News
2006-12-07
Iraq police
abduct gay men at gunpoint
Ten gay men who
have been abducted by Iraqi police are feared to be
dead, including five from the activist group Iraqi
LGBT
Ten gay men who
have been abducted by Iraqi police are feared to be
dead, including five from the activist group Iraqi
LGBT, the group reported December 1. The activists
were taken at gunpoint while holding a secret meeting
in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad on November 9, the
group's Web site said.
Ali Hili, a gay
Iraqi Muslim living in the United Kingdom, said gays
in Iraq have been the target of threats and executions. He
was on the phone with the men during the abduction.
"Suddenly there was a lot of noise and then the
connection ended," he said, according to the
group's Web site.
The site also
reports that another man, Haydar Kamel, 35, was abducted
near his home in Sadr City. The alleged kidnappers are
members of the Mahdi army, a militia loyal to Muqtada
al-Sadr.
None of the men
who have been abducted have been heard from since. It is
assumed, the site said, that they are all dead.
Peter Tatchell of
the U.K. gay group Outrage, of which Hili is
also a member, said Iraqi LGBT has established a network of
activists working in Baghdad, Najaf, Karbala, Hilla,
and Basra.
“These
courageous activists are helping gay people on the run
escape to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon,” Tatchell
said. “The world ignores the fate of gay Iraqis
at its peril. Their fate today is the fate of all Iraqis
tomorrow.” (The Advocate)
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