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LGBTI Persons Deprived of Liberty: Overrepresented, Extremely Vulnerable and De Jure Invisible

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Human Rights Behind Bars

Part of the book series: Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice ((IUSGENT,volume 103))

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Abstract

Criminalizing non-normative sexual orientations and gender identities, leads to the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of LGBTI persons and is linked with the range of abuses LGBTI prisoners experience. Whether or not the deprivation of liberty of LGBTI persons is legitimate, LGBTI persons—or persons perceived as belonging to this group—in detention often find themselves at the bottom of the ‘prison hierarchy’, which makes them particularly vulnerable to various human rights abuses, both from fellow inmates and at times from prison guards. The human rights abuses range from discriminatory treatment and humiliation to sexual intimidation and disproportionate (sexual) violence. This chapter aims to provide a descriptive, yet critical overview of the (de-)criminalization of non-normative sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as the prison conditions of LGBTI individuals across the continents. Per regional human rights system, i.e. the European, Inter-American, African, and UN human rights system, the responses to and efforts to address both issues will be examined. It will become apparent that the problems LGBTI prisoners face are manifold, and that they are moreover rendered somewhat invisible due to the limited, and more often completely absent caselaw at the international level. The chapter will also provide recommendations to enhance the situation of LGBTI prisoners and to increase their visibility in the eyes of the law.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    67 UN Member States legally criminalize consensual same-sex conduct, two additional UN Member States criminalize same-sex conduct de facto. See International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) (2020), State-Sponsored Homophobia 2020: Global Legislation Overview Update.

  2. 2.

    Without wishing to be un-inclusive, the acronym ‘LGBTI’ will be used throughout the chapter for the sole reason that all regional human rights institutions, as well as the UN human rights bodies consequently and systematically make use of it in all of their resolutions, reports, communications, observations, decisions, etc. LGBTI is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex people. The terms lesbian, gay and bisexual can be understood through the prism of sexual orientation. Transgender can be understood through the prism of gender identity. Intersex is a term used to describe different conditions in which a person is born with sexual or reproductive anatomy that does not fit the typical definitions of female or male. Sexual minorities are understood in this chapter as a synonym of LGBTI. It is important to note that many people labelled as LGBTI would not identify themselves with this acronym, its underlying narrative or associated symbolism. Some people find it confusing or arbitrary to conflate sexual orientation with gender identity.

  3. 3.

    Hetero-normativity presumes that heterosexuality is the norm, and states that sexual and marital relations are only appropriate between a man and a women. See Warner (1993).

  4. 4.

    Ibid.

  5. 5.

    PRI and APT (2015), LGBTI Persons Deprived of their Liberty: A Framework of Preventive Monitoring, p. 7; Council of the European Union (2013), Guidelines to Promote and Protect the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Persons (LGBTI).

  6. 6.

    See UNGA (2001), Report from the Special Rapporteur to the General Assembly, 3 July 2001, UN Doc. A/56/156; European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (2005), Visit Report Germany 2005, CPT/Inf (2007) 18, para 112; UNODC (2009), Handbook on Prisoners with Special Needs, Vienna, p. 106; PRI and APT (2015).

  7. 7.

    UNHRC (2010), Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, UN Doc. A/HRC/13/39Add.1; UNHRC (2013a), Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53, para 79.

  8. 8.

    UNHRC (2013a), Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/53, para 79.

  9. 9.

    UNHRC (2013a), para 79.

  10. 10.

    Brown (2020), p. 3.

  11. 11.

    The Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (the Yogyakarta Principles), adopted in 2006 by a group of human rights experts, describes ‘sexual orientation’ as to refer to ‘each person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to, and intimate and sexual relations with, individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender’ (Yogyakarta Principles (2006), Introduction).

  12. 12.

    Gender identity is understood to refer to ‘each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth, including the personal sense of the body (which may involve, if freely chosen, modification of bodily appearance or function by medical, surgical or other means) and other expressions of gender, including dress, speech and mannerisms (Ibid.).

  13. 13.

    ECtHR, Dudgeon v. UK, Application No. 7525/76, Judgment of 22 October 1981.

  14. 14.

    ECtHR, Norris v. Ireland, Application No. 10581/83, Judgment of 26 October 1988.

  15. 15.

