LGBT Detainees Specifically Targeted for Sexual Abuse, Denial of Care
WASHINGTON—Following repeated reports of sexual abuse in the immigration detention system by the Heartland Alliance, Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate and offer possible remedies to improve conditions at Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities and those with which they contract. According to government documents, nearly 200 allegations of abuse from detainees in detention facilities across the nation have been reported to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2007. Many of these incidents have involved LGBT immigrants.
“The government has a moral responsibility to ensure the safety of any person under its charge,” said Rep. Quigley. “The pervasive and systematic abuse of detainees held in immigration detention facilities, especially gay and transgender individuals, is unconscionable and should be addressed at the highest level. I am confident that DHS and DOJ will work quickly to review this matter and do everything in the agencies power to prevent further instances of sexual abuse, essentially at the hands of the government.”
“The continued reports of sexual abuse against immigrants in ICE detention facilities are appalling,” said Rep. Polis. “Here we have people who are at their most vulnerable—many without access to any legal assistance—who are being preyed upon and assaulted. LGBT immigrants appear to be special targets for abuse in ICE facilities. I expect that GAO will conduct a thorough investigation and offer up solutions that will end this intolerable situation.”
In a letter to the GAO led by Quigley and Polis and signed by 28 other Members of Congress, it was urged that an investigation include facilities run by ICE, private facilities under contract with ICE to hold immigration detainees, and those public facilities (like county jails) also under contract with ICE. Further, the letter requested GAO identify what steps DHS is taking to rectify the problem and suggest additional actions the Department should consider to ensure that sexual abuse does not continue to plague the immigration detention system.
Members signing the letter included: Zoe Lofgren (D-CA); Yvette Clarke (D-NY); Judy Chu (D-CA); Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL); Barbara Lee (D-CA); Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC); Charles Rangel (D-NY); Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL); Gwen Moore (D-WI); Michael Honda (D-CA); Janice Hahn (D-CA); José Serrano (D-NY); Bob Filner (D-CA); Loretta Sanchez (D-CA); Nydia Velazquez (D-NY); Carolyn Maloney (D-NY); Laura Richardson (D-CA); James Moran (D-VA); John Olver (D-MA); Steve Rothman (D-NJ); John Lewis (D-GA); Robert Brady (D-PA); Alcee Hastings (D-FL); Henry Waxman (D-CA); George Miller (D-CA); Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA); Pete Stark (D-CA); and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).
Defending the rights of sexual minorities in the custody of the U.S. immigration detention system has gained momentum since the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) filed a mass civil rights complaint with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in April 2011. The complaint, submitted to DHS’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on behalf of 13 gay and transgender individuals in immigration detention documented the discrimination, abuse, and medical neglect that these individuals suffered in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The complaints report instances of rape, sexual violence, misuse of segregation and punitive conditions in solitary confinement, denial of HIV treatment and hormone therapy, as well as pervasive discrimination and humiliation by guards on account of individuals’ sexual orientation and gender identity.
Since NIJC filed the complaint, policy makers and advocates from across the country have come out to join us in defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) immigrants in detention:
Media all over the country reported on the systemic abuse detailed in the complaints. Several of the complainants courageously spoke out about the abuse they suffered.
Members of Congress held a briefing on the mistreatment of sexual minorities in immigrant detention, and are pressing the Obama administration to provide a full and comprehensive investigation into the complaints. On June 29, 38 members of Congress sent a letter [see below] to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder calling for thorough investigations into the complaints and for the Obama administration to apply protections and remedies contained in the Prison Rape Elimination Act to immigration detention facilities.
One of the Southern California jails which formerly held a blanket policy prohibiting the provision of hormone therapy for transgender individuals – violating DHS standards – has tweaked its policies. Still falling short of recognized medical standards, the facility now provides access to hormone prescriptions for individuals who can document they were receiving treatment prior to their detention.
Another of the Southern California jails has modified its practice and is no longer holding transgender individuals in 22-hour lock down.
NIJC filed an urgent appeal with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture describing repeated instances of torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment against sexual minorities in U.S. immigration custody, adding further pressure on the Obama administration to expedite the investigation process and issue public findings.
Lambda Legal and 16 other advocates issued a letter [PDF] in support of NIJC’s recommendations calling on the Obama administration to end the pervasive discrimination against sexual minorities in immigration custody.
New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm introduced a resolution on June 29, urging DHS to investigate the abuse allegations and to take action to ensure the safety of LGBT immigrants in its custody.
Despite these local, national and international efforts, NIJC continues to receive complaints from LGBT immigrants of routine mistreatment.
Since the filing of the mass complaint we are aware of at least 10 new cases of abuse. Further, five of the 13 original complainants are still detained. All of these individuals are seeking protection from persecution in their native countries. They are not flight risks, nor do they pose a danger to the community.
The U.S. government cannot continue to detain people whose basic human rights it cannot protect. What will it take for the Obama administration to meaningfully address this systemic abuse?
Sixty Members of Congress, led by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), have issued a letter calling on President Obama and Congressional leaders to pass legislation which would end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) immigrant families. The statement, which comes from members of the LGBT Equality Caucus, urges passage of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) and for inclusion of “LGBT binational families in comprehensive immigration reform.” Under current immigration law, lesbian and gay Americans are unable to sponsor their partners for residency in the United States, resulting in many such families living separately, or facing imminent separation, from their loved ones.
“No one,” the letter insists, “should be forced to choose between the person they love and the country they call home. It is time that our immigration laws kept families together instead of tearing them apart.”
“Passage of immigration reform will require every family standing with their neighbors and loved ones to work for change,” said Rachel B. Tiven, Executive Director of Immigration Equality, a national organization that works to end discrimination in U.S. immigration law. “The LGBT Equality Caucus’s letter signals that our champions in Congress, and the LGBT community, are ready to work for passage of reform that includes all families, including LGBT families. There are more than 36,000 lesbian and gay binational families counting on us to get this work done.
