Iraqi government
objects to discussion of homosexuality

Iraq's government rejected a United Nations human rights report on Thursday for being "superficial" and discussing socially taboo subjects such as homosexuality, reports the Associated Press.

Released Tuesday in Baghdad, the U.N. report expressed concern for the rights and safety of gays and other vulnerable groups in Iraq. "The current environment of impunity and lawlessness invites a heightened level of insecurity for homosexuals in Iraq. Armed Islamic groups and militias have been known to be particularly hostile toward homosexuals frequently and openly engaging in violent campaigns against them," the AP quoted the report as saying. "There has been a number of assassinations of homosexuals in Iraq."

The report numbered civilian deaths in the region in 2006 at 34,452; the Iraqi government did not dispute that figure.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AP, "I am not talking about figures. I am talking about details in the report. There was information in the report that we cannot accept here in Iraq. The report, for example, spoke about the phenomenon of homosexuality and giving them their rights. Such statements are not suitable to the Iraqi society. This is rejected."

Gays in Iraq typically keep their sexual orientation secret, as homosexuality is widely unacceptable in the predominantly Muslim country. (The Advocate)