Comments on: Six Gay Iraqis Murdered After Clerics Demanded Crackdown

By: knowledge

knowledge — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:34:01 +0000

From “corrective Rape” in South Africa to “honor killings” in Iraq. I know it’s been going on for many many yeas, but none the less terrifying to a Westerner who cannot fathom such a consequence for being made in God’s very own image. Irony and hypocricisy of such laws is destructive to lives, cultures, and so many generations of families. Truly sad.

By: Stefano A

Stefano A — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:36:09 +0000

Kristie:

Yes. The following of Sharia law and tribal laws as it relates to “honor killings” often lies behind such murders. However, Reuters (and other sources) have been refering to the Iraqi penal codes (not de facto tribal or Sharia beliefs), and it is the source of the changes to that law to which they refer that I have been trying to identify.

By: Kristie

Kristie — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:57:19 +0000

Stefano A,

There may not be any statutes on the books in Iraq that specifically prohibit sex between consenting adults of the same gender, but under Islamic sharia law homosexuality is still punishable by death. For many, religious law may be the only law they are worrying about. That could explain the inconsistencies in these kind of reports and the research you cited in your post.

By: AJD

AJD — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:04:45 +0000

Priya: It’s been going on for 2,000 years in the Christian and Islamic worlds. It’s only recently that gay people have tried to win some respect, and that has provoked a backlash from people who are knocked out of their religious comfort zones and thus see men sleeping with men and women sleeping with women as unforgivable, but see killing them as holy.

By: Priya Lynn

Priya Lynn — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:45:41 +0000

Sharon, I don’t think this just started recently, its been going on for the last 100 years or so, its only that recently its getting more attention.

By: L. Junius Brutus

L. Junius Brutus — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:51:48 +0000

Will Exodus now go to Iraq to spread its ‘love’?

By: SharonB

SharonB — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:42:25 +0000

What is going on in the world? Jamaica, Several countries in Africa, now this… It’s like there is a madness, an anti-gay hysteria that is descending over the non-western world.

By: Stefano A

Stefano A — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:01:57 +0000

I'm not asking this to in any way diminish or mitigate the deaths and persecutions of gays in Iraq. I'm questioning this because for months I have been trying to locate the source of such claims by Reuters of a specific law regarding homosexual acts. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) states:

Although the Iraqi penal code does not prohibit sexual activity between consenting same-sex adults, the chaos caused by ongoing war enables death squads to persecute gay men and lesbians.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) in their report, State-Sponsored Homophobia 2008: A world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults states:

Iraq reinstated the Penal Code of 1969 after the American invasion in 2003. The Penal Code does not prohibit sexual activities between consenting adults of the same sex. However, as the country is under war, and law enforcement is not functioning properly, death squads operate in the country, killing homosexuals.

Likewise, the USDOS Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2008 makes no mention of laws "prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults". In addition, neither Amnesty International nor Human Rights Watch make any citation of such a law. It is unknown what the source is for Reuters claim that "Homosexual acts are punishable by up to seven years in prison in Iraq." Does anyone know what their source is that shows the Iraqi law penal codes being amended differently than the ILGA report states?