Iraqi Gays Sentenced to Death for Being Gay

I never supported the Iraq War even at its outset and recall having a sick feeling when the Chimperator announced the invasion. Six years, billions of dollars, and 4,000+ American deaths later, news out of Iraq underscores the fact that the Chimperator dishonestly led the USA on a fool's errand. Worse yet, the puppet government installed by the Bush/Cheney regime has allowed religious extremists to flourish. Under the current regime gays are being rounded up, convicted for being gay and - based on news out of Iraq via LGBT groups - facing death sentences. I'm sure the the GOP base that supported the Chimperator could care less what happens to gay Iraqis, but one would hope the Obama administration will stand up and demand that these kangaroo court convictions be set aside. Here are some highlights from UK Gay News:

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LONDON, March 30, 2009 – More than 100 prisoners in Iraq are facing execution – and many of them are believed to have been convicted of the ‘crime’ of being gay, the UK-based Iraqi-LGBT group revealed this afternoon. According to Ali Hili of Iraqi-LGBT, the Iraqi authorities plan to start executing them in batches of 20 from this week. There is, said Mr. Hili, at least one member of Iraqi-LGBT who are among those to be put to death.

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And the London-based group, which believes that a total of 128 executions are imminent, is calling on the UK Government, international human rights groups and the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva to intervene “with due speed” to prevent “this tragic miscarriage of justice” from going ahead.

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“We have information and reports on members of our community whom been arrested and waiting for execution for the crimes of homosexuality,” Mr Hili told UK Gay News. “Iraqi-LGBT has been a banned from running activities on Iraqi soil,” he revealed. “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.

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Most are likely to have been sentenced to death by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI), whose proceedings consistently fall short of international standards for fair trial, Mr. Hili said.
“Allegations of torture are not being investigated adequately or at all by the CCCI. Torture of detainees held by Iraqi security forces remains rife.

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Amnesty International has called on the Iraqi authorities to make public all information pertaining to the 128 people, including their full names, details of the charges against them, the dates of their arrest, trial and appeal and their current places of detention.

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For proof that religion and the civil laws should NEVER be allowed to intermix, one need only look to Islamic countries that exhibit savagery towards gays, women, and others who seek religious freedom. These countries also provide a mirror image of what the USA would look like if the Christianists were every allowed to fully implement their extreme religious agenda.