    ECtHR, Dudgeon v. UK; see also ECtHR, Modinos v. Cyprus, Application No. 15070/89, Judgment of 22 April 1993; ECtHR, A.D.T. v. UK, Application No. 35765/97, Judgment of 31 July 2000; ECtHR, H.C. v. Turkey, Application No. 6428/12, Judgment of 3 June 2014.

  16. 16.

    France was the first West European country to decriminalize homosexual relations between consenting adults during the French Revolution.

  17. 17.

    The Independent (2018), Teenager becomes the first minor prosecuted under Russia’s anti-gay ‘propaganda’ laws.

  18. 18.

    See France (2020), Welcome to Chechnya: Inside the Russian Republic’s Deadly War on Gays (Documentary).

  19. 19.

    BBC (2020b), Inside Poland’s ‘LGBT-Free Zones’.

  20. 20.

    See ECtHR, Lapunov v. Russia, Application No. 28834/19 (pending).

  21. 21.

    CM/Rec(2010)5).

  22. 22.

    Ibid., Appendix I.A.4.

  23. 23.

    Respectively Parliamentary Assembly Resolutions 2048, Discrimination against transgender people in Europe (2015); 2191, Promoting the human rights and eliminating discrimination against intersex people (2017); 2239, Private and family life: achieving equality regardless of sexual orientation (2018); and Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Resolutions 230, Freedom of Assembly and expression for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered persons (2007); 380, Guaranteeing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people’s rights: A responsibility for Europe’s towns and regions (2015).

  24. 24.

    CoE (2017).

  25. 25.

    CoE, https://www.coe.int/en/web/sogi/european-governmental-lgbti-focal-points-network.

  26. 26.

    Ibid.

  27. 27.

    Ibid.

  28. 28.

    ECtHR, https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22GRANDCHAMBER%22,%22CHAMBER%22]}.

  29. 29.

    ECtHR, Stasi v. France, Application No. 25001/07, Judgment of 20 October 2011 and ECtHR, X v. Turkey, Application No. 24626/09, Judgment of 9 October 2012.

  30. 30.

    ECtHR, Duţǎ v. Rumania, Application No. 8783/15, Judgment of 14 May 2020; ECtHR, A v. Azerbaijan, Application No. 17184/18 (pending); ECtHR, Lapunov v. Russia, Application No. 28834/19 (pending); ECtHR, Bogdanova v. Russia, Application No. 63378/13 (pending).

  31. 31.

    See ECtHR (2020), Factsheet – Detention Conditions and Treatment of Prisoners, October 2020; ECtHR (2021), Factsheet – Sexual Orientation Issues, September 2021; ECtHR (2021), Guide on the Case-Law of the European Convention of Human Rights: Prisoner’s Rights.

  32. 32.

    ECtHR, Stasi v. France, Application No. 25001/07, Judgment of 20 October 2011.

  33. 33.

    European Convention on Human Rights (1953), Strasbourg.

  34. 34.

    See Maycock (2020); Ugelvik (2016); PRI and APT (2015), p. 10.

  35. 35.

    This requirement is related with the necessity to exhaust domestic remedies.

  36. 36.

    ECtHR, X v. Turkey, Application No. 24626/09, Judgment of 9 October 2012.

  37. 37.

    UNGA (2011), Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture to the UN General Assembly, UN Doc. A/66/268, p. 19.

  38. 38.

    See Shalev and Naylor (chapter 13); Bicknell (chapter 5).

  39. 39.

    Standard Minimal Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) (2015), UN Doc. A/70/175, Rule 45(1); see also Shalev and Naylor (chapter 13; Bicknell (chapter 5).

  40. 40.

    See United States Army Military District of Washington Court, United States v. Manning (2018); United States District Court Eastern District of California, Crowder v. Diaz (2019).

  41. 41.

    ECtHR, Duţǎ v. Rumania, Application No. 8783/15, Judgment of 14 May 2020.

  42. 42.

    ECtHR, A v. Azerbaijan, Application No. 17184/18 (pending).

  43. 43.

    ECtHR, Lapunov v. Russia, Application No. 28834/19 (pending).

  44. 44.

    ECtHR, Bogdanova v. Russia, Application No. 63378/13 (pending).

  45. 45.

    IACHR (2015), Violence against LGBTI Persons, OAS/Ser.L/V/II.rev.1, Doc. 36; Brown (2020), p. 3; IACHR (2011), Report on the Human Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II., Doc. 64, p. 219; See also IACHR (2020), Persons Deprived of Liberty in Nicaragua, OEA/Ser.L/V/II., Doc. 287, p. 33.

