UN Security Council Tackles ISIS Violence in First-Ever LGBT Rights Meeting
The United Nations Security Council on Monday discussed the atrocities gays and lesbians suffer under ISIS occupation, as the body tackled a gay-rights issue for the first time in its 70-year history.
The terror group, which controls large swaths of territory across Iraq and Syria, tortures and executes men suspected of being attracted to members of their own sex, Syrian refugee Subhi Nahas told the council in a closed-door informal meeting, which was not attended by members Angola and Chad, according to Reuters.
"This was to be my fate, too," Nahas recalled. "I was terrified to go out. Nor was my home safe, as my father, who suspiciously monitored my every move, had learned I was gay. I bear a scar on my chin as a token of his rage," the refugee added.
ISIS, which is known for its brutal treatment of local residents and foreign captives, recently threw nine men it had charged with homosexuality from a tall building in the city of Mosul, an unnamed source told Iraqi News. Militants belonging to the terror group "rounded up a number of citizens in the city to see the implementation of the judgment of the so-called Shariah judge," the source explained.
Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, an Iraqi man identified only as Adnan told the Security Council that he, too, feared for his life.
"In my society, being gay means death -- and when (ISIS) kills gays most people are happy because they think we are evil, and (ISIS) gets a good credit for that," he explained. "My own family turned against me when (ISIS) was after me."
Despite the grim subject of the body's meeting, Samantha Power, the United States' permanent representative to the United Nations, noted that Monday marked a "historic" day in the international organization's history.
"This is the first time in history that the Council has held a meeting on the victimization of [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] persons," Power said. "It is the first time we are saying, in a single voice, that it is wrong to target people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity."
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), meanwhile, echoed Power's remarks, but warned that "world governments (must) act urgently to protect people targeted by extremist persecution and cruel acts in Iraq and Syria."
The IGLHRC released a video documenting the number of alleged killings of gay men in ISIS-controlled areas. The UN believes at least 30 men have been executed under suspicion of homosexuality since June 2014.
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