Welcome To Iraqi Lgbt

مثليي العراق




Donations only through PayPal our account: 

iraqilgbt@yahoo.co.uk




Iraqi Lgbt






iraqilgbt@yahoo.co.uk


Friends can send Donations to IRAQI LGBT:



The immediate urgent priority is to Support and donate Money to LGBT activists in Iraq in order to assist their efforts to help other Lesbians, Gay, Bisexuals and Trans Iraqi's facing death, persecution and systematic Targeting by the Iraqi Police, Badr and Sadr Militia and to raise awareness about the wave of homophobic murders in Iraq to the outside world. Funds raised will also help provide LGBTs under threat of killing with refuge in the safer parts of Iraq (including safe houses, food, electricity, medical help) and assist efforts help them seek refuge in neighbouring countries.



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العراق – يجب وقف نزيف الدم العراقي فورا



النظام العراقي الحاكم بدعم من قوى الاحتلال الامريكي والبريطاني هو المسؤول عن تفاقم وانتشار العنف الطائفي والمذهبي

غداة دخول قوات الاحتلال الى العراق انتشرت الفوضى والفساد وفقد اي احساس بالامن والامان لدى المواطن العراقي العادي.ومع ظهور الاحزاب الدينية المدعومة من قبل المرجعيات, وانتشار المليشيات وفرق الموت وتورط الاحزاب في قتل المواطنين وارتكاب الفظاعات من تطهير عرقي على الهوية والخلفية المذهبية .ولم تستثنى الاقليات الدينية والمذهبية واقليات اخرى مثل مثليي الجنس الذين تم قبولهم واثبتوا انسجامهم واندماجهم في المجتمع العراقي على مر الازمان وخصوصا في عهد النظام السابق.اما اليوم وبعد ظهور حكومات تستقي قراراتها من مرجعيات النجف, ولعل هيمنة رجال الدين في الحياة السياسية واليومية في الشارع والمشهد العراقي خير دليل على ما الى اليه العراق اليوم.
تم تأسيس منظمة مثليي العراق في شهر سبتمبر ٢٠٠٥ لوجود الحاجة الملحة لدعم الأقليات المثلية في العراق بعد الغزو الامريكي في عام ٢٠٠٣ وفقدان الامن والسلطة واختلال التوازن الامني والسياسي وتغير السلطة في العراق وتحول الدولة في العراق الى سيطرة الاحزاب الدينية على مقاليد الحكم وتاثير ذلك على المجتمع العراقي بصورة شاملة حيث بدأت الميليشيات المدعومة من الاحزاب والتيارات الدينية بالظهور على الساحة العراقية وفرض هيمنتها وسيطرتها وبالتالي ساطتها على المجتمع العراقي بأسلوب القوة والعنف والترهيب والقتل والتهجير ومما زاد ذلك عدم تدخل القوات الامريكية والحكومة العراقية لوقف نزيف الدم لاكثر من ست سنوات مضت.

Iraqi LGBT launch new website

Press Statement
For immediate use

Iraqi LGBT launch new website

London, June 10 - The human rights group Iraqi LGBT is launching a new website iraqilgbt.org.uk this Saturday June 12 from 9pm at Habibi Club in London.

Habibi Club is known as the 'best Middle Eastern LGBT club night' in London.

There will be snacks and lots of freebies.

The resident DJ Nikki Lucas will be playing the finest Rai’n’B, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Urban Desi and Balkan flavas, with special guests Sheerien (Uber Lingua Austraila) & Georgia (Hade,Notes,Yalla, Wotever World)

Snakeboy Sunny will be 'live and direct' on the dancefloor

Admission is £4 before 10pm, £6 till midnight, £7 After and there is free entry to Drag Artists

Start Time:	Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 9:00pm
End Time:	Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 3:00am
Location:	The Oak Bar
Street:	79 Green Lanes, Stoke Newington
	View Map

The website has been developed Pro Bono by Second Variety, "a web company with a difference", with particular thanks to Jamie Archer and Erez Odier, as well as Paul Canning and Matthew Heckart who have helped develop the website.

