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View Full Version : 40 Iraqi Gays Kidnapped, tortured and Killed



TheGodlessUtopian
6th March 2012, 21:45
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has put out a press release (http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/takeaction/resourcecenter/1492.html) reporting that almost 40 people perceived to be LGBT have been “kidnapped, brutally tortured, and murdered” in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad (right) and Basra last month.
According to Iraqi human rights activists, in early February 2012, an unidentified group posted death threats against “the adulterous individuals” in the pre-dominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Basra. The threats gave the individuals, whose names and ages were listed, four days to stop their behavior or else face the wrath of God, and were to be carried out by the Mujahedin. According to sources inside Iraq, as the result of this new surge of anti-gay violence close to 40 people have been kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered. The Iraqi authorities have neither responded to this targeted violence nor have they publically denounced it. It is widely believed that these atrocities are being committed by a group of the Shiite militia.
IGLHRC has called on the Iraqi government to take action, but perhaps we also need to call on the UN to start moving forward with its efforts to champion gay rights as human rights around the world.
Hillary Clinton made her landmark speech to the UN (http://www.queerty.com/mainstream-media-ignores-hilary-clintons-landmark-u-n-speech-anti-gay-groups-lose-their-shit-over-it-20111207/) on the issue in December, and we have seen some commitment to activity in Ecuador (http://www.queerty.com/ecuadors-ministry-of-health-names-lesbian-minister-pledges-to-close-ex-gay-torture-camps-20120124/) and Honduras (http://www.queerty.com/hillary-clintons-gay-rights-foreign-policy-shows-its-face-in-honduras-20120125/). But in the Middle East, we haven’t seen any commitment to intervention—yet.

Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/40-gays-kidnapped-brutally-tortured-and-murdered-in-iraq-report-20120306/#ixzz1oNJr7Mnb



...and there won't be any imperialist intervention because 1) The bourgeoisie doesn't care about Queers and 2) They are queerphobic themselves.

The "progressive" bourgeoisie are undoubtedly fawning over themselves on how to best apply pressure to get what they want in these kind of situations.They want the world to believe that "Intervention" is the only way to solve these kind of problems while ignoring that fact that outside influence often makes things worse (and kills more people in the process).

I have monitored the situation in Iraq for a little bit and can't say this surprises me; perhaps about a year ago I remember reading stories about how Queer safehouses were being targeted by Islamic fundamentalist death squads.The government complicit in this of course aided the murderers (another sign of the bourgeoisie's uncaring nature).The U.S dragged their heels and barely said a word (not that much would have been accomplished anyway).

Iraq, Uganda, Russia, Iran... how will gender and orientation equality come about in these places?

---

Perhaps a admin could edit the title-typo!

TheGodlessUtopian
18th March 2012, 03:50
An organization dedicated to securing asylum for LGBT refugees from Iraq estimates that over 720 LGBT men and women have been murdered by extremist militias in the last six years.
London-based Iraqi LGBT (http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z&updated-max=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z&max-results=17) reports the Iraqi government has largely been absent in pursuing the roaming “death squads” in Iraq who seek out LGBT victims, likely due to the influence of extremist Shia religious parties that are calling for a moral cleansing of Iraq.

The organization says the rise of fundamentalist groups in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion has proven deadly to LGBT Iraqis, who are now being forced to either hide or face the consequences. On its website, Iraqi LGBT says, “there is little hope for Iraqis suffering under the new socio-political climate. Once the most liberal and secular of the Arab nations, nowadays religious extremism has taken hold of the country to the detriment of its people.”

The extremist groups and police were using the Internet to track down LGBT Iraqis this past summer, but at least two gay Iraqis were able to be saved by Iraqi LGBT. In August, police raided the houses of Asad Galib and Faeq Ismail, both 24 years old, and took them into custody. They were held and questioned for about four hours and accused of viewing gay websites in an internet café. Both men denied the accusations and explained that the websites had already been open when they began using the computers. They were later released and put in a safe house sponsored by Iraqi LGBT.

But the big question continues to be, why hasn’t the U.S. government done anything to help? It is hearbreaking that Iraqi LGBT has to beg for donations on its website, instead of getting any form of help whatsoever from us to help stop the gay genocide in Iraq.

