By Latoyia Kimbrough
According to an article found on the care to make a difference website recently Iraqi authorities have convicted over 100 prisoners because they are LGBT and are planning to execute them in batches of 20. This has not yet been confirmed but supporters are warning this may just be the tip of a horrific iceberg. Being gay is illegal in Iraq but it seems that LGBT Iraqis have suffered even more because many in the Middle East perceive homosexuality to be a mainly Western trait that came along with the invasion of Iraq. This is a trait that many religious leaders in the area are passionate in warning against and pursuing the eradication of. But this is not an issue solely confined to Iraqi LGBTs anymore. Men who adopt a Western style of dress and appearance, with shaved faces and short hair, are being labeled as homosexuals. Also in the more affluent areas of Iraq where coffee shops and other more Western style businesses have opened are being branded as gay hotspots. According to Ali Hili, a member of the IRAQI-LGBT many of their members are being held and since 2005, 17 members were killed. He also told of a steady increase in death sentences since august of 2004 and exposed that in 2006, 65 people were put to death, in 2007 approximately 199 people given the death penalty and in 2008 at least 285 people were given the sentence at the same time as 34 others were known to have actually been executed. Mr. Hili stated that Iraqi authorities have also refused to disclose the identities of those being detained on crimes of homosexuality or convicted thereof, raising serious doubts as to whether those trials even met with international standards of a fair trial. Mr. Hili is calling out to the UK Government and all other Governments that will listen to help stop these terrible events from occurring. They have started a petition which can be found on the website.
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