The letter – spearheaded by Congresswoman Baldwin and Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Jared Polis (D-CO), Mike Honda (D-CA) and Mike Quigley (D-IL) – comes as Congress is expected to turn its attention to comprehensive immigration reform legislation in the near future. According to an analysis of U.S. census data, more than 36,000 lesbian and gay binational couples would benefit from an LGBT-inclusive immigration reform bill. Nearly half of those families, data show, are raising young children who face the possibility of being separated from one of their parents.
“Recognizing how important familes have been to our national development, the central mission of our immigration system has always been to reunify families.,” said Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). “In order to be true to that core value, comprehensive immigration reform must fix our system to include LGBT families. Failure to do so would leave us with a flawed system that continues to tear apart families, contrary to our legal and constitutional traditions.”
Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the lead House sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act, which would also end discrimination against LGBT binational families, agreed.
“We must take the government out of the business of singling out LGBT families for discriminatory treatment and live up to our democratic ideal of equality under the law,” Nadler said. “I join my colleagues in calling on Congress and the White House to include the Uniting American Families Act, which I have introduced in every Congress since 2000, in any immigration reform legislation, and end discrimination against binational LGBT families.
“There is simply no place for discrimination in America,” Congresswoman Baldwin added. “As we tackle comprehensive immigration reform, it’s imperative that we end discriminatory laws that hurt couples, their children and extended families, and their communities and employers.”
Immigration Equality has also significantly increased its legislative work on the issue, recently announcing the formation of a 501(c)4 Action Fund, to significant increase its lobbying work, and an expanded Washington, D.C. office.
“This is the moment,” Tiven said. “Introduction of comprehensive immigration reform legislation provides a unique opportunity to win a critical victory for LGBT families, and all families. We will work, non-stop, with our allies in the LGBT Equality Caucus, and the immigration rights movement, to do just that.”
GILLIBRAND, BALDWIN TO SEC. CLINTON: SAVE LGBT REFUGEES
LGBT Individuals Tortured and Killed in Iraq in 2009
No Proper Investigations, No Arrests for Crimes Against LGBT Individuals in Iraq
Take Action to Enforce Human Rights Laws to Protect Members of the LGBT Community in Countries Where Their Rights Are Abused.
Washington, D.C. – With hundreds of LGBT individuals being beaten, persecuted and even killed in Iraq, Iran and other countries, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), joined by 11 of their Senate colleagues and 31 of their House colleagues, today wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to work with U.S. Ambassadors, the United Nations and NGOs across the globe to enforce human rights laws that protect LGBT individuals in the countries where they are under threat. Where safe conditions are not possible, the U.S. and the UN must work with refugee and human rights groups to expedite refugees’ flight to safety.
According to Human Rights Watch, there is no official number of deaths since the killing of LGBT individuals began in Iraq, but the U.N. has provided rough estimates range in the hundreds in 2009 alone. Not one murder of an LGBT individual in Iraq has led to an arrest, according to Human Rights Watch.
“It is time for us in Congress to take a strong stand against all hate crimes and persecution – wherever they occur,” Senator Gillibrand said. “People in this world should not have to suffer or fear for their lives because of who they are or what they believe in. It is wrong and it must end. If Iraq, Iran and other countries are not providing the legal protections that members of their LGBT communities are entitled to, it is our duty to join with our partners in the international community, enforce the human rights laws that protect us all, and free LGBT individuals from persecution. While the ultimate goal is safe conditions in these countries, until that happens, the U.S., UN and the international community must ensure that LGBT refugees can reach safety in countries where they won’t face persecution”
“The lives of LGBT individuals in Iran and Iraq, as well as those LGBT refugees who have fled persecution, are in grave danger,” said Congresswoman Baldwin, Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. “I know Secretary of State Clinton shares our concerns for human rights and I hope she will use the full force of her office to respond to the plight of Iraqi and Iranian LGBT refugees and urge the UNHRC to do the same,” Congresswoman Baldwin said.
“Senator Gillibrand’s letter highlights the difficulty that foreign lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) refugees face when their home countries, and their countries of first asylum, permit or condone discrimination and brutal attacks based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Secretary Clinton has said that LGBT rights are human rights and we agree. We look forward to working with the State Department and Senator Gillibrand to ensure that U.S. foreign policy strongly supports protecting the human rights of LGBT individuals abroad.”
“Today, these Members of Congress have presented a comprehensive set of recommendations that will help ensure the protection of individuals who flee persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender identity only to face further persecution and violence in the countries they have fled to in search of safe refuge,” said Human Rights First’s Eleanor Acer. “We praise their leadership on this issue, and urge the administration to implement these measures including a fast-track resettlement process for individuals facing serious protection risks.”
Gideon Aronoff, President & CEO of HIAS said, ““Refugees who have fled persecution on the basis of their sexuality are among the most vulnerable in the world, as persecution often follows them across borders from one country to the next. Additionally, in some parts of the world the LGBT population is at special risk because of strong cultural mores that reject and demonize all but traditional male/female relationships. For some, resettlement to the U. S. or another free country is the only life-saving solution, but neither the U.S. Refugee Program nor the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is adequately prepared to give LGBT refugees the access to safety which they so desperately need. The Congressional letter organized by Sen. Gillibrand to Secretary Clinton suggests sensible and concrete steps to save the lives of LGBT refugees, and we urge the Department of State to give these suggestions expeditious consideration.”