  46. 46.

    9 out of 33 countries (i.e. Guyana, Jamaica, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis) still criminalize same-sex relations and gender non-conformity. ILGA (2020).

  47. 47.

    See IACHR, Marta Lucía Álvarez Giraldo v. Colombia, Report No. 71/99, Case No. 11.656, 4 May 1999.

  48. 48.

    OAS (2015), Discriminated and Made Vulnerable: Young LGBT and Intersex People Need Recognition an Protection of their Rights.

  49. 49.

    OAS (2015).

  50. 50.

    Ibid.

  51. 51.

    IACHR (2018), Recognition of the Rights of LGBTI Persons, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.170, Doc. 184, pp. 89–90. A small side note should be made in this regard. The frequently used practice of segregating LGBTI prisoners is not without any risk involved. Scholars are increasingly critical of the practice and also the IACHR expressed its concerns. As will be more extensively discussed in Sect. 5.3.1 below, the segregation of LGBTI prisoners should be approached with the necessary caution.

  52. 52.

    Ibid.

  53. 53.

    Ibid. footnote 51.

  54. 54.

    IACHR (2020b), Report on Trans and Gender-Diverse Persons and their Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V/II., Doc. 239, p. 149.

  55. 55.

    Ibid.

  56. 56.

    UNHRC (2013b), Pathways to, Conditions and Consequences of Incarceration of Women, UN Doc. A/68/340, paras 58, 59, 63.

  57. 57.

    IACHR (2015), p. 99.

  58. 58.

    UNODC (2009), p. 105.

  59. 59.

    Ibid., p. 99.

  60. 60.

    See for example UNCAT (2012), Concluding Observations on the Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Reports of Peru, adopted by the Committee at its forty-nine session, UN Doc. CAT/C/49/D/346/2008.

  61. 61.

    UNODC (2009), p. 106.

  62. 62.

    IACHR (2015), p. 99.

  63. 63.

    Ibid.; see also: Committee Against Torture, Concluding observations, Brazil, A/56/44, May 16, 2001, para. 119 (b). Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, E/CN.4/2004/3, December 15, 2003, para. 73. Reports of the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, A/56/156, July 3, 2001, para. 23; E/CN.4/2002/76/Add.1, March 14, 2002; E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2, March 30, 2001, para. 199; E/CN.4/2001/66, January 25, 2001, para. 1171; E/CN.4/1998/68/Add.3, January 22, 1998, para. 95. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, E/CN.4/2002/72, February 11, 2002, paras. 57, 59 and 64. Preliminary paper by Ms. Leïla Zerrougui, Special Rapporteur appointed to conduct a detailed study of discrimination in the criminal justice system in implementation of Sub-Commission Resolution 2002/3, E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/3, June 26, 2003, para. 16. Discrimination in the criminal justice system, Final working paper prepared by Ms. Leïla Zerrougui, E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/5, May 23, 2002, para. 10.

  64. 64.

    See IACHR (2011), Report on the Human Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II., Doc. 64; IACHR (2015); IACHR (2018); IACHR (2020), Persons Deprived of Liberty in Nicaragua, OEA/Ser.L/V/II., Doc. 287; IACHR (2020b), Report on Trans and Gender-Diverse Persons and their Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V/II., Doc. 239.

  65. 65.

    IACHR (2015), para 282.

  66. 66.

    IACHR (2015), p. 165.

  67. 67.

    IACHR (2015), p. 103.

  68. 68.

    IACHR, https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/r/DLGBTI/default.asp.

  69. 69.

    IACHR, https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/r/DPPL/default.asp.

  70. 70.

    IACHR, https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/r/DLGBTI/default.asp.

  71. 71.

    IACtHR, Opinión Consultiva OC-24/17: Identidad de Género, e Igualdad y No Discriminación a Parejas del Mismo Sexo, 2017.

  72. 72.

    IACHR (2015), pp. 217–232; IACHR (2018), p. 133; IACHR (2020), p. 139.

  73. 73.

    IACHR (2015), p. 107 (para 164).

  74. 74.

    IACHR (2015), pp. 217–232; IACHR (2018), p. 133; IACHR (2020), p. 139.

  75. 75.

    See also Morales (chapter 6); Piovesan and Serrano (chapter 3).

  76. 76.

