Still More Iraqi Gays To Be Executed

[Christa]

128 prisoners currently face execution in Iraq, many of them convicted of the crime of being homosexual.

Ali Hili of Iraqi-LGBT says that authorities will start killing these people in batches of twenty later this week. Mr Hili told UK Gay News that raids by the Iraqi police and Ministry of the Interior has already resulted in the murder of seventeen members of his organization: "The death penalty has been increasing at an alarming rate in Iraq since the new Iraqi regime reintroduced it in August 2004... Allegations of torture are not being investigated adequately or at all by the CCCI (Central Criminal Court of Iraq). Torture of detainees held by Iraqi security forces remains rife... The state executing people for 'morals' crimes is obviously unacceptable and deplorable."

From PageOneQ: Iraqi-LGBT is concerned that the Iraqi authorities have not disclosed the identities of those facing imminent execution, stoking fears that many of them may have been sentenced to death after trials that failed to satisfy international standards for fair trial... Amnesty International has called on the Iraqi authorities to make public all information pertaining to the 128 people, including their full names, details of the charges against them, the dates of their arrest, trial and appeal and their current places of detention. (Of course that won't save the lives of those already scheduled for hanging.)

http://www.progressivepuppy.com/the_progressive_puppy/2009/03/still-more-iraqi-gays-to-be-executed.html

Isn't it great to see the $8 billion we spend per month is not wasted? :sarcasm:

[we can do it]

1. We Need To Pull Everyone of Our Trops Out of That Shithole NOW

fuck em-

[HillbillyBob]

2. So much for amBushcos democracy

Why can't we help these gay folks get out of the country and stop the torture?
Oh right we started the torture or rather made it more wide spread by ousting soddam insane, when poppy bushes buddy got out of line after we did Soddam the 'favor' of WMDs that were used on his own citizens.
CIA = culpable of helping to topple the democratically elected government of Iran and Iraq so long ago....
What a F mess.

[iamjoy]

3. I'm So Glad We Liberated Iraq

You know, it's such a good thing we liberated Iraq from its cruel dictator so the people could live without fear of unjust persecution. And isn't it nice that gay American men and women could proudly serve and risk their own lives to provide freedom to the Iraqi people

Oh, wait...

:banghead:

[we can do it]

4. Maybe Phred Phelps Could Move There- They'd Fit Right In

[Maven]

5. When will the president speak out about this?

EVER???

[Marrah_G]

7. No- he won't

His actions have shown that he has chosen bigots over justice. Religion over equality.

He won't say anything and I am sad to say I doubt Hillary will either.

When it comes to Gay rights 99.99% of politicians are either coward or bigots.

[HamdenRice]

8. He won't react to the story in its current form because the story is WRONG

That's the danger of going off without the basic facts in place. This is a disaster in the making because people are going to push this story, it will inevitably be debunked, and the real story of extra-judicial killing of GLBT people will then be ignored or suffer from "cry wolf" syndrome.

[mitchtv]

10. He wouldn't react under any circumstances

He got our votes

[closeupready]

12. No. He doesn't care. About gays or human rights.

n/t

[HamdenRice]

6. This story keeps getting more and more garbled

If you are going to call your representatives about this, it's important to get the facts right, or they might be dismissive.

There are not 128 gays and lesbians facing execution. There are 128 Iraqis facing execution. An Iraqi exile GLBT activist has only reported the view that "many" may be gays and lesbians, but has never reported how many.

Considering the number of kidnappings, rapes, murders, ethnic cleansings and other atrocities that have taken place, and the generally biased judicial system, it would be shocking if the vast majority of these condemned prisoners were not accused of crimes other than homosexuality or simply accused of being enemies of one or another faction.

Moreover, there is no secular law on the books in Iraq that says homosexuality is punishable by death. A detailed analysis by International Lesbian and Gay Association's World Legal Survey shows that gays in Iraq are targeted for violence in spite of, not because of, Iraqi secular laws.

What seems to be happening (according to Mid East expert Juan Cole) is that the Shiite religious leader, Sistani, issued a fatwa condemning "sodomy," in which he said that what we would call statutory rape -- sex between an adult man and an underage boy -- should be punishable by death. Shiite gangs and militias have used that as justification for a reign of terror against gays and lesbians across the country. The worst of these abuses is summary execution on the streets of cities like Baghdad (up to 30 gays a month), but this is in the context of summary execution of Sunnis, women and political opponents.

It seems that a more general law by which Iraq adopted Sharia law has been interpreted by some authorities as incorporating Sistani's fatwa into Iraq's secular legal system. Hence, Iraqi police seem also to have taken it upon themselves without legal justification, to arrest members of gay rights organizations or people thought to be gay.

So the actual story seems to be that Iraqi, more specifically Shiite, death squads and militias have "disappeared" Iraqi gays and lesbians, and activists fear that they are among the 128 condemned prisoners. But the government has not released the identities of the 128 condemned prisoners, so the GLBT activists in Iraq don't know that any of the 128 are being executed for homosexuality, but fear that their disappeared community members may be among the condemned. That said, it would be odd that the "official" execution machinery would be doing the killing considering the heightened scrutiny involved compared to simply continuing what has been going on -- namely "unofficial," "non-judicial" killing of gays and lesbians. Obviously, official pressure is more effective when targeted at "official" killing than at "unofficial" killing.

It seems to me that considering how confusing the situation is, this is an opportunity to make common cause with everyone who is opposed to both capital punishment in Iraq and death squad activity, ethnic cleansing and militia violence.

[sui generis]

11. so then What Are They Hiding?

Let's face it, if they're not being forthcoming then there's something they are not proud of.

We should have never gone in there - even under Saddam things weren't this disgusting for our kind.

We shouldn't be there - and their inability to manage to be transparent and accountable on the issues of human rights informs me that they aren't worth saving unless they save themselves first.

[closeupready]

13. I'm sorry, you are wrong.

The Iraqi exile states NOT that many MAY be gay, but that many ARE gay and HAVE been convicted of morals crimes, i.e., being gay. If 17 members of his gay rights group have been executed for similar charges, if he is suggesting that many of these 128 are being executed for similar 'crimes', then sorry, I believe he knows what he's talking about and you don't.

[LeftHander]

9. More Bush freedom reigning.....nt

....