The letter is signed by:
Kirsten E. Gillibran, United States Senator
Patrick J. Leahy, United States Senator
Daniel K. Akaka, United States Senator
Jeff Bingaman, United States Senator
Sherrod Brown, United States Senator
Robert P. Casey Jr., United States Senator
Russell D. Feingold, United States Senator
Frank R. Lautenberg, United States Senator
Joseph L. Lieberma, United States Senator
Jeff Merkley, United States Senator
Charles E. Schumer, United States Senator
Ron Wyden, United States Senator
Tammy Baldwin, United States Representative
Jared Polis, United States Representative
Barney Frank, United States Representative
Jan Schakowsky, United States Representative
Jerrold Nadler, United States Representative
Michael M. Honda, United States Representative
Lois Capps, United States Representative
James P. Moran, United States Representative
Zoe Lofgren, United States Representative
David Wu, United States Representative
Edolphus Towns, United States Representative
Carolyn Maloney, United States Representative
Alcee Hastings, United States Representative
John Conyers, United States Representative
Luis Gutierrez, United States Representative
Bill Delahunt, United States Representative
Eliot Engel, United States Representative
Raúl M. Grijalva, United States Representative
Chellie Pingree, United States Representative
Joseph Crowley, United States Representative
Gary Ackerman, United States Representative
Anthony Weiner, United States Representative
Maurice Hinchey, United States Representative
Steven Rothman, United States Representative
James P. McGovern, United States Representative
Lynn Woolsey, United States Representative
Paul Tonko, United States Representative
Mike Quigley, United States Representative
Steve Israel, United States Representative
Howard Berman, United States Representative
Henry Waxman, United States Representative
Brad Sherman, United States Representative
Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Baldwin’s letter to Secretary Clinton is below:
WASHINGTON, January 21 – The Ugandan Anti Homosexuality Bill (2009) undermines very basic human rights, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of Congress heard this afternoon.
Julius Kaggwa of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, who had flown-in from Uganda for today’s hearing, said that his group had been approached by many in his country who had received death threat.
And there was total silence in the hearing room at the US Congress when he told law-makers that he was himself a “personal victim” to both verbal and physical assault as were gays who often suffered daily.
“Our rights as human are universal,” he told the hearing, adding that the character of Uganda and the rights of its citizens were at stake.
Mr Kaggwa pointed out that sexual minorities in Uganda were already excluded in HIV programmes – and the Bill makes the situation unimaginably worse.
“All in Uganda are affected,” he said.
Mr Kaggwa added that the Bill was not just a foreign policy issue. “It’s national issue affecting all Ugandans.”
Cary Alan Johnson, executive director if the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, told the hearing that the lack of unequivocal condemnation by the Ugandan Government had already caused grave damage.
The United States must maintain the pressure on Uganda, he insisted.
Deputy Assistant Secretary Karl Wycoff, who was representing the U.S. Department of State, told the hearing that the Bill not only constitutes serious threats to human rights in Uganda and the internationall reputation of country, but also compromises Aids work.
Rev. Kapya Kaoma, a Zambian Anglican priest was is currently project director at the progressive Boston ‘think tank’ Political Research Associates, said that Ugandans were fighting for their rights – and needed the support of the United States.
He reminded the Commission member of the deep US conservative evangelical influcene and support for the Bill.
Rev. Kaoma pointed out that since the anti gay seminar in Uganda last March, at which three American evangelicals, including Scott Lively, attendend, 14 known cases of arrest had occurred, including one death, on grounds of suspected homosexuality
Christine Lubinski of the HIV Medicine Association at the Infectious Diseases Society of America said that 1500 doctors were outraged by Bill and its threat to combat HIV.
“Silence equals death,” she said. “We have a responsibility to ensure billions of USPEPFAR money is reaching those in need.
Representative Tammy Baldwin, who chaired the hearing, said that through their involvement in the Bill religious leaders were attempting to restrict human rights and that the Bill would put USPEPFAR in serious jeopardy.
“No modification of the Bill would make it palatable to those committed to social justice,” Ms Lubinski insisted.
And she went on to say that Uganda already had regressive laws affecting the LGBT community in the country.
Representative James McGovern said that the Bill, which would seriously limit HIV work, turns people into “sex spies”.
And he had a warning to the Ugandan authorities: “US Congress stands behind Mr. Kaggwa”. He added that he would be “watching for his security very closely”.
This report was compiled courtesy of Jirair Ratevosian, Deputy Director, Public Policy at The Foundation for AIDS Research, who was “tweeting” from the hearing.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI-02) chairs a January 2010 Congressional hearing in strong opposition to pending legislation in Uganda that would outlaw homosexuality and make any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex punishable by prison or even death.
Baldwin, Polis, Frank Lead Opposition to Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill Send Letters to Presidents Obama and Museveni
In strong opposition to pending legislation in Uganda that would outlaw homosexuality and make any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex punishable by prison or even death, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, and Congressmen Jared Polis and Barney Frank, Co-Chairs of the Congressional Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Equality Caucus, joined by more than ninety of their colleagues, have sent letters to President Obama and Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
In the letters, the Members of Congress call the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009 “the most extreme and hateful attempt by an African country to criminalize their LGBT community.” The Members asked President Obama to use his “personal leadership, and that of our country, in seeking to deter these legislative proposals,” and warned President Museveni that, “Should the bill be passed, any range of bilateral programs important to relations between our countries and, indeed, to the Ugandan people inevitably would be called under review.”
The Ugandan legislation would increase the penalty for same-sex sexual acts to life in prison, limit the distribution of information on HIV by criminalizing the “promotion of homosexuality,” and establish the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by death for anyone in Uganda who is HIV positive and has consensual same-sex relations. Further, the bill includes a provision that could lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone who fails to report to the government within 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are.
“The pending Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda is an appalling violation of human rights and it behooves us, as Americans and Members of Congress, to do all we can to prevent its passage,” said Congresswoman Baldwin. “We fervently hope that President Obama will use the full force of his office to oppose this hateful and life-threatening legislation in Uganda and send a clear message to other countries that such discrimination must not be tolerated. And, we hope that Ugandan President Museveni recognizes that this legislation is morally untenable and politically harmful to his nation,” Baldwin said.
“This is nothing more than the institutionalization of hatred and bigotry and it must be stopped,” said Congressman Polis. “Governments should promote peace within their people, not instill unconscionable discrimination, which will undoubtedly lead to human rights violations. I strongly encourage Presidents Obama and Museveni to do everything in their powers to prevent it from becoming law,” Polis said.
“Having accepted debt relief from the international community only a few years ago, Uganda has an obligation to show some respect for basic human rights,” said Congressman Frank. “Vicious unleashing of persecution of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people should and will be an obstacle to any future Congressional initiative to provide aid to that country,” Frank added.
The letter to President Obama expresses the Members’ serious concerns about the grave injustice occurring in Uganda and other countries that are taking steps to criminalize or otherwise severely discriminate against the LGBT communities and asks the President to speak out publicly against this proposed legislation to bring further attention to the issue.
