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gustav Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Page last updated at 14:43 GMT, Monday, 17 > August 2009 15:43 UK > > > Anti-gay attacks on rise in Iraq > > > Gay Iraqi men are being murdered in what appears > to be a co-ordinated campaign involving militia > forces, the group Human Rights Watch says. > > It says hundreds of gay men have been targeted and > killed in Iraq since 2004. > > So-called honour killings also account for deaths > where families punish their own kin in order to > avoid public shame. > > The report says members of the Mehdi Army militia > group are spearheading the campaign, but police > are also accused - even though homosexuality is > legal. > > Witnesses say vigilante groups break into homes > and pick people up in the street, interrogating > them to extract the names of other potential > victims, before murdering them. > > "Murder and torture are no way to enforce > morality," said HRW researcher Rasha Moumneh, > quoted in the report. > > FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE > > More from BBC World Service > > "These killings point to the continuing and lethal > failure of Iraq's post-occupation authorities to > establish the rule of law and protect their > citizens." > > In some cases, Human Rights Watch says it was > told, Iraqi security forces had actually "colluded > and joined in the killing". > > Witch-hunt > > Recently, posters appeared in Sadr City - a > conservative, Shia area of Baghdad - calling on > people to watch out for gay men and listing not > only their names but also their addresses. > > One gay man in Baghdad described the killing > campaign as a witch-hunt. > > > These killings will continue, because it has > simply become normal in Iraq to kill gay men > Unnamed gay Iraqi man > > Saddam's rule 'better' for gay Iraqis > Iraqi gay men face 'lives of hell' > > Nearly 90 gay men have been killed in Iraq since > the beginning of January and many more are > missing, local gay rights campaigners say. > > The report, called They want us exterminated: > Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in > Iraq, says horrifically mutilated bodies of gay > men have been left on rubbish tips. > > Sometimes their bodies are daubed with offensive > terms such as "pervert", or "puppy" which is a > hate word for gay men in Iraq. > > The report contains detailed testimonies of a > range of brutal treatment of gay Iraqi men. > > "We've heard stories confirmed by doctors of men > having their anuses glued and then being force-fed > laxatives which leads to a very painful death," > says Ms Moumneh told the BBC. > > 'Feminised men' > > When questioned in the past, officials in Iraq > have condemned the killings, but the BBC's Natalia > Antelava in Baghdad reports that gay men there say > nothing has been done to protect them. > > "These killings will continue, because it has > simply become normal in Iraq to kill gay men," > said a gay Iraqi man who did not want to be > named. > > Mehdi army spokesmen and clerics have condemned > what they call the "feminisation" of Iraqi men and > have urged the military to take action against > them. > > The report said many gay men have fled to other > countries in the region, despite consensual > homosexual activity being illegal there, because > the risk of victimisation is reduced. > > HRW says the threats and abuses have spread from > Baghdad to Kirkuk, Najaf and Basra, although > persecution remains concentrated in the capital. > > Officials say part of the problem in dealing with > the attacks is that victims' relatives seldom if > ever provide information to the police. > > "They consider talking about the subject worse > than the crime itself. This is the nature of our > society," ministry spokesman Major General > Abdul-Karim Khalaf said.