adoption of a law that would punish “aggravated homosexuality” with life in prison.

Most of those with whom he was arrested were released after short detentions, but Sarr and two other men were held to face charges. They were paraded before the media by security officials as Jammeh repeatedly made public pledges to execute LGBT people, including promising in a May speech to slit the throats of homosexuals. “No one will ever set eyes on you again, and no white person can do anything about it,” Jammeh vowed.

In a phone interview from Senegal’s capital, Dakar, Sarr said he was sure he would die, as dozens reportedly have while detained by the National Intelligence Agency.  Read More via Buzzfeed 

Ukraine: Queer Home Kryvbass attacked

Unidentified men in masks attacked a Queer Home Kryvbass. The attackers threw smoke bombs at the community center and destroyed the premises. During an attempt to stop criminals one of the center visitors was attacked and stunned. At the moment he is in the emergency department, the information about his condition is being clarified.

A day earlier, a closed LGBT party was attacked in Kryvyi Rih. About 2 o'clock after the midnight the door of the cafe, where a closed event was held, was knocked down and about 20 men in masks broke in and beaten up the visitors. Witnesses said the attackers were in the T-shirts with symbolic of the Right Sector. The police officers arrived at the crime scene and almost everyone of the attackers were released. 

One of the main functions of the state is to protect its citizens. UPO "Gay Alliance Ukraine" appeals to the law enforcement authorities with a demand not only to punish those responsible for today's incident, but also to take all possible measures to protect the life, health and fundamental rights of the citizens of Ukraine. Read More via Gay Alliance Ukraine