The letter to Ugandan President Museveni urges him to use every means possible to convey to leaders in Parliament that this draconian legislation is reckless in both intent and potential impact and should be withdrawn immediately.
This week Shirley Tan, her partner Jay Mercado, and sons Jashley and Jorienne pressed Congress and the White House for equal immigration rights for gay and lesbian binational families.
The Tan-Mercado family met with several members of Congress, the staff of numerous additional Congressional offices, and, in a West Wing meeting, White House staffers to press for new cosponsors for the Uniting American Families Act and the House Reuniting Families Act, as well as for inclusion of lesbian and gay binational families in comprehensive immigration reform.
Members and hill staff commended the family on – and thanked them for – their advocacy. They made it clear that they will not soon forget the family’s story or the plight of tens of thousands of other families like them. Supportive members told the family that they will continue to prioritize ending discrimination against LGBT immigrant families.
With Senator Dianne Feinstein
With Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcano. The United Methodist Church has endorsed UAFA and the Reuniting Families Act.
BAGHDAD, Aug. 16 -- Human Rights Watch will urge in a report to be released Monday that the Iraqi government do more to protect gay men, saying militiamen have killed and tortured scores in recent months as part of a social cleansing campaign.
Although the scope of the problem remains unclear, hundreds of gay men may have been killed this year in predominantly Shiite Muslim areas, the report's authors said, basing their conclusion on interviews with gay Iraqi men, hospital officials and an unnamed United Nations official in Baghdad.
"The government has done absolutely nothing to respond," said Scott Long, director of the gay rights program at Human Rights Watch. "So far there has been pretty much a stone wall."
Homosexuality was tacitly accepted during the last years of Saddam Hussein's rule, but Iraqis have long viewed it as taboo and shameful.
Iraq's human rights minister, Wijdan Salim, has expressed concern about the reported slayings, but few other government officials have addressed the issue publicly or indicated that they are disturbed by the reports.
A senior police official in Baghdad said authorities could not effectively protect gay men because they often do not report crimes.
"To protect someone, you have to know who he is and his location," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the issue. "It's very easy for the militiamen to find them and harm them, and it's very difficult for our forces to protect them."
Reports of slayings targeting gay men began circulating early this spring in Sadr City, a conservative Shiite district in eastern Baghdad. Gay men were also reportedly slain in Basra, Najaf and Diyala province, Human Rights Watch said.
Gay activists said militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had target lists containing the names of men suspected of being gay. Some were killed and some were tortured, they said. Human Rights Watch said a commonly reported form of torture involved injecting super glue into men's rectums.
When violence in Iraq began ebbing in 2008 and militia and insurgent leaders lost sway in several parts of the country, social norms became less strict. Women began to shed abayas -- long black robes that cover them from head to toe -- in certain formerly conservative neighborhoods. Liquor stores began selling alcohol openly. And gay men began to congregate in cafes and other venues for parties. The advent of the Internet in Iraq after the 2003 invasion also allowed gay men to form bonds and circles of friends.
The attacks on gay men appear to have coincided with a call by religious leaders in Sadr City and other Shiite communities to curb behavior that clerics called unnatural and unhealthy.
Sadr movement officials say they condemn homosexuality, but have denied participating in violence targeting gay men.
Sadr City residents opposed to homosexuality said in interviews that the presence of gay men became overt after the Iraqi army was allowed to move into the district in the spring of 2008, asserting control over a vast area formerly controlled by Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army.
"When the Iraqi army started coming here, this phenomenon started coming to our area," said Ali Abu Kara, 23, a mechanic who identified himself as a member of the Mahdi Army. "We felt very glad when those puppies were killed," he added, using a pejorative term for gay men.
Human Rights Watch said the Mahdi Army, which has been observing a cease-fire for more than a year, appears to have used the gay issue to build its image.
"It exploited morality for opportunistic purposes," the report said. "It aimed at popularity by targeting people few in Iraq would venture to defend."
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and American lawmakers have expressed concern about the reports of slayings.
"Reports from Embassy contacts familiar with the areas where some of the bodies were found suggest the killings are the work of militias who believe homosexuality is a form of Western deviance that cannot be tolerated," Patricia Butenis, then the charge d'affaires at the embassy, wrote in an April 22 letter to Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.).
Polis, who is openly gay, raised the issue with Iraqi and U.S. officials during a visit to Iraq this spring.
"There is no doubt that gay Iraqi men live in a constant state of terror," he said in an interview shortly after his visit. "That was not the case under Saddam Hussein's regime. And it's not the case in Jordan and Syria, where homosexuality is not accepted as it is in the West but people don't live in fear."
Long, the Human Rights Watch official, said reports of slayings and intimidation have become more infrequent in recent months as gay communities have gone underground and scores of gay men have fled their neighborhoods.
"The militias have run out of people to kill," he said.
Special correspondent Qais Mizher contributed to this report.
The Iraqi LGBT organisation has today provided interim accounts for its Syria operations (see below) and announced that it will resubmit an application for charitable status.
Based in the UK, the group works to aid lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people within Iraq as well as many who have fled for exile in nearby countries. It runs a 'safe house' in Baghdad, Iraq, where 20 LGBT people are currently housed and where previously 70 people have stayed for various periods.
The safe house will be featured in a documentary on BBC Radio this Sunday. It includes interviews with the person who runs it as well as some of those who live there.
Since it was founded Iraqi LGBT has provided safety for over 100 people, including supporting 70 people financially. It has provided support for 23 people outside Iraq including shelter, medication and food.
The reapplication for charitable status follows a change in the group's aims which removed working the requirement to work for change in Iraqi law, which resulted in a previous rejection by the UK's Charity Commission as this was regarded as 'political'. It also follows the work of the group's volunteer accountant on preparing accounts to meet charity commissioners’ standards. In addition the group has become a Company limited by guarantee (No. 06954355).
Iraqi LGBT’s accountant Josh Botham ATT ACPA ACCA IIT[dip] explained that - like others such as Amnesty International - the group has had to use circuitous routes in order to get funds to exiles, as well as pay bribes in order to secure release of people under real threat of death.
