Armed groups in Iraq abduct, rape, torture, and kill lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, with impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today with IraQueer. The 86-page report, “‘Everyone Wants Me Dead’: Killings, Abductions, Torture, and Sexual Violence Against LGBT People by Armed Groups in Iraq,” documents cases of attempted murder of LGBT people by armed groups primarily within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which are nominally under the prime minister’s authority.
“LGBT Iraqis live in constant fear of being hunted down and killed by armed groups with impunity, as well as arrest and violence by Iraqi police, making their lives unlivable,” said Rasha Younes, LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Iraqi government has done nothing to stop the violence or hold the abusers accountable.” Human Rights Watch and IraQueer, an Iraqi LGBT rights group, interviewed 54 LGBT Iraqis who have experienced violence by armed groups and police. Those interviewed had experienced abuse in Baghdad and other cities in Iraq as well as in the Kurdistan region. The groups found that LGBT people’s ability and willingness to report abuses they face to the police or file complaints against law enforcement agents are impeded by a combination of loosely defined “morality” clauses in Iraq’s Penal Code, and the absence of reliable complaint systems and legislation protecting them from discrimination. This has created an environment in which armed government actors, including the police, can abuse LGBT people with impunity, the groups found.
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