Iraq: “Honor Killings” and Attacks on Gays Continue to Rise

BBC: Anti-gay attacks on rise in Iraq
— “So-called honour killings also account for deaths where families punish their own kin in order to avoid public shame.”
— “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.”
— “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.”
— “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.”

AFP: Torture and execution of Iraqi gays on rise

HRW report

Additional reports:

Turkey: Young Iraqi gays find safe haven in Turkey

Iraq: LGBT group claims Iraq is waging a ‘campaign of violence and murder’ against gays

Iraq: “a program of ‘sexual cleansing’ is being perpetrated against homosexuals in Iraq”

Iraq: Radical Iraq cleric orders ‘depraved’ homosexuality to be eradicated

Iraq: Extremists Kill 25 Gay Men and Boys in Recent Weeks

Iraq: Gay Men Murdered by Extremists in So-Called “Honor Killing”