Why is Qatar arresting LGTB members?

 Security forces in Qatar have arbitrarily arrested LGBT residents and subjected them to ill-treatment, according to a new report published ahead of the Middle Eastern country hosting the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup next month.

The report published Monday by Human Rights Watch states it has interviewed four transgender women, one bisexual woman and a gay man who reported being detained as recently as last month by Qatari forces without charge and were severely and repeatedly beaten as well as sexually harassed while under police custody.

All were held in an underground prison in the capital Doha were they were verbally harassed and physically abused, with one person reported being held in solitary confinement without access to legal counsel for two months while a woman said she was beaten until she lost consciousness.

"While Qatar prepares to host the World Cup, security forces are detaining and abusing LGBT people simply for who they are, apparently confident that the security forces abuses will go unreported and unchecked," Rasha Younes, LGBT rights researcher at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Qatari authorities need to end impunity for violence against LGBT people.

"The world is watching."

Same-sex relationships are criminalized in the Middle Country, but officials have attempted to assuage worries that LGBT spectators may be arrested by stating the iconic rainbow flag will be allowed to be flown at games.

Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani also told the U.N. General Assembly last month that all will be welcomed.

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"Our duty is to overcome obstacles, extend a hand of friendship, build bridges of understanding and celebrate our common humanity," he said, "and on behalf of my people and on my own behalf, I invite you all to come to Qatar."

Human Rights Watch said the six people whom its researchers interviewed were seemingly arrested under a 2002 law that allows for provisional detention without charges for up to six months.

All six said that they were forced to sign pledges stating they would "cease immoral activities" in order to secure their release, while the four transgender woman were also mandated to attend conversion therapy sessions.

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An unnamed transgender Qatari woman told the human rights organization that she saw many other LGBT people detained at the Doha facility, including people from Morocco, the Philippines and Nepal.

Human Rights Watch said all of the accounts they heard were "strikingly similar" and that Qatar's repressive climate around free speech has made many people afraid to speak with its researchers over the risk of retaliation.

"Only weeks ahead of the World Cup, LGBT people are raising the alarm on the abuses they have endured by security forces," Younes said. "The Qatari government should call an immediate halt to this abuse and FIFA should push the Qatari government to ensure long-term reform that protects LGBT people from discrimination and violence."

Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010 as the first in the Middle East to host the international soccer competition.

However, its selection has been a source of controversy due to its human rights record.

In May, a coalition of human rights organizations called on FIFA and Qatar to compensate migrant workers for the human rights abuses they have endured in the country's preparation of the World Cup.

Last week, Amnesty International said migrant workers who have worked on projects in Qatar, including for the World Cup, face issues ranging from delayed or unpaid wages to unsafe working conditions. It also said the deaths of thousands of workers remain uninvestigated.