The website development has been made possible by funding received by the Netherlands-based group Hivos, the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation. Their support for Iraqi LGBT is now in its second year.

Hivos also help to support Iraqi LGBT's 'safe house' project, which shelters many lesbians, gay men and transgender people in Iraq from attack and potential murder.

ENDS


Information for editors

Iraqi LGBT is a human rights organisation with members inside Iraq and in exile. It provides safe houses for gays, lesbians and transgender people and has helped people escape into exile.
1. Iraqi LGBT has documented over 700 murders in Iraq.
More on Habibi Club London
More on Second Variety
2. More on Hivos

Iraqi LGBT extremely concerned by new plans for UK removals of refugees to Iraq

Asylum seekers from Iraq facing deportation from Britain. Left to right: Ali Namiq, Rahman Rasoul, anonymous refugee, Sirajadin Hosmadin Bahadin. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

Press statement

London, 4 June 2010 - The Iraqi LGBT group has today expressed its 'deep concern' about reports that the British Home Office is planning to return 100 Iraqi refugees to Baghdad Wednesday 9 June - despite a recent UK report saying this was not safe.

"This group will certainly contain deeply closeted gay people and they will be at extreme risk of torture and murder in Baghdad," said Group leader Ali Hili.

Iraqi LGBT say that the Iraqi government provide no security for gays - infact the opposite as its members have reported the involvement of both police and Interior Ministry forces in handing over gay people to militias with either their tortured bodies being subsequently discovered or them disappearing.

The group has just released new testimony about Iraqi government complicity on YouTube, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ts3PedvPrs

Said Hili, "the Western media is not reporting the level of violence continuing in Baghdad. Bombings and assassinations continue to happen almost daily - this is why the United Nations said it is unsafe to remove refugees to that city. The lack of reporting means that the Home Office think they can get away with this inhuman action."

Amnesty International said in April that there was evidence that members of the security forces and other authorities were encouraging the targeting of people suspected to be gay.

The report added that killers of gay men could find protection under the law, as it offers lenient sentences for those committing crimes with an “honourable motive”.

"We condemn the proposed removals by the British government and the Iraqi government's complicity. Many of these people are opponents of the regime and if returned will end up being killed."

It has been reported by the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) that the 100 refugees have been screened by UK Border Agency 'ambassadors' pretending to be Iraqi embassy representatives at a detention centre. Refugees have reported being threatened by those 'interviewing' them.

"We are very familiar with such threats," said Ali. "I and other members of our group in exile have faced this, as have our family members. Many of our members have been murdered in Iraq and we have had safe houses invaded and people massacred. If these people are removed many of them will also be murdered."

Iraqi LGBT has cataloged 738 murders in the past five years.

The group has backed the call by the IFIR for the British government to end what IFIR calls "this inhuman policy" of refugee removals to Iraq.

Notes for editors

1. Iraqi LGBT is a human rights organisation with members inside Iraq and in exile. It provides safe houses for gays, lesbians and transgender people and has helped people escape into exile.

2. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees campaigns for the rights of Iraqi refugees and against forcible deportations and detention.  The Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq campaigns against the forcible deportation and detention of Iraqi refugees.

3. The flight will be the first to Iraq since the 14th October, when ten people were deported to Baghdad and the thirty-three others on the plane were sent back by the Iraqi authorities.
See www.csdiraq.com for more information

4. At least four million Iraqis have been forced to flee either to another part of Iraq or abroad since the war began in 2003

5. According to Home Office figures, 632 people were forcibly deported to the KRG region in the north between 2005 and 2008. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees estimates that the figure, with the monthly charter flights deporting 50 people at a time since the beginning of 2009, currently stands at approximately 900.

6. Iraqi LGBT has worked with and supported the work of IFIR for several years.

• International Federation of Iraqi Refugees Iraqi refugees given tickets for deportation flight to Baghdad for Wednesday 9th June
• pinknews.co.uk: UK 'breaching UN rules' on returning gay asylum seekers
• Guardian: Failed Iraq asylum seekers screened for forced deportation

Video: Iraqi government complicity in anti-gay pogrom

Iraqi LGBT presents evidence of government forces actions against gays and transgender people in Iraq.

