Iraqi 'emo' youths reportedly killed by conservative militias Published duration 11 March 2012

image caption Iraqis who consider themselves to be 'emo' try to conceal their identity now after a spate of attacks

Dozens of Iraqi teenagers have been killed in recent months by militias who consider them to be devil worshippers, human rights activists claim.

The young people are described as "emos", a term used in the West to refer to youths who listen to rock music and wear alternative clothing.

Reports say that up to 58 teenagers have been beaten to death or shot in the last month, most of them men.

Iraq's interior ministry recently described emos as devil worshippers.

In Iraq, the term emo is also conflated with homosexuality, which although legal is socially and religiously taboo.

'Threatened'

Militias in Baghdad's conservative Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City have distributed leaflets with the names of 20 young people they say should be punished.

In a statement on his website, Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr described emo youths as "crazy and fools", but said they should be dealt with within the law.

"They are a plague on Muslim society, and those responsible should eliminate them through legal means," he said.

Mustafa, a young Iraqi, told the BBC he feels "threatened" when he wears black clothing.

"The Iraqi people look at you in a bad way," he said. "It is even worse when the Iraqi security for example arrest those in black or in the emo groups."

The interior ministry said it had not recorded any anti-gay or anti-emo killings, but said recent murders in Baghdad could be attributed to "revenge, or social, criminal, political or cultural reasons".