Botham said that as part of the application the group would publish full accounts on its website shortly.
Funding for the group in the past has come from the group's own members and donations including one in 2008 from the US Representative Jared Polis. He donated $10,000 (£6,853) via the Heartland Alliance to aid the project in Syria.
Polis' funding went to the Chicago based LGBT group Heartland Alliance to provide for five people to be moved from Iraq to Syria and to provide housing rent, food and other basic needs in Syria. This project ran between 1 June and 31 December 2008. Included in the cost was the living accommodation for the local administrator of the group.
Botham said that: "Providing the financial support involved a difficult money transfer process in order to avoid coming to the attention of Syrian authorities. Such an operation also meant that in order to safeguard the lives of these refugees, people were only informed on a need to know basis."
"Heartland Alliance [as grant provider] however insisted that our group should meet up with the Lebanese LGBT group, Helem, in November 2008, at that same time that some prominent members of Heartland Alliance visited Syria."
"The result was disastrous for our group, Iraqi LGBT. Some of our members were arrested by Syrian police in Damascas in (which city). With the help of a local lawyer, Iraqi LGBT managed to get these people released. However one of them was later to be deported back to Iraq."
Iraqi LGBT has experienced other difficulties in coordinating activities with Heartland Alliance. Another grant of $10,000 meant for Iraqi LGBT came to the group from the Elisabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust, based in Chicago. Botham gave them a budget of how to allocate this money.
However communications broke down with the Heartland Alliance's representative when it was claimed that the last transfer of $4,000 had never been received by our sources in Iraq. Says Botham: “This underlines the perils of where we are working and who we are working with."
"Iraqi LGBT has supported another nine Iraqi refugees in Syria, as well as a safe house in Iraq and has had to spend money on freeing people from custody. Obviously in such situations one doesn't get a receipt."
"Between 1 June 2008 to 31 May 2009, the Polis supported project represented one sixth of the group's expenditure. Just under a quarter of the group's funding actually came from the group's founder, Ali Hili, his family and his partner."
Iraqi LGBT Chair Ali Hilli added: "We are confident that the charitable status will be accepted and will be a great help for the group. As we have been reporting for several years now, our people in Iraq are being killed and we desperately need more financial support to save them and where necessary move them out of Iraq."
"This work is dangerous and threatening. Even in London I am under real threat and have been forced to move as a result."
Donations for Iraqi LGBT can be made via PayPal. See the group's website at http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com for details. ATTACHMENT
Syria underground Railroad Project
Covering the period from 1 June 2008 to 31 May 2009
Figures in US dollars
Total funding received from Heartland Alliance $15,520
Expenditure Telephone cards and other means of communication $413 Basic food and supplies $486 Travel costs including passports and visa’s(for 5 people, from Bagdad to Damascus by road) $3,000 Legal fees(to prevent an individual from being imprisoned in Iraq) $4,000 Rent (Damascus) $7,000 Transportation costs (inside Syria to move nine Iraqi LGBT refugees when necessary to another safe house) $413 Other costs $208 Total $15,218 Balance left $2
Iraqi LGBT expenditure in Syria
In addition to the funding received from Heartland Alliance, Iraqi LGBT from its own resources has supported another nine Iraqi LGBT refugees who had already made there own way to Syria.
The Heartland Alliance would not allow us to include the cost of transferring the money as part of their donation. We paid for it ourselves and we have therefore listed this bank fee under our own expenditure
Figures in pounds sterling
Covering the period from 1 June 2008 – 31 May 2009 Rent, food and other amenities like electricity (For two safe houses including any bribes paid.) £8,731 Communication (mobile phones, phone cards, internet etc) £95 Bank charges £415 Total £9,241
Iraqi gays condemn Obama/Clinton inaction on pogrom Embassy statement 'offensive and insulting'
03.06.09
For immediate use
A group representing Iraqi lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT) has spoken of their deep anger and offence at a statement by the Baghdad US Embassy concerning the violence and murder campaign against gays.
In a response to US Rep. Jared Polis, following a meeting with Iraqi government officials, chargé d’affaires Patricia Butenis said "We have no evidence that [the Iraq government's] security forces are in any way involved with these militias."
Iraqi LGBT has been reporting for four years on police involvement with the terror campaign.
Group members speaking from Iraq said that they are "fed up with such 'political' words" and that the Americans are doing nothing to stop the terror campaign against them. They believe that the priority for Hillary Clinton's State Department and Obama's administration is to not upset the Iraqi government as they have no other allies within the country.
They believe that no-one is trying to help them and feel that the current timid diplomacy "will not do much good".
"These words from the American embassy are insulting to us, our lives in Iraq and to those many friends of ours who have died. This statement is evidence that the Iraqi government is doing nothing to protect its citizens."
"They are responsible for these crimes through bringing no one to justice, refusing to acknowledge their police's involvement and providing no rights for Iraqi LGBT in law."
"People should not forget that what's happening in Iraq right now is a direct result of the unlawful US invasion."
Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Program, has also criticism the State Department. In an interview with EdgeBoston, responding to State spokesperson John T. Fleming's pointed statement that 'homosexuality is not a crime in Iraq', Long responded that the fact that homosexuality is not a crime punishable by death "would be an interesting fact if the law, or the rule of law, mattered in Iraq."
Long has just returned from a fact-finding mission to Iraq where he spoke to 25 survivors from Baghdad and other cities, including Najaf, Basra and Samarra.
As a consequence of what they found, Human Rights Watch has been organizing ways for as many LGBT Iraqis as possible to get out of the country.
Colorado U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, who has spoken about Iraqi government involvement with the violence, has written with Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank to U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill.
"As LGBT Americans and cochairs of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, we are disturbed and shocked at allegations that Ministry of the Interior Security Forces may be involved in the mass persecution and execution of LGBT Iraqis ... The persecution of Iraqis based on sexual orientation or gender identity is escalating and is unacceptable regardless of whether these policies are extrajudicial or state-sanctioned."
