Out.com: TJ database suspected gay citizens forced HIV tests

The report states that Tajikistan compiled a list of 367 suspected gay and lesbian citizens and required them to provide blood samples for sexually-transmitted-disease testing, according to a journal published by the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. It states that 319 men and 48 women were identified through two operations named “Purge” and “Morality,” and that officials declined to describe the methods or purpose. The report states that an anonymous police source told AFP the registry was created because “strict medical records were needed for members of the gay community” due to purported higher infection risk. It notes that Tajikistan decriminalised homosexuality in 1998 but continues to mistreat the LGBTQ population. The report cites Steve Swerdlow, a Human Rights Watch Central Asia researcher, stating that the country has “a severe human rights record” and is “deeply homophobic,” and warning that the database offers police an opportunity “to extort money from members of the community, and non-members of the community, by outing them.” The report states that in a country where police have been accused of engaging in torture, such a database sets a dangerous precedent for violence against the community.