Within the framework of the RESILIENT project* ECOM has submitted regional report on LGBT people in detention to the UN Independent Expert on SOGI responding to their call.
The regional report is directed to the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, ahead of the 65th session of the Human Rights Council.
The report examines how criminalization, discriminatory policing and weak detention safeguards expose LGBT people to arbitrary detention and abuse in custody across Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Belarus.
It draws on ECOM’s community-based monitoring, which recorded 647 cases in 2025, including 57 cases of arbitrary deprivation of liberty and 69 cases of torture or other ill-treatment.
The report documents coercive questioning, forced medical examinations, searches of personal phones, and the specific risks transgender detainees face from unsafe placement and isolation.
It closes with recommendations to states and to UN and regional human rights mechanisms.
* The project “RESILIENT Communities & Securing Civic Space for HIV Response in EECA” (RESILIENT) is implemented by EHRA, ECOM, EWNA and SWAN with the support of Elton John AIDS Foundation.