The letter called on the U.S. embassy in Iraq to "prioritize the investigation" of the allegations and work with the Iraqi government to end the executions of LGBT Iraqis. Polis is drafting another letter that would be signed by more members of Congress and sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Jared Polis has received a letter from Iraqi officials regarding reports of LGBT executions in the country, and he has sent a letter calling on the new U.S. ambassador to the country to investigate the charges.
After meeting with Iraqi officials earlier this month regarding the persecution of gays in Iraq, U.S. representative Jared Polis of Colorado has received a response letter from the Iraqi chargé d’affaires and has also initiated a new letter to the recently confirmed U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, that is cosigned by representatives Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin.
The letter from Iraqi chargé d’affaires Patricia Butenis denies any official government involvement in LGBT executions that have taken place but suggests some extra-governmental militias may have engaged in such violence.
"We have seen the international media report that, according to Amnesty International, as many as 25 men and boys were killed over the past few weeks by militia or relatives influenced by religious leaders who have publicly condemned homosexuality," Butenis wrote in a letter dated April 22, 2009. "Reports from Embassy contacts familiar with the areas where some of the bodies were found suggest the killings are the work of militias who believe homosexuality is a form of Western deviance that cannot be tolerated."
Brian Branton, Polis's chief of staff, said the information was a step forward after the Iraqi ministry had originally called the militia charges "unfounded." "We were glad to hear that acknowledgment in her letter because in earlier conversations with the state department they had not owned up to that," Branton said of Iraqi officials.
But Butenis rejected the idea that any of the Iraqi government's police had targeted LGBT individuals. "We have no evidence that [the Iraq government's] security forces are in any way involved with these militias," Butenis said in the letter.
Though Branton agreed that much of what's happening may not be explicitly sanctioned by the government as a whole, he also said people who work for the government may be taking matters into their own hands. "I actually think that you have some rogue individuals out there who are part of the government throwing people into jail and then, in some cases, killing them," he said. "Technically, it's not official, but it's happening nonetheless and no one seems to be stopping them."
Polis indicated in an earlier interview that he was inclined to believe that there’s "a breakdown in the chain of command." "I don't have any reason to believe that these instances were authorized at the highest level of civilian government," Polis said.
The letter also stated that no Iraqis currently on death row are charged with crimes related to homosexuality, according to the Iraqi minister of human rights, Wijdan Salim. "The [embassy justice attaché] has also reviewed relevant sections of the Iraqi Penal Code and confirmed that homosexual conduct is not punishable by death in Iraq," Butenis wrote.
Branton said it may be true that no one on death row is specifically charged with homosexuality. "But we think it’s unusual in the stories we've heard that five or six people will be thrown in a jail cell together, and it will become clear to them in the course of their conversations that they're all LGBT," he said.
Prior to traveling to Iraq earlier this month, Polis received a letter forwarded by an Iraqi human rights group that was written by a jailed man who said he was beaten into confessing he was a member of the gay rights group Iraqi LGBT. The group said the man had been sentenced to death in a court in Karkh, Iraq, and executed. (The group and the author's names were not made public for their protection.) Polis also enlisted the help of a translator to interview by phone a transgender Iraqi man who said he had been arrested, beaten, and raped by Ministry of Interior security forces.
On Monday, representatives Polis, Baldwin, and Frank -- the three openly gay members of Congress -- sent a letter on the matter to the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill.
"As LGBT Americans and cochairs of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, we are disturbed and shocked at allegations that Ministry of the Interior Security Forces may be involved in the mass persecution and execution of LGBT Iraqis," read the letter. "The persecution of Iraqis based on sexual orientation or gender identity is escalating and is unacceptable regardless of whether these policies are extrajudicial or state-sanctioned."
The letter called on the U.S. embassy in Iraq to "prioritize the investigation" of the allegations and work with the Iraqi government to end the executions of LGBT Iraqis. Branton said they were in the process of drafting another letter that would be signed by more members of Congress and sent to Secretary of State Clinton.
Ultimately, Polis would like to see the Iraqi government state an official policy on LGBT rights. "The Iraqi civilian government needs to make it clear that respect for human rights is a basic Iraqi value, including all groups that are not popular in Iraq -- Christians, gays, and atheists," he said. "There are moderate Arab countries where homosexuals are not accepted but at least the gays and lesbians who live there don't live in constant fear of life and limb and being arrested and executed by the police."
Iraqi gays report that their lives are in danger, that they live in continuous fear of people finding out that they are gay.
Gays are being sadistically tortured, mutilated and murdered, some by the method of sticking a special glue (which can only be removed by surgery) up their anuses then forcing diarrhea. This method is being employed not just in Baghdad but in smaller town and cities all over Iraq. Videos of this form of torture are being distributed on mobile cellphones in Iraq. There are reports of hospitals turning away gays with glued anuses.
Attacks against gays have been abundant in Shiite neighborhoods, especially poor regions and remote areas such as the southern provinces and the Hurriya, Sho’la and Sadr neighborhoods in Baghdad.
Although gays could be tried and imprisoned under the Saddam regime Iraqi gays report that "now they kill people like us."
The campaign started in 2004, following the religious decree of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that said gay men and lesbians should be “punished, in fact, killed .. The people should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.”
Since then Iraqi LGBT has received reports and information of over 600 LGBT people killed.
But Iraqi gays and media reports say that the killings have massively escalated since the end of 2008.
Iraqi LGBT has received reports of 63 killings in the last four months but does not have correspondents or members in large parts of Iraq and believes that the actual number of gays killed since December 2008 is much higher.
Amnesty International says that 25 boys and men were killed in Baghdad this spring "following calls from religious leaders to eradicate homosexuality."
There are reports that religious leaders, both Sunni or Shiite, have used Friday sermons and satellite channels as a platform to incite hatred and violence toward homosexuals.
Reporting about the murders by anal glue of gays in Sadr City in April by Iraqi daily newspapers and many television stations branded gays as 'perverts' and 'terrorists who are undermining the moral fiber of Iraqi youth'.
Posters and leaflets distributed in the Baghdad neighborhoods of al-Shola, al-Hurya and Sadr City contain orders to "cleanse Iraq from the crime of homosexuality."
