Iraqi Militia find way to target innocent gays - the Internet

by Rhonda J Mangus | September 13, 2009 at 04:30 pm

335 views | 55 Recommendations | 12 comments

Torture and killing of innocent Iraqi gays and lesbians has reached a critical state, and Iraqi militia have found an efficient way to target innocent gays - the Internet -, with no intervention from the Iraqi or United States government according to Examiner.com, Gay & Lesbian Issues Examiner, Kelvin Lynch.

In addition, a report by Human Rights Watch, since the first bomb was dropped on Iraq by the US in 2003, 680 gay men have been horrifically tortured and killed, 70 so far this year alone.

This "social cleansing" has gone unchecked, and Iraqi militia have found a most efficient way to locate gay victims - the Internet.

A report by The Observer, How Islamist gangs use internet to track, torture and kill Iraqi gays, shows how Islamic militia are using Internet chat rooms to 'hunt down' their targets - "innocent gay men and women who have committed no legal crime under Iraq law, but are seen as morally unfit by Islamist extremists."

The trend seems to be especially popular among young Islamic men. Twenty-two -year-old Amid Hamzi spends his days trolling Internet gay chat rooms looking for victims. "It is the easiest way to find those people who are destroying Islam and who want to dirty the reputation we took centuries to build up," he said. When he finds them, Hamizi arranges for them to be attacked and sometimes killed. Hamizi's group and others like it are believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 130 gay Iraqi men since the beginning of the year alone.

The leader of the group told the Observer,

"Animals deserve more pity than the dirty people who practice such sexual depraved acts. We make sure they know why they are being held and give them the chance to ask God's forgiveness before they are killed."

Really? So that justifies cutting off their genitals, gluing their anuses shut and force-feeding them laxatives until there are dead?

This was not a problem when Saddam Hussein was in power; in fact, homosexuality was legal and extreme Islamic groups of this kind were under control, so gay people did not fear for their lives. The gay scene under Saddam was rather liberated until the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces by order of then-President George W. Bush.

The killings are extremely brutal, with victims ritually tortured.

Aha AL-Seed's son was one of the victims. "Three days after his kidnapping," she said, she found a note at her door with blood spread over it and a message saying her son's blood had been "purified", with instruction to where to find his body.

She went with police to find her son's remains. "We found his body with signs of torture, his anus filled with glue and without his genitals," she said. "I will carry this image with me until my dying day."

Hamizi's group boasts that two people a day are chosen to be "investigated" in Baghdad by his Islamic militia. The group claims that local tribes are involved in homophobic attacks, choosing members to hunt down the victims. In some areas, lists of names are posted at restaurants and food shops.

There are reports by the Human Rights watch that men are targeted simply for wearing "western clothing", regardless of whether or not they are actually gay.

For more information and to help, visit Iraqi LGBT. The group provides safe houses in Baghdad, as well as food, electricity, and medical care.

Related story by this Author: IGLHRC reports horrific torture of gay Iraqis by militias

3 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend Add a comment

Barbara McPherson

at 16:47 on September 13th, 2009

In my experience, limited as it is, I have found that the most rabidly homophobic are the most insecure in their own sexual identity.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 17:06 on September 13th, 2009

Thank you for reading, commenting, and for the recommendation, Barb!

"I have found that the most rabidly homophobic are the most insecure in their own sexual identity."

Whatever the reason for "the most rabidly homophobic", they need to be held accountable for their actions along with governments who are failing to protect every citizen of its country.

I couldn't imagine living with the images that this mother is going to live with.

worm wood

at 07:43 on September 14th, 2009

This form of ritual is not godly!

Teachings hiding in a form of Religion is the grassroot of this inhumane actions of its members.

If it is not their religion, as some would not want to tackle it, some calls it, ideology, norms, teachings, dogma, sayings, free-thinking without conscience and or guilt, and the like.

Roy C

at 16:49 on September 13th, 2009

yes.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 17:07 on September 13th, 2009

Thank you, Roy!

bettermaker (not verified)

at 17:10 on September 13th, 2009

We need to stop these barbarians! They have a primitive mentality, and need to be civilized!

Rhonda J Mangus

at 17:24 on September 13th, 2009

Thank you for reading and commenting, bettermaker. The world, unfortunately, can be a very primitive and uncivilized place and those who think they are not primitive and who think they are civilized are generally the cause (IMO).

israeli.agent

at 21:39 on September 13th, 2009

"It is the easiest way to find those people who are destroying Islam and who want to dirty the reputation we took centuries to build up," he said."

Yes , Indeed. The "reputation " built over centuries still shines like supernovas.

12-year-old dies in labour San’a (Yemen): A 12-year-old Yemeni child-bride died after struggling for three days in labour to give birth, a local human rights organization has said.
Fawziya Abdullah Youssef died of severe bleeding on Friday while giving birth to a stillborn in the al-Zahra district hospital of Hodeida province, 223 km west of the capital San’a. Child marriages are widespread in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, where tribal customs dominate society. More than a quarter of the country’s females marry before age 15, according to a recent report by the social affairs ministry.

Another blue bright example for that aforementioned "reputation"

Abuse of Muslim girl child rampant

Moneylender, 75, barters child-bride for small loan

Dhaka: A 75-year-old moneylender has ‘coerced’ his debtor to marry off his minor daughter for failing to repay the loan after cyclone Aila hit the village.
Azhar Bepari, of Barisal district in south Bangladesh, took a loan of Rs 2,817 from Lokman Sikder. Azhar was forced to marry his daughter Akhinur, 13, to Lokman, the Daily Star reported on Sunday.
The marriage, solemnized on September 4, has annoyed Ayesha Bibi, Lokman’s first wife, who has demanded punishment for her husband for marrying a minor girl without her approval.

Wonder if money-lending too is part of that wonderful "reputation". Is it not supposed to be an "infidel" thing?

.Agent.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 21:52 on September 13th, 2009

Thank you .Agent for the additional information. For the benefit of readers who may not have followed the link to The Observer, a link to the quoted material :"It is the easiest way to find those people who are destroying Islam and who want to dirty the reputation we took centuries to build up," he said."

Thanks again!

Iffy (not verified)

at 00:42 on September 14th, 2009

You can be pretty damn sure that something like the Inglorious Basterds is right now being formulated in San Francisco to take this slime out viciously, quietly and permanently. These islamic crazies won't be able to do this for much longer I suspect.

jazzyzazzy

at 07:34 on September 14th, 2009

Barbaric.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 16:56 on September 14th, 2009

I've thought about this a lot, jazz. It's depraved -- I have said before, "Remove sexual orientation from the equation and, at the end of the day, one is a human being with human and civil rights. Eventually, those who fail to understand this, they will be held accountable.

Thanks for reading, commenting, and for the recommendation!