Testimony smuggled out of Iraq shows how police and Interior Ministry forces are terrorising LGBT people.

Event: Celebrate launch of new Iraqi LGBT website

Image via Wikipedia

HABIBI CLUB LONDON

BEST MIDDLE EASTERN LGBT CLUB NIGHT IN LONDON

COME and CELEBRATE the Launch of LGBT IRAQI SOLIDARITY GROUP web site
10% of door takings going to the LGBT Iraqi Solidarity Group.
There will be snacks and lots of freebies.

RESIDENT DJ NIKKI LUCAS will be playing the finest Rai’n’B, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Urban Desi and Balkan flavas, with special guests SHEERIEN (Uber Lingua Austraila) & GEORGIA (Hade,Notes,Yalla, Wotever World)

SNAKEBOY SUNNY will be live and direct on the dancefloor

SPREAD THE WORD AND SEE YOU THERE!!!

ADMISSION
£4 before 10pm, £6 till midnight, £7 After
Free entry to Drag Artists

Start Time:	Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 9:00pm
End Time:	Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 3:00am
Location:	The Oak Bar
Street:	79 Green Lanes, Stoke Newington
City/Town:	London, United Kingdom
	View Map

From Baghdad to Blantyre: Gays in Iraq express solidarity with gays in Malawi

Press statement

In a message from Baghdad, lesbians and gays living in hiding from death squads in that city have expressed their solidarity with the Malawian gay couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in Blantyre this week.

Their message reads:

"The Lgbt community inside Iraq would like to shows its solidarity and support for Tiwonge and Steven in Malawi."

بغداد ٢٠-٥-٢٠١٠

تستنكر منظمة مثيليي العراق بكافة اعضايها داخل وخارج العراق قرار الحبس الجائر بخصوص

"As the Lgbt community inside Iraq is suffering the most in the modern history of Iraq, we feel that our pain is similar, our enemy is one."

"Homophobia is the enemy all the Lgbt are facing. We call for action and solidarity and we call upon the Malawi government to immediately release the couple and issue an apology to the Lgbt community in Malawai."

Lesbians and gays in Iraq are supported by two safe houses run by Iraqi LGBT, a human rights organisation based in London.

The five year old organisation has previously run more safe houses but is unable to offer more support through safe houses or in most parts of the country due to lack of funding. Nevertheless, Iraqi LGBT has members throughout Iraq who try to support each other.

Iraqi LGBT also supports some refugees who it has helped flee to escape direct threats on their life. Threats have followed some of them outside Iraq. Leader Ali Hili moved house in London due to them and continues to receive regular threats.

The group has documented the violent deaths of over 700 lesbians, gays and transgender people in Iraq at the hands of militias and some government forces over the past five years.

No one has been prosecuted for these crimes and no action has been taken by the Iraqi government to offer any sort of protection for lesbians, gays and transgender people.

Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga were handed a 14 year jail sentence for homosexuality on Thursday in Blantyre, Malawi.

The sentence has been condemned by many governments. Human rights activist Peter Tatchell said: “Fourteen years with hard labour could kill Steven and Tiwonge. Malawi's prison conditions are appallingly unhealthy.”

“Detainees die in custody. Infectious diseases like TB are rife. Medical treatment is sub-standard. Food rations are very poor nutritional value; mostly maize porridge, beans and water, causing malnutrition. After only five months behind bars, Steven has been seriously ill and has not received proper medical treatment.”

Iraqi LGBT takes part in International Day against Homophobia

Camden LGBT Forum 
Saturday 15 May, 2.30PM
The 52 Club, Gower Street

Talks by Ali Hili, Reverend Roland Jide Macaulay, Exhibition of Paul Harfleet's amazing Pansy Project, Songs by Pilar Awa, Exclusive Video Footage of Iraq
Free Refreshments-no need to book-just turn up.

