UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
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According to officials at the Human Rights Ministry, the Government of Iraq requires more<br />
time to respond to human rights abuses of homosexual Iraqis due to the highly sensitive<br />
nature of the issue. 695 The Ministry of Human Rights reports that “honour killings” are<br />
common when family members are believed to be gay, and a Baghdad-based lawyers’<br />
association reported fifteen cases of “honour killings” of homosexuals in Baghdad over the<br />
previous two years alone. 696 Ibrahim Daud, a family lawyer in Baghdad who has been<br />
involved in nearly 65 cases of honour killings involving gay men, said, “killing for honour<br />
has been a common practice for years, and a short prison sentence for the killer is<br />
common.” 697<br />
The fear of ostracism, “honour killings” and militia targeting is also forcing many young<br />
Iraqi gays into the sex trade, as organized gangs use the threat of exposure to coerce Iraqi<br />
gays into working for them. 698 In addition, economic pressures in Iraq, where 48% of youth<br />
are unemployed, have led to a sharp increase in male commercial sex workers, despite the<br />
high risk of death at the hands of their families or armed groups. The Iraqi Ministry of<br />
Labour and Social Affairs has made efforts to address the commercial sex trade, but<br />
remains under-resourced to address the issue. 699<br />
Targeted violence against Iraq’s LGBT community goes largely unpunished, along with<br />
status-based and honour killing, kidnapping and forcible coercion into prostitution. 700<br />
Police are unlikely to provide protection and gay Iraqis report frequent abuse, harassment<br />
and misconduct by police, including “blackmail, torture, sexual abuse and theft.” 701<br />
Torture and mistreatment of civilians and detainees by Iraqi police is common, including<br />
sodomy and sexual brutality as a means of torture. 702 Further, while sodomy is not a<br />
criminal offence in Iraq, UNAMI’s Human Rights Office has received reports of Iraqis held<br />
without charge for extended periods in criminal detention facilities for allegedly engaging<br />
in acts of sodomy, including a minor child. 703<br />
3. Persons Accused of “Un-Islamic” Behaviour<br />
As part of the ongoing stricter interpretation and implementation of Islamic values and<br />
traditions in Iraq, persons that appear not to dress or behave in accordance with Islamic<br />
rules have been subjected to discrimination, threats, kidnappings, mutilation and killings.<br />
695<br />
IRIN, Iraq: Male homosexuality still a taboo, 5 February 2006, http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?<br />
ReportId=26110.<br />
696<br />
Ibid.<br />
697<br />
Ibid.<br />
698<br />
Ibidem, Iraq: Focus on boys trapped in commercial sex trade, 8 August 2005, http://www.irinnews.org/<br />
Report.aspx?ReportId=25350. UNAMI HRO reported that two minors, eleven-year-old Ameer and fourteenyear-old<br />
Ahmed, who had reportedly been forced into child prostitution, were killed for their sexual<br />
orientation; see UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 26, see above footnote 10.<br />
699<br />
Ibid.<br />
700<br />
Jennifer Copeland, Persecution of Iraq’s Gay Community, More4News.com, 8 August 2006,<br />
http://www.channel4.com/more4/news/news-opinion-feature.jsp?id=347.<br />
701<br />
IWPR, Baghdad Gays Fear for Their Lives, see above footnote 689.<br />
702<br />
HRW, The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody, January 2005 Vol. 17, No.<br />
1(D), http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/iraq0105/index.htm.<br />
703<br />
Information received from UNAMI HRO in February 2007.<br />
128