Iraqi LGBT is a human rights organisation established in September 2005 after the rise of wave of violence against the Lgbt community in Iraq, we felt this is our responsibility to stand up and start an action to alert the world on this genocide , with members working secretly undercover in Iraq, the UK and other countries.
LGBT persons have always suffered discrimination in Iraq, as is the case throughout the wider Arab Nation.
Since the 2003 invasion and occupation, however, LGBT persons have faced an unprecedented level of persecution. They now comprise one of Iraq’s most endangered minorities.
Homosexuality is both criminalized and widely considered immoral in Iraq, and the fragmented legal system will neither protect LGBT persons against attacks nor investigate killings due to sexual orientation. In 2001 the 1990 Iraqi Penal Code (IPC) was amended to make homosexuality a criminal offense punishable by death. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has begun reporting on assassinations and disappearances of LGBT persons, and issued a specific statement in their December human rights report:
“The current environment of impunity and lawlessness invites a heightened level of insecurity for homosexuals in Iraq… Armed Islamic groups and militias have been known to be particularly hostile towards homosexuals, frequently and openly engaging in violent campaigns against them.”
In response to the UNAMI human rights report, Iraqi Interior Minister Ali al al-Dabbagh specifically rejected UN protestations about the killing of homosexuals:
“There was information in the report that we cannot accept here in Iraq. The report, for example, spoke about the phenomenon of homosexuality and giving them their rights. Such statements are not suitable to the Iraqi society. This is rejected. They should respect the values and traditions here in Iraq.”
In many cities in southern and central Iraq, political parties and local tribal leaders have established Islamic courts in order to impose a politicized version of Iraqi “values and traditions.” These courts function outside the formal judicial system, but are often linked to police and local governance through the political parties. The Islamic courts first came into existence in 1999, when Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, Muqtada al-Sadr’s father, established them clandestinely in Baghdad’s slums, as an alternate and parallel system to the Ba’ath Party judicial system. Islamic courts flourished after the 2003 war, and are now common in the Shia’ areas of Iraq. (Insurgent groups in Sunni areas hold similar “trials” for those accused of un-Islamic activities.)
Find out more about our origins and who we are, what we do and how you can help.