Human rights in ISIL-controlled territory

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The state of human rights in territories controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has been criticised by many political, religious and other organisations and individuals. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has stated that ISIL "seeks to subjugate civilians under its control and dominate every aspect of their lives through terror, indoctrination, and the provision of services to those who obey".[1]

UN determinations[edit]

In November 2014 the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said that ISIL was committing crimes against humanity.[2][3] Speaking of ISIL's methods, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has stated that the group "seeks to subjugate civilians under its control and dominate every aspect of their lives through terror, indoctrination, and the provision of services to those who obey".[1]

Statements of human rights groups[edit]

A report by Human Rights Watch in November 2014 accused ISIL militants in Libya's Derna of war crimes and human rights abuses and of terrorizing residents. Human Rights Watch documented three apparent incidents in which captives were killed and at least ten public floggings by the Islamic Youth Shura Council, which joined ISIL in November. It also documented the beheading of three Derna residents and dozens of seemingly politically-motivated assassinations of judges, public officials, members of the security forces and others. Sarah Leah Watson, Director of HRW Middle East and North Africa, said: "Commanders should understand that they may face domestic or international prosecution for the grave rights abuses their forces are committing."[4]

Amnesty International has held ISIL responsible for the ethnic cleansing of ethnic and religious minority groups in northern Iraq on a "historic scale". It issued a special report in late 2014 describing how ISIL has "systematically targeted non-Arab and non-Sunni Muslim communities, killing or abducting hundreds, possibly thousands, and forcing more than 830,000 others to flee the areas it has captured since 10 June 2014". Among these people are Assyrian Christians, Turkmen Shia, Shabak Shia, Yazidis, Kaka'i and Sabean Mandeans, who have lived together for centuries in Nineveh province, large parts of which are now under ISIL's control.[5][6]

LGBT rights[edit]

Laws regarding same-sex sexual activity[edit]

Law enforcement in ISIL controlled areas purport to carry out punishments that are in accordance with Sharia law. They interpret this as meaning that homosexuals caught engaging in a same-sex affairs should be thrown from rooftops. If the person does not die on impact then they should be stoned to death.[7][8]

In some areas beheading is used due to a lack of tall buildings for the accused to be thrown from.[9]

ISIL has published a list of offenses that will result in automatic execution, including homosexuality.[10]

Executions[edit]

On March 31, 2014, Ab Issa Al-Andalusi, an ISIL fighter, in a video compared gays to drug dealers and pedophiles and calling them the "worst of creatures" and "animals."[11]

On November 23, 2014, ISIL fighters stoned to death a 20-year-old unidentified man in Mayadeen, Syria and fighters stoned to death an 18-year-old unidentified man in Deir Ezzor, Syria. The men were known opponents of ISIL, and their supporters say ISIL had used the allegation that they were gay as justification to execute them. This was the first reported execution of LGBT people by ISIL.[12][13]

On December 10, 2014, believed to be somewhere in northern Iraq, the Islamic court found a unidentified man guilty of "practicing sodomy." Heavily armed, balaclava clad fighters read the judgement which said the man who was found guilty of being gay, should be thrown off the highest point in the city. The Islamic court ruled that he should also be stoned to death. After the conviction, fighters dragging the man to the top of a building and threw him off. It is not known whether the man died instantly after being thrown from the roof. A statement issued on a Jihadist website was accompanied by photos of the man as he was being thrown from what appears to be a two- or three-story building. The statement read, "The Islamic court in Wilayet al-Furat [a frontier land straddling Syria and Iraq] decided that a man who has practiced sodomy must be thrown off the highest point in the city."[14][15]

On January 15, 2015, photographs of Islamic State fighters in what appears to be Mosul, Iraq, threw two unidentified blindfolded men off a building because they were believed to be gay.[16]

On March 4, 2015, photographs of ISIL fighters in what appears to be Raqqa, Syria, threw one young unidentified blindfolded man off a building because they were believed to be gay. A crowd gathered in the city to watch.[17]

On June 3, 3015, photographs were released showing ISIL fighters throwing three unidentified men off a 100-foot building in Mosul, Iraq. The photos were released via social media and in a report by the terror group entitled, “Implementation of the Punishment of Those Who Have Committed Acts of Homosexuality” on the jihadist online forum Shumoukh Al-Islam, according to the research group. The terror group also recently has employed "flirt squads," in which militants pose as homosexuals in an attempt to lure gay men out into the open for death by public execution.[18]

