Iraq police abduct gays at gunpoint

T. Reid-Smith

Ten gay men have been abducted in Iraq and it is feared all of them may have been murdered. Five young activists from Iraqi LGBT, Amjad 27, Rafid 29, Hassan 24, Ayman 19 and Ali 21 were seized at gunpoint by Iraqi police while holding a secret meeting in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad on 9 November. They were communicating with Ali Hili, a British-based gay Iraqi Muslim who heads Iraqi LGBT and is Middle East spokesman for UK queer rights group Outrage. Hili said: For the last few months they had been documenting the killing of lesbians and gays, relaying details of homophobic executions to our office in London, and providing safe houses and support to queers fleeing the death squads.