President Obama has remained completely silent on the issue, even after receiving a letter from Rep. Jared Polis urging his administration to take action, and a 67-page report by Human Rights Watch (http://http//www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/08/17/they-want-us-exterminated-0) in August outlining in explicit detail the torture and murder of LGBT Iraqis, which was featured prominently in nearly every U.S. media outlet, including the New York Times and CNN. Since the HRW report was released, there hasn’t been a single change in military strategy to protect LGBT Iraqis from the roaming death squads or the Iraqi police.

Better question – why haven’t American LGBT people and their supporters expressed more outrage about the horrendous situation facing LGBT Iraqis? Are we so caught up in our own myopic obsession with equal rights here that we forget about the plight of our brothers and sisters in the (still) U.S.-occupied territory? Why aren’t we doing more to try and help them? Why aren’t we doing more to speak out on their behalf?

Iraqi LGBT is doing all it can, but being the only organization dedicated to helping gay Iraqis, it’s difficult for them to make much of an impact. So far, Iraqi LGBT says nearly 100 individuals in Iraq have directly benefited from their work, and they have been involved in securing asylum for Iraqi refugees who have been forced to flee the country.
Source: http://iraqilgbt.org.uk/news-home/720-brutally-murdered-as-gay-cleansing-continues-unchecked-in-iraq/?utm_source=Iraqi+LGBT+List&utm_campaign=49e7eebd3f-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email


This article was published back in 2009 so the toll is bound to be much higher now with this current death wave.

Ostrinski
18th March 2012, 04:09
What an atrocity. How will the bourgeois state champion gay rights abroad when they can't champion gay rights domestically?

gorillafuck
18th March 2012, 04:21
...and there won't be any imperialist intervention because 1) The bourgeoisie doesn't care about Queers and 2) They are queerphobic themselves.are you complaining of lack of imperialist intervention?

TheGodlessUtopian
18th March 2012, 04:33
are you complaining of lack of imperialist intervention?

No, read the rest of my post.

TheGodlessUtopian
11th April 2012, 22:19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hW_-PGZaGEM


The recent flareup in killings of nearly 60 gays and emos (http://www.queerty.com/almost-60-iraqis-perceived-to-be-gay-or-emo-have-been-murdered-in-last-6-weeks-20120312/) in Iraq has motivated the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (http://refugeerights.org/tag/irap/) (IRAP) to share this video and a number more on their YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/IraqiRefugeeAsstProj).
Above, we hear the story of Ahmed, who has been escorted to safety in the United States by IRAP. In Iraq, he quietly dated a man for four years, but the relationship ended after the boyfriend was asking for too much money (http://www.queerty.com/watch-gay-iraqi-man-describes-being-blackmailed-by-ex-boyfriend-raped-in-prison-20120411/#) all the time.
http://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/wp/docs/2012/04/Screen-shot-2012-04-11-at-3.47.43-PM-360x188.pngThe scorned ex blackmailed him by delivering pictures of them embracing (right) to Ahmed’s anti-gay uncles. After he fled to another country, he thought he was safe until the religious police came and arrested him while he was buying perfume. In jail, he tells the heartbreaking story of how he was raped by a police officer (http://www.queerty.com/watch-gay-iraqi-man-describes-being-blackmailed-by-ex-boyfriend-raped-in-prison-20120411/#) who he thought was a friend.
Not all folks are as lucky as Ahmed, who bought himself out of jail before being prosecuted. If you are fortunate enough to be able to donate (http://www.queerty.com/watch-gay-iraqi-man-describes-being-blackmailed-by-ex-boyfriend-raped-in-prison-20120411/#) to IRAP, please do. If not, tell a friend who is, or just raise awareness of the cause.





Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/watch-gay-iraqi-man-describes-being-blackmailed-by-ex-boyfriend-raped-in-prison-20120411/#ixzz1rlk8pDuL
.

Positivist
11th April 2012, 22:44
This is horrifying. What horrible acts of culturally motivated oppression such as this one always lead me to ask is how will we handle this in a socialist society? In a society where decisions are made at a communal level, how do we protect the rights of cultural minorities? I believe there would have to be federal guide lines on what types ot legislation should be constantly open (economic) and what should be fixed (sexual and racial rights.)

garymeyer
30th April 2012, 11:41
All the member of this forum who discuss on this very sensitive issue. First of all they study the religious and culture background of these area county and then express there felling.But one think clear no body have write to kill any one this is clear