More News On The Killing Of Gays & Emos In Iraq

New developments re: the killings of gays and/or emo kids in Baghdad ...

The New York Times has settled the question raised in my last post on the subject: Why were the reports of "emo" killings in Reuters so similar to the report of gay killings from the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission? It seemed initially as though the killings of one group might have been mistaken for the other. But that's not the case. Shiite death squads are killing both gays and emos, and they're doing it in exactly the same way: Posting warning fliers (pictured at right) in Shiite neighborhoods, warning the offending gays/emos that they have four days to repent, ship out, or otherwise remove themselves from harm's way; and then beating them to death and dumping their bodies in the streets.

From the Times:

... in the past two weeks, officials had found the bodies of six young men whose skulls had been crushed. Reuters reported the toll to be 14 or more, citing hospital and security officials, while rights groups say that more than 40 young men have been killed, but have provided no evidence for this figure.

Human rights advocates say the threats and violence are aimed at gay men and at teenagers who style themselves in a uniquely Iraqi collage of hipster, punk, emo and Goth fashions. The look, shorthanded here as “emo,” has flourished on Baghdad’s streets as an emblem of greater social freedom as society has begun to bloom after years of warfare. But it has drawn scorn and outrage from some religious conservatives, and is often conflated with being gay.

... over the past month, threatening letters began appearing in Shiite neighborhoods across Baghdad, residents said.

One of the fliers, scanned and posted online, addresses dozens of gay men by name and nickname. It warns people identified as Japanese Haider, Allawi the Bra, Mohammed the Flower and others: Reform your behavior, stop being gay, or face deadly consequences.

“Your fate will be death if you don’t quit doing this,” one leaflet warns. “Punishment will be tougher and tougher, you gays. Don’t be like the people of Lot.”

Another flier circulating around the Zayouna neighborhood appears addressed to emo youths. It tells them to cut their hair, not to wear the clothing of devil worshipers, and not to listen to metal, emo or rap music. And if they refuse, “God’s punishment will be come down upon you and to be carried out by the mujahedeen,” the letter says. “Forewarned is forearmed.”

The Times describes "fear rippling" through the underground clothing stores where hip kids congregate to buy their outfits; terrified young people who've cut their hair and changed their wardrobes. The Times reporter, Jack Healy, sat with four gay friends who spoke of being heckled by passersby who screamed "Block! Block! Block!" -- the word referring to the death squads' weapons of choice: Blocks, rocks, and bricks. 

It is still unclear if the murdered young person pictured in my last post was gay, emo, neither, or both, but Healy has identified him: Saif Raad Asmar Abboudi, of Sadr City. He was 20. 

Meanwhile, GayMiddleEast reports possessing evidence that the Iraq government has possession of a list of at least some of the young people being targeted by death squads. Nevertheless, the youths have not been provided police protection. 

Any action taken in the face of this horribleness will necessarily feel like weak medicine, but one can at least hit up the website of the LGBT rights organization All Out and sign this letter to world leaders, asking them to pressure the government in Baghdad to do something. 

Iraqi Death Squads: Targeting Emos, Gays, Or Both?

Last night I recapped a Reuters story about the murder of "emo" teens by fundamentalists in Shi'ite neighborhoods around Baghdad. Human rights activist and literary scholar Scott Long has more: At his blog, he reports that two of his Iraqi friends have sent him pictures of an alleged victim of the emo purge, pre- and post-mortem, along with descriptions of the situation on the ground:

The correspondent who sent the following pictures says, “as you can see from the way they are dressed in their pictures, they are not Emo per se. I have been reading reports which indicate anyone who wears a stylish jeans with gel in their hair that represents the west has been identified as an Emo.” (Militias and the Iraqi media used similar markers to identify men who had sex with men back in 2009.) But he adds,  ”I have also seen many pictures of young men who have shaved their head and grew their beards just that so they would not be targeted.”

I'm not going to reproduce the more gruesome images from Long's website, but they do seem to depict the body of the boy pictured at right. (Another of Long's friends sent along pictures of the same corpse, but paired with images of what might be a different living boy. All images, it seems, come from Iraqi media.)

