We have information and reports on members of our community whom been arrested and waiting for execution for the crimes of homosexuality... Raids by the Iraqi police and Ministry of Interior forces cost our group [to the extent of] disappearing and killing of 17 members working for Iraqi-LGBT since 2005.



The death penalty has been increasing at an alarming rate in Iraq since the new Iraqi regime reintroduced it in August 2004.



In 2008, at least 285 people were sentenced to death, and at least 34 executed. In 2007 at least 199 people were sentenced to death and 33 were executed, while in 2006 at least 65 people were put to death.



The actual figures could be much higher as there are no official statistics for the number of prisoners facing execution.

Homosexuality is prohibited almost everywhere in the Middle East, but conditions have become especially dangerous for gays and lesbians in Iraq since the rise of religious militias after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein six years ago.



"Two young men were killed on Thursday. They were sexual deviants. Their tribes killed them to restore their family honour," a Sadr City official who declined to be named said.



The police source who declined to be named said the bodies of four gay men were unearthed in Sadr City on March 25, each bearing a sign reading "pervert" in Arabic on their chests.

Sermons condemning homosexuality were read at the last two Friday prayer gatherings in Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad slum of some 2 million people. The slum is a bastion of support for fiery Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia.

I remember when Bush and Cheney were floating plausible excuses for invading Iraq, one that stuck with the media shills and worked for a few undiscerning members of the public was how much better their vision of Iraq would be for women. Saddam Hussein's Iraq was no paradise, to put it mildly-- especially not for even the mildest of regime opponents-- but it was secular and encouraged women to develop as independent beings rather than as chattel. The Bush and Cheney crocodile tears for women soon gave way to a search for nuclear weapons and as the lot of women under a more backward theocratically-empowered coalition started to deteriorate, we didn't hear much from Bush or Cheney. But at least therecrocodile tears for women. Not even Cheney would have been so transparent as to claim that the invasion of Iraq would improve the lot of gay people. Nor will he particularly care that their lot has significantly deteriorated under the puppet American regime.It's a crime to be gay in Bush's liberated Iraq. There are gay people in prison and slated for execution... this week. Ali Hili of Iraqi-LGBT, speaking in London, after his civil rights group was banned from Iraqi soil: The American-trained security forces have not just rounded up gay people, they are also accused of using Bush-condoned "we do not torture" torture techniques. Amnesty International says there are 128 people on death row and that there is no information on who they are or why they're facing the death penalty. Is the Obama administration going to tolerate this? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says "no," at least in theory. She says the persecution of gays won't be ignored by the new administration. Speaking at the European Parliament she had some very lofty ideals: "Human rights is and always will be one of the pillars of our foreign policy. And in particular, the persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians is something that we take very seriously. It is terribly unfortunate that right now in unfortunately many places in the world violence against gays and lesbians, certainly discrimination and prejudice are not just occurring but condoned and protected. And we would hope that over the next few years we could have some influence in trying to change those attitudes.” In 1936 Spain was overrun by right wing extremists who went on a murderous rampage against, among others, gays. The greatest poet in Spanish history, Federico García Lorca, was arrested by the fascists and executed on August 19, 1936, making the whole world a poorer place. (His work was banned in his native country by the right-wing government until 1953.) Let's hope civilized nations persuade Iraqi rightists not to murder the next García Lorca. And let's hope the Obama Administration helps. Theydo something in Iraq, even if they can't in Iran. But whether they do or they don't, you can... here PageOneQ reminds us that in the Iraq Bush created it isn't only the government murdering gay people. Crazed fanatics in the delusional clergy encouraged the faithful to murder gay people-- and they did, at least half a dozen this week.

Labels: Federico Garcia Lorca, gay equality, Iraq