Anti-Gay Campaign In Iraq Confirmed

International News, By Christian Taylor, 5th May, 2009

Abu Muslim, one of the men who claims to have been killing gay men in Baghdad, has spoken to Abu Dhabi based publication The National, likening “his work to that of a surgeon, cutting out diseased parts of a body to save it from cancer. But unlike a doctor, he does not save lives, he takes them.”

Muslim* says homosexuality is a serious illness spreading through Iraqi youth, and that it’s been brought in by American soldiers. “These are not the habits of Iraq or our community and we must eliminate them,” he said.

Last month two gay men were found shot dead in Sadr City in Baghdad. According to the Associated Press, they were killed by family members who were shamed by their behaviour. Just weeks before this, Iraqi police found four other bodies buried near Sadr City with the words ‘pervert’ and ‘puppy’ written on their chests. There have also been unconfirmed reports of gay men being tortured to death with glue.

Muslim confirmed that there has been an organised campaign to kill off homosexuality in Iraq, although he did not say how many men he and his group had killed, only that key community leaders in the Shaab area, where the group operates, had approved of the killings.

“We had approval from the main Iraqi tribes here to liquidate those [men] copying the ways of women… Our aim is not to destabilise the security situation. Our aim is to help stabilise society.”

The National also spoke to Taher Mustafa, a spokesperson from al Shaab hospital.

“We had bodies in, they were of men between 17 and 25 years old and they’d either been shot or burnt to death,” said the Doctor. “It’s good that people are beginning to get freedoms they’ve been deprived of for a long time, but the youth here have to understand that they are living in a society that is governed by traditions and religious customs, and that still has militias to enforce them.”

He said that the assassinations are unacceptable and believes that as the national security system gets stronger, the killings will stop.

A 23 year old gay man spoke to The National anonymously, saying, “It is our right to live as we see fit and it is the responsibility of the Iraqi government to protect us and that right, as citizens. Just because we are not practising Muslims does not mean that we can be treated as if we are not human beings… We all know homosexuals are killed here. They get murdered by firing squads, but only after they’ve been tortured. There’s a large waste dump in al Shaab and that’s where the bodies are left.”

*Not his real name.