A/HRC/38/43 played a key role in the perpetration of the abuse. 11 The data available show that they face the near-certainty of suffering violence during their lives, and that as a general rule they live every day in the awareness and fear of it. 27. The mandate holder remains deeply concerned by information on killings of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender non-conforming persons, or those perceived as such by their attackers. Where trustworthy data exist, the resulting picture is shocking and includes killings committed on the basis of gender identity and gender expression, the imposition of death penalty for homosexuality (see A/HRC/35/23 and A/71/372), killings in private homes and public spaces known as “social cleansing” (A/HRC/20/16, para. 72 and A/56/156, para. 18) and so-called “honour killings”. 28. The violence reported against persons on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity also includes death threats, beatings, corporal punishment imposed as a penalty for same-sex conduct, arbitrary arrest and detention, abduction, incommunicado detention, rape and sexual assault, humiliation, verbal abuse, harassment, bullying, hate speech and forced medical examinations, including anal examinations, and instances of so-called “conversion therapy”. Considering the pain and suffering caused and the implicit discriminatory purpose and intent of these acts, they may constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in situation where a State official is involved, at least by acquiescence (A/HRC/22/53, para. 17). 29. In some cases, the acts of violence are perpetrated by State agents pursuant to legislation or regulations connected with the criminalization of same-sex relations or with concepts such as “public order” or “social mores”. Some cases appear to be isolated episodes of hate-motivated violence, while others seem to have been organized and planned as part of systematic policies or patterns aimed at targeting the victims. The mandate holder has, for example, expressed his serious concern at allegations of unlawful detention, torture, ill-treatment and extrajudicial killing of individuals in Chechnya in the Russian Federation,12 investigation and prosecution of military personnel in the Republic of Korea,13 and persecution, unlawful arrests and detentions, torture and ill-treatment in Azerbaijan,14 Egypt 15 and Indonesia. Forced anal examinations amount to torture or ill-treatment (A/HRC/31/57, para. 36): this medically worthless procedure, 16 whereby a doctor or other health personnel insert their fingers or other objects into the anus of a person suspected of same-sex conduct to “prove” or “disprove” homosexuality, has been reported in Cameroon,17 Egypt (CAT/C/CR/29/4, para. 6 (k)),18 Kenya,19 Lebanon (CAT/C/LBN/CO/1, paras. 14–15), Tunisia (CAT/C/TUN/CO/3, paras. 41–42; see also A/HRC/36/5, paras. 67, 125.48, 127.36 and 127.41), Turkmenistan, 20 Uganda21 the United Republic of Tanzania 22 and Zambia (A/HRC/37/14, para. 131.98). 30. Actions of violence extend to private spaces: for example, the mandate holder received reports about the use by security services of social media and GPS-enabled applications, commonly used by gay persons to connect with each other, in order to locate 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Karel Blondeel, Sofia de Vasconcelos, Claudia García-Moreno, Rob Stephenson, Marleen Temmerman and Igor Toskin, “Violence motivated by perception of sexual orientation and gender identity: a systematic review”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 96, No. 1, 2018, pp. 29–41. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23080. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23282. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23369. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23424. International Forensic Expert Group, Statement on Anal Examinations in Cases of Alleged Homosexuality, May 2016. Human Rights Watch, “Dignity Debased: Forced Anal Examinations in Homosexuality Prosecutions”, 12 July 2016, p. 19. See also A/HRC/16/47/Add.1, opinion No. 25/2009 (Egypt), para. 24. Human Rights Watch, “Dignity Debased” (see footnote 19), p. 28. Ibid., p. 47. Ibid., p. 49. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23420. 7