Pakistan: Germany recalls diplomat, accused of groping woman at queer event
Thursday, 16 June 2022 (11:44 IST)
On a Saturday in November of last year, a hand-picked group of Karachiites was getting ready for a night of live music, stand-up comedy and performances in a private venue in Pakistan's sprawling port city.
By all accounts, everyone was excited, emotional even.
For this was no regular Saturday night show in Karachi: It was an event for the LGBTQ community and its supporters, organized by Canadian-Pakistani rock musician Urvah Khan and co-funded by the German consulate in Karachi.
The event, Khan told DW, was meant as a "celebration, a showcase of the talented weirdos, queerdos and misfits from our society."
In Pakistan, colonial-era laws still outlaw homosexuality as a crime. To be queer, means one is forced to tread very carefully.
LGBTQ event safe space
But here, at ScrapFest, as the event was called, Karachi's queer community felt they had found a safe space to express themselves, mingle and have a great time.
And at first, by all accounts, everyone in the packed venue did.
One woman, a little nervous at her debut in public, took to the stage with a piece about emotional and physical abuse: "You're made to be f--ked over, walked over, talked over, little girls…Don't you get it."
In retrospect, her closing lines appeared to foreshadow the evening. For during the event, one woman was allegedly groped by a high-ranking German diplomat and several others allegedly harassed by the same man.
In a statement to DW, Germany's Foreign Ministry said it had found "no proof" of sexual harassment following a month-long investigation. However, the official outcome of the probe is classified and he is nonetheless soon to be recalled to Berlin.
DW has spoken to eight people who attended the event, analyzed video footage and seen text messages the diplomat exchanged with the event's organizer.
Together, they suggest another version of the incident.
The woman who says she was groped by the diplomat told DW that towards the end of the event, as she passed behind the German man, he had grabbed her bottom. There was, she stressed, no way it could have been a mistake.
Video footage that DW has obtained of the event only partially shows what happened. While it does not offer definitive proof, as the frame does not show the alleged groping, it does show that as the woman walks past the diplomat, his arm moves with her for a moment.
Later in the evening, the diplomat texted a picture of the woman to the event's organizer, Urvah Khan, asking for her contact details.
The next day, according to text messages exchanged between the ScrapFest organizer and the diplomat, Khan confronted him with allegations of groping.
"I did? Bloody hell! Bad!!! F*cking alcohol," his response reads. This is followed by: "I only remember that she smiled at me very warmly, but I have absolutely no recollection of physical contact."
"I do not harass," he later wrote.
While none of the witnesses DW spoke to saw the groping, which happened close to the stage, their testimony corroborates each other in key aspects. Independently of each other, they all stressed that the man who had personally agreed to fund the queer-friendly event, had harassed guests and made them feel uncomfortable.
Diplomat harassed guests, attendees say
The man was behaving, in one attendee's words, "creepily."
The German man, a high-ranking diplomat in his 60s, by all accounts, had provided a stash of blended whisky and beers for the artists.
As the evening progressed, he became increasingly inebriated and approached guests in a way that to them clearly crossed a line, witnesses told DW.
One guest said that he felt extremely uncomfortable as he witnessed the diplomat putting his hand on his female friend's back.
Suddenly, he told DW, the event didn't feel safe anymore. Throughout the night, he added, he tried to shield his friend, putting himself between her and the German diplomat, as he swayed across the room.
He recalled thinking: "This cannot be happening here."
Another guest, a trans woman, told DW she had felt extremely uncomfortable as the diplomat, who stuck out as the only white man at the event, tried to drag her onto the dancefloor.
Another trans woman told DW that he told her "you look hot" and encouraged her to dance.
By themselves, each one of these acts might seem unprofessional, embarrassing even. But taken together, they paint the picture of a representative of the German state, whose actions made a vulnerable community feel ill at ease. His erratic and troubling behavior, they agreed, was a violation of a space that was supposed to make them feel safe.
One man told DW he felt that "people from the West would be different" when it came to the treatment of women and members of the LGBTQ community. He had not expected such behavior from a European diplomat, he said.
"He funded the event — so he might have felt like he was in a position of power. He was condescending, like he was superior to us," the man said, referring to a speech the diplomat gave.
In a video obtained by DW, the diplomat takes to the stage, microphone in one hand and a can of beer in the other. "Is," he asks while pointing to his hair, "my blonde the best blonde tonight?"