    IACtHR, Matter of the Penitentiary Complex of Curado regarding Brazil, Provisional Measures, Order of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of 28 November 2018.

  77. 77.

    In international human rights law, provisional measures are also often called ‘interim measures’, ‘urgent measures’, ‘precautionary measures’, ‘conservatory measures’, and ‘immediate measures’. Provisional measures are contemplated in international human rights treaties or additional protocols, and/or in the rules of procedure of the respective human rights bodies. Five UN treaty bodies and two regional human rights courts explicitly received the power to grant PMs from their respective constituent treaty, namely the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) (Art 5 Optional Protocol to CEDAW), the Committee for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED Committee) (Art 31(4) CPED), the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) (Art 6(1) Optional Protocol to Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) (Art 4 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) (Art 5 Optional Protocol to International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights); the IACtHR (Art 63(2) American Convention on Human Rights, and the ACtHPR (Art 27(2) Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment on an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights). These powers are specified further in their respective rules of procedure. The remaining three relevant UN treaty bodies and four relevant regional human rights bodies have incorporated the power to grant urgent measures in their rules of procedure (RoP). It concerns the Human Rights Committee (HRCttee) (Rule 92 HRCttee RoP), UN Committee Against Torture (Rule 114 CAT RoP), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD Committee) (Rule 94(3) CERD RoP), the ECtHR (Rule 39 Rules of the Court), the ECSR (Rule 36 Rules of Procedure), the IACHR (Art 25 IACHR RoP), and the ACHPR (Rule 100 ACHPR RoP). Sometimes additional Guidelines (CESCR, Guidelines [2019]; CRC Committee, Guidelines [2019]) or a Practice Direction (ECtHR, Practice Direction [2003]) provide for further guidance. See Burbano Herrera (2010; 2017); Burbano Herrera and Haeck (2010; 2019); Burbano Herrera and Viljoen (2015); Haeck and Burbano Herrera (2003; 2011); Haeck, Burbano Herrera, Zwaak (2008).

  78. 78.

    Ibid., paras 164.5.i–164.5.vi.

  79. 79.

    American Convention, Article 63(2).

  80. 80.

    For example, See IACtHR, Loayza Tamaya v Peru, Provisional Measures 2 July 1996; IACHR, Inmates in the Urso Branco Prison v. Brazil, Precautionary Measures, Order 14 March 2002; See IACtHR, Vélez Loor v Panamá, Urgent Measures, 26 May 2020; and IACtHR, Penal Miguel Castro Castro v. Peru, Provisional Measures 29 July 2020.

  81. 81.

    The first time that the Court adopted PMs to protect a person deprived of liberty was in the case Loayza Tamayo v Peru in 1996. In this case, the Court ordered measures to protect professor Loayza Tamayo condemned to terrorism without a due process and kept in harsh conditions. See IACtHR, Loayza Tamayo v Peru, Provisional Measures 2 July 1996. See also IACtHR, Maria Lourdes Afiuni v Venezuela, Provisional Measure 2 March 2011.

  82. 82.

    For example, IACtHR, Boyce and Others v. Barbados, Order of Provisional Measures, 25 November 2004, and Order of 14 June 2005; IACtHR, Tyrone Dacosta Cadogan v. Barbados, Order of Provisional Measures, 2 December 2008; IACtHR, Dottin and others v Trinidad and Tobago; Order of Provisional Measures, 26 November 2001 and 3 April 2009.

  83. 83.

    For example, IACtHR, Matter of Certain Venezuelan Prisons v. Venezuela, Order of Provisional Measure, 2 February 2007, and 13 November 2015; IACHR, Inmates in the Urso Branco Prison v. Brazil, Precautionary Measures, Order 14 March 2002; IACtHR, Curado Complex (in Recife) v. Brazil, Provisional Measures 23 November 2016; IACtHR, Instituto Penal Plácido de Sá Carvalho v. Brazil, Order of Provisional Measures, 22 November 2018, and President of the IACtHR, Matter of seventeen persons deprived of liberty v Nicaragua, Order of Urgent Measures, 21 May 21 2019.

  84. 84.

    See also Burbano Herrera, Haeck, and Cuppini (chapter 7).

  85. 85.

    IACHR, Marta Lucía Álvarez Giraldo v. Colombia, Report No. 71/99, Case No. 11.656, 4 May 1999.

  86. 86.

    Ibid.

  87. 87.

    IACHR (2018), p. 91.

  88. 88.

