Stories continue to spread of armed Iraqi gangs kidnapping and torturing suspected gay men, leaving their castrated and mutilated bodies dumped in the garbage or in front of morgues. (Photo source: GaysWithoutBorders.com) A flurry of reports, mostly sourced to human rights groups, has hit international media headlines over the past week further pointing to extreme persecution of gays in the socially dislocated country. Iraqi men are telling of death threats, blackmail, midnight raids by masked men on private homes and abductions from the streets. The targets, said by some to number in the high hundreds, are men suspected of being gay, or of not being "masculine" enough in their killers' eyes. Most survivors have reportedly pointed to Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army, the largest Shia militia in Iraq, as the driving force behind the killings. Sadrist mosques and leaders have proclaimed loudly that homosexuality threatens Iraqi life and culture. The Baghdad press has fed the situation with repeated warnings about the "feminisation" of Iraqi men under the strains of a demoralising and emasculating occupation. A panic over endangered manhood and the spread of the "third sex" has infected parts of Iraqi society despite the talk of security and civil progress as western troops begin their year-long troops withdrawal. The following GayNZ.com stories paint a bleak picture of the future for gays in Iraq if the rule of law breaks down further, as it is predicted to do as the US-led occupying forces secede to a weak Iraqi government. GayNZ.com September 2008: Iraqi gay leader gunned down by militias GayNZ.com December 2008: Iraqi journalist jailed for gay sex story GayNZ.com March 2009: Gay fears in Iraq bloodbath plan GayNZ.com April 2009: Six gay men confirmed killed in Iraq GayNZ.com April 2009: Amnesty to protest gay killings in Iraq GayNZ.com April 2009: Terrified Iraqi gays fear for their lives GayNZ.com April 2009: Iraqi police torture gays with anal superglue GayNZ.com August 2009: US troops accused of aiding gay executions An excellent Guardian backgrounder feature is linked below.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 23rd August 2009 - 5:30pm