"We are here in Pakistan," he goes on to say, "to make Pakistan a country that looks into the future. We don't want you to be a country like Germany, how it was 50 years ago."
Overall, the diplomat's behavior, one attendee told DW, "is a really embarrassing thing for the German Embassy. You are in a position of so much power and influence. You really could make a difference."
The anger in the woman's voice was palpable: "You have the attitude that you're here to teach us and then you go and do this?"
It was "hypocritical," she said. She had "expected better from the German Embassy."
Unable to press charges in Pakistan
None of the attendees pressed charges in Pakistan, partly because they had attended an event for the queer community in a country where laws criminalizing homosexuality are still in place.
While the laws are seldom enforced, homosexual acts are punishable by life imprisonment or even death.
Even today, the LGBTQ community faces oppression, stigma and violence. Trans people are among the most socially-marginalized groups in Pakistan.
The diplomat, said the woman who was groped, was "probably under the impression that because I'm a brown person, he could get away with it."
But instead of letting the alleged groping slip, the attendees, who included prominent queer and trans activists, turned to the German Foreign Ministry for help to ensure that wouldn't happen.
Urvah Khan, who admitted it took her a while to process what had happened, particularly as she had been on friendly terms with the diplomat, finally reached out to the German Foreign Ministry in April of this year.
The diplomat had, she explained, abused his position of power: "This is a systematic issue which highlights the sort of toxic racism, sexism and xenophobia which still exists till today within these circles of diplomats serving in an already troubled country."
While diplomatic immunity means they cannot be prosecuted in the host country for acts they commit during a posting, they can still be held to account back home if authorities in their country choose to press charges.
Groping punishable offense in Germany
According to German law, groping is a liable offense, punishable with up to two years imprisonment or fines. People who have been accused of carrying out an offense abroad can still face prosecution in Germany.
DW spoke to two lawyers working in criminal law, who confirmed that such an incident in Germany, given the witness statements and video material, could well lead to a conviction. But on the grounds of the diplomat's apparent inebriation, one lawyer added, he would probably get away with a fine.
Following an official complaint, the German Foreign Ministry opened an investigation into the matter. In early May, representatives interviewed several people who attended ScrapFest. That month, the allegations were first reported on by Vice News.
Initially, witnesses felt that the Foreign Ministry was taking their allegations seriously. Several witnesses told DW that during the interviews representatives had even voiced regret at what had occurred.
But as the investigation dragged on, many voiced their frustration that the diplomat, rather than having been removed, was still in his current position, even officiating at events.
The investigation concluded in mid-June. While the details remain confidential and the victim has been banned by the German Foreign Ministry from talking about it, DW has learned that the diplomat is to be recalled in the coming weeks.
In a written response to DW's request for information, the German Foreign Ministry wrote that it took the allegations "very seriously" and had conducted a comprehensive investigation.
After viewing all available pieces of evidence and talking to witnesses, it went on to say that it could "not prove" the specific allegation of sexual harassment. It did, however, find "inappropriate conduct" and would draw the necessary consequences.
It also added that it had reviewed its procedures around sexual harassment and subsequently added a complaint form to its English website.
The diplomat declined to respond to DW's written questions, referring instead, in a brief email, to the Foreign Ministry's press office.
The woman who was allegedly groped told DW that she felt satisfied. Justice, she said, "has been served to a certain extent."
Incident likely to tarnish Germany's reputation
Despite the outcome of the investigation, the incident may hurt Germany's reputation in Pakistan.
A European diplomatic source, who spent several years posted to Karachi, told DW that, until now, as far as he was aware, the accused had an "unblemished reputation."
But he cautioned that even a one-off, alcohol-induced "slip-up" would likely have long-lasting ripple effects: "I would say that such an incident is even more detrimental in an Islamic country like Pakistan."
He fears that extremists opposed to Western countries could try to exploit the incident. They could easily point to the alcohol and alleged sexual misconduct, he explained, and say "look, this is what the West has to offer us."
The fact that the diplomat, he added, had brought alcohol to the venue and appeared to be intoxicated was equally problematic. "That is embarrassing and dangerous," the source told DW.
Back in Karachi, news of the recall quickly made the rounds. One man said he was planning to raise a toast at a gathering with friends the next evening. It was, he said, "a really good wake-up call for all diplomats that if you do something like this, you don't get away with it."
ScrapFest organizer Urvah Khan told DW in an emotional call that "this is the happiest day of my life." During the past seven months, she said, people had warned her not to confront the German Foreign Ministry — the risk was too high.