    Ibid.—it was the first time the Colombian State publicly apologized to a lesbian woman for discriminating against her.

  89. 89.

    IACHR (2018), p. 91.

  90. 90.

    ILGA (2020).

  91. 91.

    In February 2021, the President of Angola signed a law to revise the Angolan Penal Code to allow same-sex relationships and ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; in 2019, the High Court of Botswana ruled in favour of decriminalizing homosexuality; in 2018, a Trinidad and Tobago court ruled that laws banning gay sex were unconstitutional; and in recent years Mozambique and the Seychelles have abolished anti-homosexuality laws. See also BBC (2021), Homosexuality: The countries where it is illegal to be gay.

  92. 92.

    European Parliament Research Service (EPRS) (2016), Being a LGBTI person in African Countries.

  93. 93.

    Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions (2006), E/CN.4/2006/53/Add.4, 7 January 2006, Mission to Nigeria.

  94. 94.

    ACHR (2021), Communiqué de presse sur l’arrestation et la detention arbitraires de 21 défenseurs des droits des personnes LGBT+ au Ghana, Banjul, Gambia.

  95. 95.

    BBC (2020a), Cameroon jails transgender women for ‘attempted homosexuality’; Deutsche Welle (DW) (2021), Ghana: Anti-gay bill seeks long jail terms for LGBTQ people; Human Rights Watch (2021), Cameroon: Wave of Arrests, Abuse Against LGBT People; EPRS (2016).

  96. 96.

    ACHPR, https://www.achpr.org/specialmechanisms/detail?id=3.

  97. 97.

    Ibid.

  98. 98.

    Gear (2002).

  99. 99.

    Ibid.; Gear and Ngubeni (2002).

  100. 100.

    Respectively ACHPR (2014), Resolution on Protection against Violence and other Huma Rights Violations against Persons on the basis of their real or imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender, 55th Ordinary sessions, 05/2014; ACHPR (2021).

  101. 101.

    ILGA (2020).

  102. 102.

    HRC (1992), Toonen v. Australia, Communication No. 488/1992, UN Doc. CCPR/C/50/D/488/1992.

  103. 103.

    See for example: Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on Chile, UN Doc. CCPR/C/79/Add.104, para 20; UN Doc. CCPR/C/USA/CO/3, para 9.

  104. 104.

    See Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2000/3), para 57; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, UN Doc. A/HRC/14/20), para 20.

  105. 105.

    A search in the OHCHR’s Jurisprudence database (https://juris.ohchr.org/) provided three relevant hits using the key words ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘LGBT’.

  106. 106.

    WGAD (2002), Opinion No. 7/2002 (Egypt) of 21 June 2002, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2003/8/Add.1.

  107. 107.

    ICCPR, adopted by UNGA Res. 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966, entered into force on 23 March 1976.

  108. 108.

    WGAD (2002); see also WGAD (2009), Opinion No. 25/2009 on Egypt, UN Doc. A/HRC/16/47/Add.1, paras 23, 28–29.

  109. 109.

    WGAD (2006), Opinion No. 22/2006 (Cameroon) of 31 August 2006, UN Doc. A/HRC/4/40/Add.1.

  110. 110.

    To enable it to carry out its tasks, the WGAD has adopted specific criteria applicable in the consideration of cases submitted to it. Consequently, according to the Working Group, deprivation of liberty is arbitrary if a case falls into one of the five categories established by the WGAD. Category II: When the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of the rights or freedoms guaranteed by articles 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 10 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, insofar as States parties are concerned, by articles 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; see also WGAD (2017), Opinion No. 14/2017 (Cameroon) of 3 July 2017, UN Doc. A/HRC/WGAD/2017/14; International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) (2009) Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and International Human Rights Law, Practitioner’s Guide No. 4, Geneva.

  111. 111.

    OHCHR (2012), Born Free and Equal; see for example: Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on the United States of America, UN Doc. CCPR/C/USA/CO/3, para 25; concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture on the United States of America, UN Doc. CAT/C/USA/CO/2, paras 32, 37; Ecuador, UN Doc. CAT/C/ECU/CO/3), para 17; Argentina, UN Doc. CAT/C/C/CR/33/1, para 6(g); Egypt, UN Doc. CAT/C/CR/29/4), para 5(e); Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2, para 21; the Committee’s concluding observations on Ecuador, UN Doc. CAT/C/ ECU/CO/3, para 17; Argentina, UN Doc. CAT/C/CR/33/1, para 6; Brazil, UN Doc. A/56/44, para 119.

