Cruel, debunked anal exams used in homosexuality prosecutions must end

Human rights groups have called for an urgent ban on “cruel” anal examinations used in homosexuality prosecutions in Uzbekistan.

The country is one of two former Soviet Union states that still bans same-sex sexual activity, and authorities use the examinations to gather bogus “evidence” in prosecuting gay men.

On Thursday (5 August), nine human rights groups – Council for Global Equality, the Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity, Freedom Now, Human Dignity Trust, Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, ILGA-Europe, the International Partnership for Human Rights, and Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD) – spoke out against the practice and urged Uzbekistan president Shavkat Mirziyoyev to immediately pass a ban.

The exams usually see a doctor insert fingers or other objects into the person accused of homosexuality against their will. There is no evidence that the examinations can provide proof of receiving anal sex.

As well as the obvious human rights violations involved, the Independent Forensic Experts Group (IFEG) has also debunked the science behind the horrific practice, explaining: “The examination has no value in detecting abnormalities in anal sphincter tone that can be reliably attributed to consensual anal intercourse.”

According to the human rights groups, at least six men have been subjected to forced anal examinations in Uzbekistan since 2017.