Persecution of gay and bisexual men by the so-called Islamic State
Violence against LGBT people is part of the ideology of ISIL, which mandates capital punishment for homosexuality within its territory, in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
LGBT rights in Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
Illegal: Islamic law (sharīʿa) is applied
Execution, imprisonment, lashings, fines, vigilante tortures, beatings, honor killings and vigilante executions.
No
No
No
No recognition of same-sex relationships
No
Documented executions in ISIL-controlled territory[edit]
On November 23, 2014, ISIL fighters stoned to death a 20-year-old unidentified man in Mayadin, 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.[5][6]
On April 30, 2015, it was reported that three men, accused of being homosexual, were executed by being shot in the head by the ISIL in Derna, Libya. Human rights activists consider this the first death sentence against homosexuals in the history of modern Libya.[7]
From December 9, 2014, to May 7, 2016, OutRight Action International estimated that 41 gay men were executed in ISIL controlled territories in Iraq and Syria.[8]
On July 22, 2016, it was reported by activists that ISIL executed a young Iraqi man in Kirkuk, Iraq, by throwing him from the top of a building on charges of being gay. His corpse was later stoned by the crowd. ISIL arrested the man under the pretext that he was a homosexual.[9]
On August 10, 2016, a video was released by ISIL showing ISIL religious police, known as "hisbah", in "Wilayat al-Jazirah", Iraq, which shows a gay man being thrown off a building. According to the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, Wilayat al-Jazirah used to be considered part of Wilayat Ninawa, which contains Mosul. Vulnerable cities in Wilayat al-Jazirah include "Tal 'Afar, Al-Ba'aj, Al-'Ayadiyyah, Al-Mahlabiyyah, Sinjar, Wardiyyah, Sanuni, Khana Sor, Ibrat al-Saghira, Al-Badi, Al-Qanat."[10]
On August 20, 2016, a local source in Nineveh province, Iraq, revealed that ISIL executed four men on charges of homosexuality and sodomy, including two of its own members, by throwing them off a building.[11]
On December 5, 2016, ISIL threw a gay man accused of 'homosexual relations' off top of a building in Maslamah City in Aleppo, Syria.[12]
On January 9, 2017, a 17-year-old male was arrested and thrown off a building by the Diwan al-Hisba in Mosul under the pretext that he was "a homosexual".[13][14]
On March 27, 2017, IS Diwan al-Hisbah published photos showing a gay man being thrown off a roof and being stoned to death for being gay in Mosul.[15]