  112. 112.

    See for example: Reports of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.1, paras 1 and 2; UN Doc. A/HRC/4/34/Add.1, paras 448–454; and UN Doc. A/HRC/17/26/Add.2, paras 28–29.

  113. 113.

    Reports of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: UN Doc. E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2, para 199; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2005/62/Add.1, paras 1019, 1161; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2004/56/Add.1, para 1327; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.1, paras 446, 463–465, 1861; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2002/76/Add.1, para 16, 507–508, 829, 1709–1716; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2001/66, para 1171; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2000/9, paras 145, 151, 726; UN Doc. E/CN.4/1995/34, para 614.

  114. 114.

    Reports of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: UN Doc. A/56/156, para 23; UN Doc. A/56/156, para 18; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2002/76/Add.1, paras 16, 1711; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2, para 199; UN Doc. E/CN.4/2004/56/Add.1, paras 1878, 1899.

  115. 115.

    Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 25/2009 on Egypt, UN Doc. A/HRC/16/47/Add.1, paras 23, 28–29.

  116. 116.

    CAT, General Comment No. 2, para 21; Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, UN Doc. A/56/156.

  117. 117.

    Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture on the United States of America, UN Doc. CAT/C/USA/ CO/2, paras 32, 37; Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 31, para 18; Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 20; Committee against Torture, General Comment No. 2.

  118. 118.

    Ibid.

  119. 119.

    See Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture on Costa Rica, UN Doc. CAT/C/CRI/CO/2, para 11, 18.

  120. 120.

    CAT (2017), Concluding Observations on the second periodic report of Namibia, 1 February 2017, UN Doc. CAT/C/NAM/CO/2, para 30.

  121. 121.

    Ibid., para 31.

  122. 122.

    Supra Sect. 3.2 Jurisprudence on prison conditions for LGBTI in Europe.

  123. 123.

    Brown (2020), p. 6.

  124. 124.

    BBC (2010), Italy ‘to open first prison for transgender inmates’.

  125. 125.

    AP (2017), Thailand separates LGBT inmates, considers segregated prison.

  126. 126.

    Ibid.

  127. 127.

    AP (2017).

  128. 128.

    Brown (2020), pp. 8–9.

  129. 129.

    Brown (2020), p. 7; see also Petersen et al. (1996).

  130. 130.

    Cabral Grinspan (2021); Chazan and Baldwin (2021); Willis et al. (2020a, b); See also: ILGA (2021).

  131. 131.

    Cabral Grinspan (2021); Chazan and Baldwin (2021); Willis et al. (2020a, b); See also: ILGA (2021).

  132. 132.

    PRI and APT (2015), p. 12.

  133. 133.

    Blight (2000).

  134. 134.

    A search in the OHCHR’s Jurisprudence database (https://juris.ohchr.org/) provided only two relevant hits using the key words ‘sexual orientation’, ‘LGBT’ and ‘prison conditions’. The second case, D.C. and D.E. v. Georgia, was after close examination found to be irrelevant in this instance since the applicants were not homosexuals but ‘solely’ mentioned the ‘risks for prisoners who raise allegations of sexual assault, as they are likely to be labelled as homosexuals and exposed to a high rights of abuse by other prisoners’ (5.3) in their complaint.

  135. 135.

    HRC (2011), Communication No. 2054/2011 of 11 March 2011, CCPR/113/D/2054/2011.

  136. 136.

    ILGA (2018), United Nations Treaty Bodies’ Jurisprudence on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics; see also CAT (2013), D.C. and D.E. v. Georgia, Communication No. 573/2013 of 1 July 2013, UN Doc. CAT/C/60/D/573/2013. The authors draw the CAT’s attention to ‘the risks that arise for prisoners who raise allegations of sexual assault, as they are likely to be labelled as homosexuals and exposed to a high risk of abuse by other prisoners’ (para 5.3).

  137. 137.

    PRI and APT (2015), p. 10.

  138. 138.

    Brown (2020), p. 3.

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Van Baelen, A., Burbano Herrera, C. (2022). LGBTI Persons Deprived of Liberty: Overrepresented, Extremely Vulnerable and De Jure Invisible. In: Burbano Herrera, C., Haeck, Y. (eds) Human Rights Behind Bars. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 103. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11484-7_8

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