Posts Tagged ‘Iraq’
Iraq: Anti-LGBT Law before Parliament.
Islamist Bigotry in Iraq.
Human Rights Watch.
Death Penalty for Same-Sex Conduct; Imprisonment for Transgender Expression.
The Iraqi government should immediately withdraw a proposed law currently before parliament that would impose the death penalty for same-sex conduct and imprisonment for transgender expression, Human Rights Watch said today. If adopted, the bill would violate fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, privacy, equality, and nondiscrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT) in Iraq.
The bill reviewed by Human Rights Watch equates same-sex relations with “sexual perversion,” which it defines as “repeated sexual relations between members of the same sex … if occurring more than three times.” The law also provides for seven years in prison and a fine between 10 million Iraqi dinars (US$7,700) and 15 million dinars ($11,500) for “promoting homosexuality,” which is undefined.
The bill specifically targets transgender women, with a prison term between one and three years or with a fine between 5 million dinars ($3,800) and 10 million dinars ($7,700) for anyone who “imitates women.” The law defines “imitating women” as “wearing makeup and women’s clothing” or “appearing as women” in public spaces.
The bill prohibits hormone replacement therapy and what it calls “sex change” based on personal desire, as well as any attempt to change one’s gender identity, punishable by prison terms between one and three years. The same penalty applies to any surgeon or other doctor who performs gender-affirming surgery. The law makes an intersex exception for cases that require a surgical intervention to confirm biological sex, based on the binary categories of male and female.
On August 8, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission issued a directive ordering all media outlets to replace the term “homosexuality” with “sexual deviance” in their published and broadcast language and banning use of the term “gender.”
On May 31, a court in the Kurdistan region of Iraq ordered the closure of Rasan Organization, a human rights organization in the Kurdistan Region, over “its activities in the field of homosexuality.”
More Islamist Bigotry in Iraq.
UK “formally acknowledges” “acts of genocide” committed against the Yazidis by the Islamic State (ISIS).
ISIS Genociders.
The UK has today formally acknowledged that acts of genocide were committed against the Yazidi people by Daesh in 2014. UK Govt.
The Minister of State for the Middle East Lord Ahmad made the announcement ahead of events marking the 9-year anniversary of atrocities committed by Daesh against the Yazidi people.
Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord Ahmad, said:
The Yazidi population suffered immensely at the hands of Daesh 9 years ago and the repercussions are still felt to this day. Justice and accountability are key for those whose lives have been devastated.
Today we have made the historic acknowledgement that acts of genocide were committed against the Yazidi people. This determination only strengthens our commitment to ensuring that they receive the compensation owed to them and are able to access meaningful justice.
The UK will continue to play a leading role in eradicating Daesh, including through rebuilding communities affected by its terrorism and leading global efforts against its poisonous propaganda.
The UK’s position has always been that determinations of genocide should be made by competent courts, rather than by governments or non-judicial bodies. This determination has been made following the judgment of the German Federal Court of Justice earlier this year, where it found a former Daesh fighter guilty of acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Iraq.
The UK officially acknowledges 5 instances where genocide has occurred: the Holocaust, Rwanda, Srebrenica and acts of genocide in Cambodia and against the Yazidi people.
During his visit to Iraq earlier this year, including to the Kurdistan region, Lord Ahmad also welcomed progress with the passage of the Yazidi Survivors Law, which will provide reparations to survivors. He underlined the UK’s commitment to helping Iraq fully implement the law and ensure that survivors receive full support and access to justice.
A commemoration event, which is being held in Baghdad, has been organised by Yazidi civil society organisations and will welcome international stakeholders. The UK’s Ambassador to Iraq, Steve Hitchen, will attend and confirm the UK’s announcement.
The decision comes days before the ninth anniversary of the crimes that were perpetrated by the terror group also known as ISIS or Daesh.
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Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority viewed as infidels by IS extremists.
In August 2014, IS carried out a massive attack on Sinjar, once home to the largest Yazidi community in the world. At least 5,000 Yazidis, mostly men and boys, were killed during the attack on the northern Iraqi city.
IS then kidnapped thousands of Yazidi children and women, who subsequently were used as sex slaves and child soldiers. More than 2,000 of them are still missing.
Yazidi activists welcomed the move by Britain, saying this could help alleviate their suffering years after IS was militarily defeated in Iraq and Syria.
“Thousands died, thousands more were enslaved and so many of us are displaced and traumatized. I hope this step … brings us closer to justice,” tweeted Nadia Murad, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was kidnapped by IS in 2014.
Zara Saleh, a London-based Kurdish affairs analyst, said the decision came after years of intensive lobbying by the Yazidi community.
“This means the British government will dedicate more resources to try to hold ISIS criminals accountable for their crimes against Yazidis, Kurds and other ethnic and religious groups in Iraq and Syria,” Saleh told VOA.
A United Nations team in 2021 determined that IS atrocities against Yazidis constituted genocide.
In 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution acknowledging that IS was perpetrating genocide against Yazidis and Christians. In 2018, the U.S. Congress passed the Iraq and Syria Genocide and Relief and Accountability Act.
Pope Francis Makes a Welcome and Courageous Visit to Iraq.
A Visit That Resonates Around the World.
Iraq has these last days seen a welcome visit by Pope Francis. He stood for the cause of humanity against sectarian murders, the religious cleansing of well over a million Christians from the land, and the actions of the genociders of Deash, whose killings aand slavery of the Yezidis will never be forgotten. Pope Francis acted with courage. It is good to see that religious Muslim religious figures in Iraq stood with him.
This is a historic event that sends a message of hope across the world.
People of all faiths, and none, progressives of all sides, stand by Pope Francis.
The Pope paid special attention to the victims of Islamist genocide, the Yazidis.
This meeting will be welcomed in many different religious communities.
Today,
Pope Francis condemned violent religious extremism Saturday during an interfaith prayer service at the site of the ancient city of Ur, where the Prophet Abraham is thought to have been born.
Francis travelled to the ruins of Ur in southern Iraq to reinforce his message of inter-religious tolerance and fraternity during the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, a country riven by religious and ethnic divisions.
“We believers cannot be silent when terrorism abuses religion,” he told the congregation, which included members of religious minorities persecuted under the Islamic State group’s three-year rule of much of northern Iraq.
The pope urged Iraq’s Muslim and Christian religious leaders to put aside animosities and work together for peace and unity.
“This is true religiosity: to worship God and to love our neighbour,” he told the gathering.
This is a welcome reaction:
Tendance Coatesy 