Lesbians are reported as being burned to death in Kadhimiya, Hurriya Al-Olaa, Hurriya Al-Thaniya, Dolaai and Dabaash.
Baghdad US Embassy workers are reported as saying that the killings are not tribal or familial disputes.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says that homosexuals are a specific group which have been identified as at risk of violence.
State involvement and lack of action
Human Rights Watch says that Iraqi LGBT are vulnerable to attacks from both state and non-state actors.
Mobile phone footage circulating in Baghdad shows uniformed police harassing LGBT. There are reports of police extracting bribes.
Police have been quoted as waging a campaign to "clean up the streets and get the beggars and homosexuals off them.”
Iraqi LGBT has received reports that police and the Ministry of the Interior are behind some of the murders.
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) says that despite the legal obligations of the Iraqi government to protect all citizens, crimes committed against LGBT Iraqis and those believed to be homosexual are not properly investigated or prosecuted.
US Vice President Joe Biden is reported to have said 'the Iraqi .. government is either too ineffectual to act, or is afraid of offending the religious zealots who perpetuate the attacks'.
The US State Department, following representations by Rep. Jared Polis and the Council for Global Equality, is investigating reports of trials and executions of LGBT, including for membership of the Iraqi LGBT group, as well as reports of arrests, beatings and rape by Ministry of Interior security forces. Polis says that at least one gay man has been executed by the government for 'membership of a banned organization' and that "gregious human rights violations ... [are] being carried out by Iraqi government officials from the Ministry of the Interior."
Amnesty International has expressed concern at the government’s failure to "publicly condemn the killings." It urged the government to make sure that the killings are "promptly and effectively investigated, and to see that the perpetrators are brought to justice." They also condemned police statements that,"appear to condone or even encourage the targeting of members of the gay community in Baghdad."
The Australian government has questioned the Iraqi Ambassador to Australia and Australia’s Ambassador to Iraq has questioned the Iraqi government over the pogrom.
On April 8, 2009, IGLHRC and Human Rights Watch submitted an urgent appeal to the Special Procedures of the United Nations to ask for an investigation. Sources
This letter was written to Los Angeles councillor Bill Rosendahl in response to the passage by Los Angeles City Council of a resolution in opposition to the Iraqi gay pogrom.
I’m a 25 year old graduate student from Baghdad and my name is Ahmad.
I want to thank you very much for caring about me and my problem. Finally, after many desperate years of hopelessness I found a group of people that understand and care about me.
My problem is that I’m a gay, and as a gay man I can’t live a normal life in Iraq because:
My life is in danger. I live in continuous fear of people finding out that I’m gay.
I can’t express my deepest emotions. I can’t love...I can’t tell those who I care about that I love them... It is like being tortured from inside.
In the past few months I have heard of many cases of violence against gay men, including killing, torturing, and public humiliation of us. The religious vigilantes (known as Maghawer) have kidnapped many men suspected of being gay. No one knows anything about the fate of those gays.
The Maghawer’s most popular method of torture for homosexuals is putting silicon glue on their anus to shot down their digestive system and then force them to take laxative drug to make them suffer.
Every time I walk on the street I wonder what may happen to pen to me today. To protect myself, I have to lie to everyone and pretend that I am a straight person. It is really hard to be a 24/7 liar out of the fear of death…I keep asking myself if this is going to be MY LIFE!!!
I have no one to turn to. Not even other gay men or my family members. Recently I have been blackmailed by men I had sex with in the past. They told me either I have to have sex with them again or they will out me to my family, neighbors and even classmates. I had to choose between scandal and public humiliation and prostitution. But I decided that I can’t have sex with people I don’t love … so I decided to transfer to another college in Northern Iraq.
My family doesn’t know about my homosexuality…if they find out, they will disown me because I will become a disgrace to them. They may even try to kill me to protect their honor. I always have to pretend in front my family that I ‘m “normal”…but like any other straight man, my family wants me to marry a woman … I try to avoid that conversation as much as I can but there is a lot of pressure on me to get married.
I am not happy with myself. I am not proud of who I am.
A while back I went to a psychologist to see if he can treat me. I told him about my problem…he told me that homosexuality has no treatment in Iraq and only experienced doctors in developed countries can give me therapy.
The news made me so depressed that I started thinking of committing suicide. I feel even without vigilantes killing me, I AM ALREADY DEAD FROM INSIDE.
I just want to know what wrong I have done. Do I have a choice to be gay? Do I want to humiliate myself? Do I want to live in constant fear and anxiety? Do I want my family & friends to hate and abandon me if they discover my truth? Do I want myself to be killed on the hand of uneducated people for something I didn’t choose?
I don’t want to make it long for you…but I want to let you know that I have already suffered too much and I don’t have the power to go through more pain and suffering.
And finally I want to thank you for your support and help…
My Regards and Best Wishes to ALL of YOU…
Comment by Hasan given to The Independent
My boyfriend was killed by the police because of his sexuality.
Policemen came to his house, 10 minutes away from mine, put him in a police car, arrested and killed him.
They told his parents it was because of his job. He was working for Iraqi LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender). For six months I didn't go out, I didn't do anything – just grieved for him. He was killed because of who he is.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, we – the gay community – were very optimistic. We thought that we would live in a democracy and felt safe with US troops around. So we started to print leaflets that promoted freedom for gay and lesbian people.
But members of our group started being arrested for it. The leaflets weren't political, they were just spreading gay rights.
We have the right to exist and be who we are, but this offended the government. The leaflets had our email addresses and telephone numbers, so the government and the militias came to find out who was distributing the leaflets.
In 2004, the situation got much worse. People began to be killed in the streets, burnt alive and mutilated for being gay. We were a target for the government and militias. I fled to the UK; I feel very safe here but get emails every day about more killings in Iraq. And the problem is that the UK Government doesn't allow us to stay with refugee status even though Iraq is one of the most dangerous places on earth for homosexuals and a war is being waged by the parts of the Iraqi government on gay people. In the UK, I can't work or study because I've been denied the right to asylum, but my only option is to go back to Iraq, face my family and my community and be killed.