Just Friends
IDAHO special: gays in Iraq
Wednesday 19 May, 7:00PM.

This event  is open to members of “Just Friends” only, but if you are interested in attending, please email deco24@tiscali.co.uk

Iraqi LGBT receives Monette-Horwitz award

Iraqi LGBT is honoured to have received a 2010 Monette-Horwitz Trust Award.

The awards were established in the will of the late novelist Paul Monette to recognize his relationship with the late Roger Horwitz and to honor individuals and organizations for their significant contributions toward eradicating homophobia. They come with a $2500 cheque.

They are awarded to individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations. The Trust acknowledges the accomplishments of organizations and persons working in arenas ranging from academic research and creative expression to activism and community organizing.

The Trust told Iraqi LGBT "what you are doing to monitor abuse of LGBT in Iraq is very important, and we want to support and encourage your continuing work."

"We greatly admire what you are doing and we hope the encouragement offered by the award will help you continue your work and activism. We appreciate what you are doing for the global community."

"You are in distinguished company."

Iraqi LGBT spokesperson Ali Hili said: "This has come as a complete surprise and we are very honoured, particularly to be amongst such esteemed other awardees both this year and previously."

"Unfortunately we are unable to travel to accept the award in person [at the 2010 Lambda Literary Awards Ceremony in New York] as my travel is restricted by the British government, so the Trust has posted it to us."

Following Monette's instructions, there are no applications for the awards. Recommendations are given by an Advisory Committee to Monette's appointed Trustee, his brother Robert L. Monette.

Paul Monette and Roger Horwitz were committed to bringing about an end to homophobia both through their individual activities and through their union.

Roger Horwitz wrote poetry in his student years and received his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. His first jobs were in France teaching English and then working for the publishers Larousse and Gallimard. He received his Ph.D in comparative literature from Harvard University in 1972, writing his dissertation on French novelist Henri Thomas as he also began Harvard Law School. He received his law degree in 1973.

Paul Monette was an honors student at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA and received his undergraduate degree in English from Yale in 1967, where he was Class Poet. Monette and Horwitz met September 4, 1974 in Boston, during the middle years of gay liberation. As he described their introduction in Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story (1992), Paul Monette said to Roger Horwitz, "Say hello to the rest of your life."

Paul and Roger moved to Los Angeles in November 1977, and both men were associated strongly with the LGBT activities of that city until their deaths. Horwitz worked as a corporate attorney, then founded his own practice with clients such as the Downtown Women's Center. He succumbed to AIDS in 1986. After Roger's death, Monette did the writing and activism for which he will remain known, capturing in his verse, fiction, non-fiction, fable, and public speaking appearances, the hopes, dreams, and rage of an entire generation.

Before his own death from AIDS in 1995, Monette established the Monette-Horwitz Trust to ensure the continued fruits of their activism as well as the memory of their loving partnership.

The other awardees are: the transsexual 'warrior' Leslie Feinberg; Impact Stories, which is a Californian oral history project; the Rev. Eric P. Lee, president of the Los Angeles chapter of Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Naz Foundation, the largest AIDS healthcare NGO in India, and; RFD and White Crane Journal, America's two oldest reader-written-and-produced quarterlies celebrating queer diversity.

Amnesty International: Iraq must protect civilians at risk of deadly violence

27 April 2010

Amnesty International on Tuesday called on the Iraqi authorities to urgently step up the protection of civilians amid the recent surge of deadly violence in the country.

A new Amnesty International report, Iraq: Civilians Under Fire, documents how hundreds of civilians are being killed or injured each month.

Many are specifically targeted by armed groups because of their religious, ethnic or sexual identity or because they speak out against human rights abuses.

Ongoing uncertainty over when a new Iraqi government will be formed has led to a recent spike in attacks, with more than 100 civilian deaths in the first week of April alone.

"Iraqis are still living in a climate of fear, seven years after the US-led invasion. The Iraqi authorities could do much more to keep them safe, but over and over they are failing to help the most vulnerable in society," said Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme.

