CarnalNation

The Washington Blade reports that two gay refugees from Iraq have accused the United States military of executing gay Iraqis. The refugees, who have declined to use their real names, levelled the allegations during a Washington DC fundraiser held by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) on behalf of Helem, an LGBT aid organization based in Lebanon. During their presentation to approximately 80 stunned audience members, the two men showed photographs allegedly depicting U.S. soldiers preparing to execute gay Iraqis. Images of kneeling naked men chained together and beheaded corpses were also shown. One of the refugees, who uses the name "Hassam," said he had additional photographs showing actual executions, which he refused to show.

There has been a surge in anti-gay violence in Iraq in recent months, particularly in certain districts of Baghdad. Much of the violence has been carried out by Shia militias that have been incited by clerics. Hassam asserts that most of the anti-gay violence has been perpetrated by his fellow Iraqis, but he also maintains that members of the U.S. military have contributed to the anti-gay hostility. He further claims that one U.S. military unit displayed signs reading "Fuck Off Fags" in front of its barracks.

Members of the audience were reportedly both shocked and skeptical. When confronted by a Washington Blade reporter at the event, Hassam refused to turn over the photographs out of fear that their publication would incite further violence. Spokespeople from the Pentagon could not confirm any such allegations. Brad Luna, spokesperson for HRC, said, “We've been working since then to verify and corroborate the claim, but have not thus far been able to do so. We take this sort of allegation very seriously and will continue to monitor the situation.” Scott Long, director of the LGBT Rights Program for Human Rights Watch, just returned from a fact-finding and monitoring trip to the Middle East. "I have seen no indication in our research of any involvement of U.S. military personnel in targeted killings of gay Iraqis,” he said. “I have seen no evidence of these allegations.”

If U.S. military personnel perpetrated these alleged executions, it would constitute a violation of either international law under the Geneva Convention or the Uniform Code of Military Justice, depending on the circumstances of the alleged crimes. We urge the U.S. military to act swiftly to determine the validity of these allegations and to take appropriate measures based on their findings. We are watching.

[Via 365 Gay]