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Global Voices Online|Iraq: Organised ‘crackdown' on homosexuals

Posted by gustav 
Global Voices Online|Iraq: Organised ‘crackdown' on homosexuals

分類標籤: 人權
[Source: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/05/10/iraq-organised-crackdown-on-homosexuals/]


Iraq: Organised ‘crackdown' on homosexuals
Sunday, May 10th, 2009 @ 18:56 UTC
by Katharine Ganly

Countries:
Iraq
Topics:
Gender, Human Rights, Law, LGBT, Religion, Politics
Languages:
Arabic, English


Excerpt
In the past few weeks there has been an increase in the persecution of homosexuals in Iraq, due to an organised 'crackdown' based on a religious decree for their death. This has been met with anger and outrage amongst both the Iraqi and global LGBT blogosphere.

                
                

1. This post is also available in:



Deutsch: Irak: Organisierte Razzia gegen Homosexuelle...

bahasa Indonesia: Irak: Perburuan Terencana Terhadap Kaum Homoseksual...

繁體中文: 伊拉克:男同性戀者屢遭攻擊...

简体中文: 伊拉克:男同性恋者屡遭攻击...

Español: Iraq: Persecución organizada contra los homosexuales...

عربي: العراق:حملة منظمة لقمع المثليين...

日本語: イラク:同性愛者に対する組織的な「取り締まり」...

                

In the past few weeks there has been an increase in the persecution of homosexuals in Iraq, due to an organised ‘crackdown' based on a religious decree for their death, reports UAE- based media network alarabiya.net.

There has been a spate of deaths resulting from a previously unheard of and particularly gruesome torture method being employed against homosexual men. Iraqi human rights activist Yina Mohammad told alarabiya.net that:

ميليشيات عراقية أقدمت على شكل جديد من التعذيب لا سابق له ضد المثليين وهو استخدام مادة لاصقة قوية جداً توضع داخل مؤخراتهم لإغلاقها كلياً

Iraqi militias are deploying an unprecedented new form of torture against homosexuals, which involves inserting a particularly strong adhesive into the anus (of the victim) and sealing it completely.

She adds:

المادة اسمها الصمغ الأميري، وهو صمغ إيراني يؤدي للصق الجلد ببعضه بحيث لا يمكن فتحه إلا بعملية جراحية، وبعد الإغلاق يتم إعطاؤهم مادة مسهلة لشربها ويحصل إسهال بلا وجود منفذ، وهذا يؤدي للموت، وتم توزيع هذه الأمور في كليبات قصيرة على أجهزة الموبايل في بغداد

The adhesive is known as Amiri gum; it is an Iranian glue that seals the skin together in such a way that it can only be removed through surgery. After sealing the victims' anus, they are then given a drink which induces diarrhoea. As there is no outlet for this diarrhea, it may lead to death. Incidents of this happening have been circulating in short clips on mobile phones in Baghdad.

This news comes after reports of an increase in the killing of homosexuals by militia groups and death squads, as a form of القصاص, or ‘retribution'.

One militia group, calling itself أهل الحق or “The Righteous Ones” is reported to have been posting lists of names of alleged homosexuals in Sadr City, and threatening to persecute them. At least three murders last month are presumed to have been caused by the publishing of such lists, according to Iraqi Streets.

Iraqi Streets asks the militia:

بأي حق نصبتم أنفسكم أهلا لهذا الحق وأنتم لا تملكون أي ذرة حق-حيث علقت قوائم بأسماء مثلي الجنس في مدينة الصدر وعثر على ثلاث جثث لهم ملقاة في الطريق بعد قتلهم رميهم بالرصاص وعليهم أثار تعذيب حيث كسرت أيديهم وأرجلهم

What righteousness is this you deem yourselves holders of? You do not possess a single grain of what is right posting a list of homosexuals' names in Sadr city; causing three corpses to be dumped in the street after being shot, the bodies showing traces of torture, with their hands and legs broken.

In response to a comment asking why he is defending homosexuals, Iraqi Streets states:

السؤال الاهم لماذا الأن هاجموا المثيلين في العراق ؟المثيلين موجودسن منذ مده لماذا اليوم بدأت حرب ضدهم؟

The important question is why is it now that homosexuals are being attacked in Iraq? Homosexuals have been here for a long time, so what is is that has provoked the war against them today?

Indeed, the recent murders add to the growing list of men targeted for their actual or perceived homosexuality, a phenomenon that has been increasing over the past few years.

According to IraqiLGBT, over 400 homosexual men have been killed since 2003. The incidents against homosexuals appear to be increasing in frequency, with over 25 men killed in the last month, due to an increase in the proliferation of death squads and militia groups, some of which, according to IraqiLGBT, appear to have the backing not only of religious figures but also the Iraqi authorities.

Ahmed al Sa'dawi on Iraqi media network Niqash reports that:

Homosexuality is largely frowned upon across Iraqi society and it seems that sympathy for their deteriorating plight is non-existent. Gay people are perceived as violating social norms and threatening the society with “moral decay.” An eyewitness who saw an attack against a young man said: “The dog got what he deserved.” This perception has legitimatized attacks on them.
According to Iraqi law all breaches of social or religious custom can only be dealt with by the judiciary. There is no room for religious law and yet since 2006 militias have been attacking gay people with the religious backing of a number of Islamic clerics.

In light of the current situation, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) sent a letter last month to the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights, Wijdan Salim, requesting specific measures be taken to protect LGBT Iraqis against hate crimes and persecution. The letter can be seen here.

According to the IGLHRC many of the attacks against homosexuals do not receive proper investigation, and the perpetrators too often go without punishment. There have also been reports coming from alarabiya.net and the blogs that some homosexuals are denied treatment when seeking help at hospitals.

It is clear that some kind of change needs to take place to counter the rise in such atrocities. While foreign support groups and outside pressure have positive impact, for the gay Iraqi living in fear, these groups have little effect on their daily struggle.
In Shams Al-Ma7aba, a couple writing from Bahrain, sum up the frustration experienced by homosexuals deprived of their basic rights:

مايحصل للعراق اليوم … و يصل لأي أحد فينا ..
العربية تعد تقريرا عن المثليين بالعراق وهناك منظمة بالخارج تدافع عنهم ولكن المعروف بأن التغيير يأتي من الداخل وبالثورة والنضال لان الحق ينتزع ولا يعطى أو يهدى !!

What is happening in Iraq today could happen… to any one of us.
Alarabiya has written a report on homosexuals in Iraq, and there is an organisation abroad defending (gay Iraqis). However, it is well-known that change can only come from within, through revolution and struggle, as our right will not be given or handed to us, but must be seized!

Posted by Katharine Ganly



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2009 09:37PM by gustav.
(編輯記錄)

Re: BBC News|Anti-gay attacks on rise in Iraq

分類標籤: 人權
[Source: BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8204853.stm]
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.

Three Charged Over Killing Of Gay Man
5:48am UK, Sunday October 18, 2009

Three people have been charged with manslaughter after the death of a man in London's Trafalgar Square.



Ian Baynham, 62, died two weeks after an attack close to the South African High Commission on September 25.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the three accused were Joel Alexander, 19, of Thornton Heath, south London, and two 17-year-old girls.

One was from Penge in south-east London, and the other from Thornton Heath.

All three will appear at City of Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday.

Mr Baynham, from Beckenham, south-east London, suffered severe brain damage after being punched and kicked to the ground.

His attackers reportedly shouted homophobic abuse.

He was on a night out in the West End with a 30-year-old friend at the time of the assault.


[news.sky.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2009 09:39AM by gustav.
(編輯記錄)