Four members of our organisation have already been deported. I am fighting for my right to stay by re-applying for asylum with the help of Iraqi LGBT. Otherwise, I have no future. On Thursday, we will protest outside the Home Office to highlight the homophobic killings. I wish someone would listen and help us; this has been going on in Iraq for years and no one cares.
Hasan, 26, is gay. He moved to the UK nine months ago from his home in Babel province, south of Baghdad, after receiving death threats. His boyfriend was killed because of his sexuality.
Call for help
My name is [name and address removed], Baghdad, Iraq.
I was detained at my residence December 15, 2008 after midnight, by the Ministry of Interior. During the detention process, they hit me on the head and my rear end to make me confess that I am a member of the Iraqi-LGBT. Later on the Ministry of Interior transferred me to the criminal justice court in al Karkh, and after a short trial I was sentenced to death.
I was sentenced without given the chance to defend myself or to hire an attorney. Two days later I was returned to the same place and was told that the execution will take place in two weeks.
Please pass this message to [my friend] in London. I just wish to tell him not to forget about my mother and siblings, I was their only supporter.
I am all hopeful that Allah will show Iraqis a life with no death sentences. And lastly, I ask you for help. Is there anyone to help me before it is too late?
Addendum
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) advises favourable consideration for people belonging to specific groups from these areas which have been identified as at risk, including members of religious and ethnic minorities; Iraqis perceived as opposing armed groups or political factions; Iraqis affiliated with the multinational forces or foreign companies; media workers; UN and non-governmental organization (NGO) workers; human rights activists; and homosexuals.
There are a number of ways in which you can take action.
Support Iraqi LGBT through fund raising and donations
This support is desperately needed and will be put to good use both inside Iraq itself and to support the exiled movement. The group needs £10,000 a month in order to keep its safe houses and other support for beleaguered LGBT inside Iraq going.
Alternatively, in the USA, tax-deductible donations can be made at http://rainbowfund.org Contact your local representative to urge them to ask for your government's pressure on the Iraqi government to take action
The following is a letter for a UK MP which you can adapt for your locality
Dear XX XXXXX
I write to draw your attention to the pogrom of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people which is currently taking place in Iraq.
Although this has yet to draw much mainstream media attention the reports are truly horrifying and escalating. They have draw the attention of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and US Representatives.
However the UK Foreign Office does not appear to be taking any action.
By Garry Virginia Gays Without Borders/San Francisco
On May 17, International Day Against Homophobia, more than 100 people participated in the Castro Rally at Milk Plaza to raise awareness of LGBT Iraqis facing increased torture and murder. Sadly, this story has been buried for five years in the mainstream media while 600 documented gay murders have occurred.
Gays Without Borders/SF teamed up with Rainbow World Fund to organize the rally with a goal to raise $10,000 in direct aid for fleeing Iraqis.
Heartfelt thanks to the many speakers, volunteers, and everyone who donated online and in the streets for a total of $4,500 so far. Special thanks to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. for a $1,000 leadership gift and critical volunteer support. Rev. Don Fox, former Night Minister, presented a $300 check on behalf of St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church.
“I had no idea this was going on,” said most passersby, referring to the genital mutilations, executions, torture and witch hunt of gays and suspected gays. Once people viewed photos of the victims — some showing groups of preteens bloodied and dead in the streets with a cadre of onlookers reading “pervert” notes on the victims’ chests — and read copies of stories from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and other media, the donations flowed.
For the uninformed, the US occupation of Iraq has lead to a false sense of security for minorities to express themselves more fully. LGBT Iraqis would gather in cafes, dress and act more expressively, and be a bit more open. This decision has proved fatal. AND NEIGHBORING IRAN DOESN’T EVEN HAVE GAYS
In 2006 the Washington Blade reported that a powerful Islamic leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a fatwa in October 2005 calling for the killing of gays in Iraq. Ali al-Sistani stated “Those who commit sodomy must be killed in the harshest way,” according to BBC news reports. A network of gay Iraqi exiles in Europe reported that the fatwa triggered a flurry of assassinations, kidnappings and death threats against Iraqi gays.
The Badr Corps was already killing suspected gays but was emboldened by the fatwa. The Badr Corps is the military arm of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the powerful Shia group that is the largest political formation in Iraq’s Shia community.
According to an exiled gay Iraqi, entrapment through internet sites and threats to unmarried men over 30 result in kidnappings, beatings, arrests, disappearance and a soon death. The bodies are usually discovered with their hands bound behind their back, blindfolds over their eyes, and bullet wounds to the back of the head.
Fast forward four years and the situation has gotten worse. The world has shown a blind eye toward gay Iraqis in spite of billions of US tax dollars and military lives (including gays) lost to bring “democracy” to Iraq.
In past months, bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City. Twenty men have shown up in hospitals with mutilated genitals. Recent accusations evidence gluing of anuses and forced laxatives for a slow, painful death. A Sadr City cafe frequented by gay men recently burned down under mysterious circumstances.
It’s lazy to say that the Iraq situation is too confusing for us to take action. Openly gay Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) made his own investigation in Iraq and verified the horrific conditions for LGBTs. He has asked for a State Department investigation and donated $10,000 of his own funds for aid.
It is time for President Obama and Speaker Pelosi to stand up for human rights for LGBT Iraqis in this American occupied country. Their own foibles with detainee torture and overall complexity with the Middle East are no excuse to not denounce abuse and torture. At a minimum, use our forces to provide a safe escape and asylum for all LGBT Iraqis, even if done discretely. If Iraqis can spot suspected LGBTs, surely our soldiers can and offer rescue.
I feel that if we are aware of torture and murder of gays anywhere in the world, we have a moral obligation to act. If not, we become a party to it. Collections can be organized by schools, churches, businesses small and large, clubs and organizations, non profits and foundations.
The sexual cleansing of Iraq is our LGBT generation’s Holocaust. What will you do to stop it? How long will LGBTs allow ourselves to be on the bottom rung of human rights around the world?
Tax deductible donations for direct aid to LGBT Iraqis may be made to: Rainbow World Fund, 4111 18th St., #5, SF CA 94114; rainbowfund.org
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