Hit list on gays in Iraq raises alarm,58 killed in 6 weeks

A recent list distributed by militants in Baghdad’s Shia Sadr City neighbourhood gives the names or nicknames of 33 people and their home addresses. At the top of the paper are a drawing of two handguns flanking a Quranic greeting that extolls God as merciful and compassionate. Then follows a chilling warning. “We warn in the strongest terms to every male and female debauchee,’’ the Shia militia hit list says. “If you do not stop this dirty act within four days,then the punishment of God will fall on you at the hands of Mujahideen.’’

All but one of the targets are men. It’s not clear why the killings have stepped up in recent months. Like many places in the Muslim world,homosexuality is extremely taboo in Iraq.

Emo is short for “emotional’’ and in the West generally identifies teens or young adults who listen to alternative music,dress in black,and have radical hairstyles. Emos are not necessarily gay,but to Iraqis,“Emo’’ is widely synonymous with “gay.’’

In the southern Baghdad neighbourhood of Dora,a mostly-Sunni area,35-year-old Hassan is afraid to leave his home. He plans on cutting his shoulder-length hair soon,but fears that his hormone-injected breast enhancements will be detected if he is stopped and patted down. “Today I went out of my house with a friend but we were severely harassed,some people told us that we need the double blocks,’’ said Hassan,referring to the cement blocks that attackers use to beat people. “I was scared so we returned home to hide.’’

The killings have drawn so much attention that even hardline Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr weighed in Saturday,calling Emos “crazy fools’’ and a “lesion on the Muslim community’’. However,al-Sadr did not condone the violence,telling his followers “to end the scourge of Emo within the law.’’

Iraq’s government has been wary about the Emo allure among its youth for months. An August 2011 letter from the Education Ministry urges schools to crack down on what it considered abhorrent behaviour.