Amnesty International urged the authorities to do more to protect those who are particularly at risk and bring those responsible for violent crimes to justice, without recourse to the death penalty.

While Iraqi security forces, foreign troops or family members are responsible for some human rights abuses, most killings of civilians are carried out by armed groups, including al-Qa'ida in Iraq. The organization remains a significant presence in the country despite the recent reported deaths of three senior leaders.

Human rights defenders, journalists and political activists are among those who have been killed or maimed in Iraq because of their work.

Omar Ibrahim Al-Jabouri, the head of public relations at Rasheed TV station, only just escaped with his life in an attack on 13 April 2010. He lost his legs after being caught in an explosion of a bomb attached to his vehicle as he was driving to his office in Baghdad.

Religious and ethnic minorities also continue to be targeted for attack, with at least eight Christians killed in Mosul in February 2010 in apparent sectarian attacks.

Christian students Zia Toma, 22, and Ramsin Shmael, 21, were stopped by unidentified gunmen on 17 February 2010 at a bus stop in Mosul who demanded to see their identity cards. When the gunmen opened fire, Toma was killed and Shmael was injured but survived.

Women and girls are particularly at risk of violence from both armed groups and their relatives. Few men are known to have been convicted of rape in Iraq. Women frequently suffer at the hands of relatives, in so-called honour crimes, if their behaviour is seen to go against traditional moral codes, for instance by refusing to marry men who have been selected for them. Activists have also been targeted for speaking out in favour of women's rights.

Members of the gay community in Iraq, where homosexuality is not tolerated, live under constant threat of violence, with some Muslim clerics urging their followers to attack suspected homosexuals.

Authorities frequently fail to carry out thorough and impartial investigations into attacks on civilians, arrest suspects or bring perpetrators to justice. In some cases, they are even accused of being implicated in violent attacks.

As a result of the ongoing insecurity, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, including a disproportionately high number of minority communities, have been forced to flee their homes. Internally displaced people and refugees are even more vulnerable to violence, as well as economic hardship.

Amnesty International called on the Iraqi authorities to immediately introduce measures to improve the safety of civilians. They should consult with members of at-risk groups to see how best they can protect them.

In the meantime, the organization said the authorities must begin properly investigating attacks on civilians and to hold perpetrators, whoever they are, responsible for their crimes in accordance with international law. They should immediately disarm all militias and end the identification of religious affiliation on identity cards.

All armed groups in Iraq should immediately end human rights abuses, including attacks against civilians, abductions and torture.

Amnesty International also called for an end to all forcible returns of refugees to Iraq as long as the country remains unstable. Several European governments are forcibly returning people to Iraq – including to the most dangerous parts of the country – in direct violation of guidelines set out by UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

Amnesty International has spoken to several Iraqis who were forcibly returned by the Netherlands government on 30 March 2010. Among the 35 refugees was a 22-year-old Shi'a Turkoman man from Tal Afar, a city north of Mosul, where hundreds of civilians have been killed in sectarian or other politically motivated violence in recent years, and where the violence continues unabated. As of mid-April, he remained stranded in Baghdad.

"The continuing uncertainty as to when a new government will be formed following last month's election could well contribute to a further increase of violent incidents of which civilians are the main victims. The uncertainty is threatening to make a bad situation even worse. Both the Iraqi authorities and the international community must act now to prevent more unnecessary deaths," said Malcolm Smart.

Iraq: Civilians under fire

• Download PDF
• Arabic PDF

Read the report's section 'attacks on gay men'

Ali Hili campaign update

First campaign coverage in Middle East, first direct comment by government on case

Labour's election web campaign supremo asks Johnson to act
1000 sign petition in fortnight, hundreds of letters to Johnson



A major middle east news source has written about the campaign for Ali Hili and Iraqi LGBT, the first major news outlet for the region to cover the campaign.

The Media Line also secured the first direct comment on Hili's case from the UK government. They said that it is being dealt with by UK Border Agency (UKBA) Case Resolution Directorate and “the reason it hasn’t been prioritised is because it doesn’t fall into one of the priority categories listed on our website.”