But -- a wrinkle. This week, the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission released a report on a "wave of targeted killings" of LGBTs around Baghdad:

... in early February 2012, an unidentified group posted death threats against "the adulterous individuals" in the predominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Basra. The threats gave the individuals, whose names and ages were listed, four days to stop their behavior or else face the wrath of God, and were to be carried out by the Mujahedin. According to sources inside Iraq, as the result of this new surge of anti-gay violence close to 40 people have been kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered. The Iraqi authorities have neither responded to this targeted violence nor have they publicly denounced it. It is widely believed that these atrocities are being committed by a group of the Shiite militia.

This sounds very much like the notices posted in Sadr City and Baya, which listed the names of local "emo" kids and gave them four days to adopt hairstyles less offensive to God. 

Vice Magazine has reported on the anti-LGBT crackdown in Iraq, and posted a picture of an alleged victim of the gay purge. It depicts the same dead "emo" boy pictured above.

So -- which is it? Are Shi'ia thugs killing emos, gays, or both? Do they know the difference?

'Emo' Kids Stoned To Death In Iraq

In February, Iraq's Interior Ministry denounced the music and fashions known collectively as "emo" as Satanic. Shortly thereafter, leaflets began appearing in Shi'ite neighborhoods around Baghdad -- Sadr City, Baya -- bearing the names of local "emo" kids, urging them to give up their depravity and get right with God. A sample text:

We strongly warn you, to all the obscene males and females, if you will not leave this filthy work within four days the punishment of God will descend upon you at the hand of the Mujahideen.

The Mujahideen weren't joking. Those four allotted days expired at the end of the month. Since then, according to the AP:

At least 14 bodies of youths have been brought to three hospitals in eastern Baghdad bearing signs of having been beaten to death with rocks or bricks, security and hospital sources told Reuters under condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Nine bodies were brought to hospitals in Sadr City, a vast, poor Shi'ite neighborhood, three were brought to East Baghdad's main al-Kindi hospital and two were brought to the central morgue, medical sources said.

Six other young people, including two girls, were wounded in beatings intended as warnings, the security sources said.

Leading Shi'ia clerics, even very crazy ones, have spoken out against the stonings, as has the Interior Ministry. From the AP:

... on his website on Saturday, Moqtada al-Sadr, a Shi'ite cleric whose followers dominate Sadr City, described "emo" youths as "crazy and fools", but said they should be dealt with only through the law.

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

More on the Reported Surge in Anti-Gay Violence in Iraq

A few days ago there was a report from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission "of a wave of targeted killings of individuals who are perceived to be gay or lesbian." According to the group more than 40 individuals have been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in a new surge of violence.

VICE magazine spoke to Ali Hili, a gay Iraqi living in London who started the group Iraqi LGBT about the reports. They were provided with an unauthenticated document Hili says shows that the Iraqi Ministry of Interior is authorizing such killings:

Though I have no way of verifying the document's authenticity, a translator tells me that it reads:

"It has been decided to form a yellow cell to ensure the elimination of the so-called homosexuals and will start its tasks in our known areas to stir chaos starting from Al-Karrada district. To accomplish the missions with absolute secrecy please use the transmission code 115/1/4"

The Badr Organisation – whose name is at the top of the cheery memo – used to function as a militia supporting a Shi'a political group called the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. Since the 2003 Allied invasion of the country, the official line is that its members have gone legit, and now only pick up guns on behalf of government security forces.

VICE has an interview with Hili about the situation there.

Meanwhile, activist Scott Long has been digging into the story as well, and reports that the government is also targeting "Emo" kids: "They’re kids addicted to weird music; they’re girls with earrings in strange places, or guys with their hair too long. In the midst of a moral panic galvanizing a demoralized and degraded country, these adolescents become the emblems of evil and the aliens to be extirpated."

Report: 40 People Kidnapped, Tortured, Murdered in Surge of Anti-Gay Violence in Iraq

Via press release from the IGLHRC:

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has today received reports from Iraq of a wave of targeted killings of individuals who are perceived to be gay or lesbian. According to Iraqi human rights activists, in early February 2012, an unidentified group posted death threats against "the adulterous individuals" in the pre-dominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Basra. The threats gave the individuals, whose names and ages were listed, four days to stop their behavior or else face the wrath of God, and were to be carried out by the Mujahedin. According to sources inside Iraq, as the result of this new surge of anti-gay violence close to 40 people have been kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered. The Iraqi authorities have neither responded to this targeted violence nor have they publically denounced it. It is widely believed that these atrocities are being committed by a group of the Shiite militia.