On June 26, 2015, photographs of ISIL fighters, in the Al Anbar Governorate, threw four unidentified blindfolded men head-first off a fourth-storey building for "being gay" as a massive crowd watched and shouted "Allahu Akbar." On Twitter, several Islamists twitted out the hashtag #LoveWins.[19][20]

On July 24, 2015, photographs, in what is believed to be Homs Syria, showed ISIL fighters throwing two unidentified blindfolded men being thrown from the roof of a building, before their crumpled bodies are stoned to death.[21]

On August 14, 2015, a video was purportedly released by ISIL shows fighters reading charges against the two unidentified men accused of homosexuality being thrown from a building and stoned by a crowd once they hit the ground. A crowd of men wait below and once their bodies hit the ground, they stone them. Afterwards they wash both bodies and prepare them for burial.[22]

Summary table[edit]

Same-sex sexual activity legal No (Penalty: Death penalty)
Equal age of consent No
Anti-discrimination laws in employment only No
Anti-discrimination laws in the provision of goods and services No
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas (Incl. indirect discrimination, hate speech) No
Same-sex marriages No
Recognition of same-sex couples No
Step-child adoption by same-sex couples No
Joint adoption by same-sex couples No
Gays and lesbians allowed to serve openly in the military No
Right to change legal gender No
Access to IVF for lesbians No
Commercial surrogacy for gay male couples No
MSMs allowed to donate blood No

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Rule of Terror: Living under ISIS in Syria" (PDF). United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Retrieved 29 November 2014. 
  2. ^ Staff writer, "ISIS accused of crimes against humanity," Al Arabiya, 14 November 2014
  3. ^ Nina Larson, "UN probe: ISIS committing 'crimes against humanity' in Syria," The Daily Star, 14 November 2014
  4. ^ "Libya: Extremists Terrorizing Derna Residents". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 28 November 2014. 
  5. ^ "Iraq crisis: Islamic State accused of ethnic cleansing". BBC News. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014. 
  6. ^ "DOCUMENT – IRAQ: ETHNIC CLEANSING ON HISTORIC SCALE: THE ISLAMIC STATE'S SYSTEMATIC TARGETING OF MINORITIES IN NORTHERN IRAQ". Amnesty International. September 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014. 
  7. ^ Steve Robson (28 February 2015). "Sick ISIS killers blindfold 'gay' man, throw him from roof then stone his corpse". mirror. Retrieved 15 April 2015. 
  8. ^ "ISIS Hurls Gay Men Off Buildings, Stones Them: Analysts". NBC News. Retrieved 15 April 2015. 
  9. ^ "Blindfolded men are beheaded by ISIS executioner in Iraq - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online. Retrieved 15 April 2015. 
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ Report: Former Arsenal Football Player Joins Syria Jihad, Calls upon Westerners to Follow Suit. YouTube. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  12. ^ "ISIS stones 2 ‘gay men’ to death in Syria: observer". alarabiya.net. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  13. ^ "Reports: ISIS Executes Two Gay Men In First Antigay Attacks". advocate.com. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  14. ^ "ISIS throws man off roof to his death for being gay in Iraq - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  15. ^ "Another 'Gay' Man Thrown From Building, Stoned to Death by ISIS". advocate.com. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  16. ^ "In Graphic Photos and On Twitter, ISIS Members Record and Tout Executions of Gays - The Daily Beast". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  17. ^ "ISIS barbarians throw 'gay' man off building in another sickening day in Raqqa - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  18. ^ Perry Chiaramonte. "Death Plunge: ISIS throws gay men off buildings under guise of Sharia law". Fox News. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  19. ^ "ISIS execute gay men by pushing them off a fourth-storey building in Iraq - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  20. ^ Jim Hoft. "ISIS Celebrates Gay Love by Tossing 4 Gays from Roof of Building". The Gateway Pundit. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  21. ^ Tom Batchelor. "Islamic State murder 'gay' men by throwing off building and stoning bodies - World - News - Daily Express". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2015. 
  22. ^ Sam Prince. "WATCH: ISIS Throws 2 ‘Gay Men’ Off Roof & Stones Them". Heavy.com. Retrieved 26 September 2015.