Said Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, in a statement:

Today the Government of Iraq represents a fully sovereign and democratic country. As such, it must protect all of its citizens including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from hate-filled violence and death at the hands of armed militias. Vigilantes who perpetuate the targeted killing of those perceived to be gay or lesbian must not be tolerated in a new Iraq. We have seen these atrocities before. In 2009 vigilantes murdered hundreds of Iraqi individuals for their perceived sexual orientation. There are no excuses for such heinous human rights violations. We demand that the Iraqi Government put a stop to the wanton persecution and killing of gay people, and that the perpetrators punished.   

Obviously, we'll be on the lookout for any further developments or confirmation...

NEWS: Google Spies, Cheney Betrays, Preacher Molests, Spielberg Loses: VIDEO

 In a week, Google will begin to store records of all your Googlings. Here's how to clear your Google records before it happens.

 The Family Research Council is angry with Dick Cheney for supporting marriage equality. Apparently his duty should be to them, not his daughter:

In 2000, Dick Cheney might have considered Philadelphia’s most famous son, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s own son was the royal Governor of New Jersey. It was a patronage job Ben had secured for him. When his son remained loyal to the Crown, Benjamin Franklin did not refuse to sign the Declaration of Independence citing a “personal situation.” That’s one of the many reasons why we remember Ben Franklin with admiration and respect.

Dick Cheney is said to be worth hundreds of millions. His family may not suffer the devastation that comes from the breakdown of marriage. But in his recent book, Coming Apart, Charles Murray shows how the loss of marriage for the white working class in America has already had catastrophic consequences. If we seek the reason behind the great disparities in wealth that the Occupy crowd is howling about, we need look no further than the collapse of marriage. In this great cultural clash, Dick Cheney has enlisted with the forces of dissolution.

 Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire calls Obama the "inspiration" for Washington marriage equality:

"I think we probably have succeeded as much as we have because of his leadership. He's used the bully pulpit," Gregoire said at the White House Friday. "He's been the inspiration that allowed the state of Washington recognize that we need to have equality."

"It's because of what he's been able to do that I actually think in large part we were able to achieve what we did. So I don't criticize. To the contrary, I thank the president for his leadership on GLBT issues," she told reporters after a meeting between Obama and Democratic governors.

 Once again, Rick Santorum's old utterances make news:

In remarks last year at the College of Saint Mary Magdalen in Warner, N.H., Santorum had told the crowd of J.F.K.’s famous 1960 address [on the separation of church and state] to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, “Earlier in my political career, I had the opportunity to read the speech, and I almost threw up. You should read the speech.”

 Fez of The Ron and Fez Show comes out.

 Lucy Lawless arrested in oil ship protest.

 Six simple animations explain the basics of critical thought.

 Teller: What magicians and neuroscientists do and do npt have in common.

 A preacher plead guilty to "lewd conduct" and "lewd molestation," and is no longer allowed to interact with minors. So the church where he preaches did the honorable thing: It banned kids.

 Identified: The remains of the last unaccounted-for service member in Iraq. He was a translator:

The remains of Staff Sgt. Ahmed al-Taie, who was 41 when militiamen seized him on Oct. 23, 2006, were positively identified at the military's mortuary in Dover, Del., the Army said in a statement released Sunday. Army officials said they had no further details about the circumstances surrounding his death or the discovery of his remains.

 (Reading this makes me remember a bone-chilling feature by George Packer about the difficulties faced by Iraqi translators during the war. Definitely one of last decade's best pieces of journalism. It was called "Betrayed." If you haven't read it, find it here.)

 ... and if that depresses you, watch this full-screen, in HD if possible. Music, stars, and time. Beautiful.

 It's Oscar night. Your favorite films probably aren't nominated. The Academy is often crazy. AFTER THE JUMP, watch Steven Spielberg learn he's been snubbed for Jaws.