When applying for his case to be prioritised, Hili's solicitor Barry O'Leary explained that he needed to travel to fulfill speaking engagements which would directly aid lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) suffering terror in Iraq through publicising their cause.

Six months later, and interpreting those "priority categories", the UKBA told O'Leary that:

• the assistance which Hili has given to the Foreign Office (and mentioned in their 2009 Human Rights Report) "does not count"
• the fatwa (death threat against him) does not mean that Hilli "falls within the classification of clear and immediate vulnerability"
• that the delay in deciding Hilli's asylum case (since July 2007) "is not in itself an exceptional circumstance"
• his case is not "compelling"

The UKBA explanation is in contradiction to the response given to MP Clare Short, prompted to write by a constituent. She was told by Gail Adams, West Midlands Regional Director of the UKBA that "information contained in applications to the UKBA is treated as being strictly confidential and is not normally disclosed to third parties."

Campaigners are determined to get the British Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, to intervene and order Hili's case prioritised - as he is able to do. 

• They would like it to become an issue in the UK election. 
• They say that the lack of resolution and consequent inability to travel and meet politicians and journalists in places such as Washington DC, Brussels and Madrid directly affects LGBT who are suffering a pogrom which continues in the country.

• Iraqi LGBT say they will be releasing a video next month which addresses the ongoing campaign against LGBT, particularly in Iraq's south, a region formally under the control of the British. They say that in recent weeks there have been a number of murders of young gays.
  

Within a fortnight of the launch of the campaign, over 1000 people have signed an international petition. Over 250 mainly Americans have used change.org to send a message demanding intervention from the UK Home Secretary. Campaigners say they are aware of over 100 other letters going to both Alan Johnson and Gordon Brown.


And Iraqi LGBT have been informed that a number of MPs have asked Johnson to act, including the head of Labour's web campaign for the general election Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East.
The author Stella Duffy posted a link to the campaign on her Facebook page.

Besides The Media Line, a number of other blogs and websites covering Iraq have featured the case and support has come from many Iraqis.

Further coverage of Hili's case and the plight of LGBT in Iraq has come from a wide variety of media around the world.

Iraq 7 Years Later: A Journey of Return

Seven years after the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, New Internationalist co-editor Hadani Ditmars returned to a land she last visited in October 2003 to research her book Dancing in the No Fly Zone.

With more than a million people dead in the wake of post-invasion violence, infrastructure in ruins despite $53 billion dollars in ‘aid’, rampant corruption and continuing human rights abuses, the promise of democracy remains a hollow one.

But there are signs of life amidst the devastation. The national theatre has re-opened, women continue to defy oppressive fundamentalism, and young people dream of a better future, where a renewed sense of national identity trumps sectarian divisions.

Join Hadani for the launch of the May issue on Iraq, as well as a lively discussion on the country’s future with special guests Hassan Abdulrazzak, who wrote the play Baghdad Wedding, gay rights activist Ali Hili, and writer Haifa Zangana.

Date: April 29, 2010 7:00 PM
Frontline Club
13 Norfolk Place,
London W2 1QJ
Tel: +44 (0)20 7479 8950
Moved to Hellenic Centre
16-18 Paddington St, Marylebone, W1U 5AS
Closest Tube Station: Paddington

Change.org launch petition for Iraqi LGBT

Iraqi LGBT

Press statement
For immediate use
31 March


Change.org launch petition for Iraqi LGBT

Green leader writes to Johnson

Gay Iraqis praise 'our hero'


The major American progressive organisation Change.org has launched a petition to British Home Secretary Alan Johnson to grant asylum to Iraqi LGBT leader Ali Hili.

The petition allows supporter to send a personalised message to Johnson, whose decision is effecting the work of the group in drawing attention to atrocities against gays in Iraq. It was created by the website's leading gay author Michael Jones.

A petition started by Iraqi LGBT has already drawn near 700 signatures in a few days, including many with moving comments from Iraqis who have been helped by Hili.

One was from Khaldoon Abdulrazaq who wrote:

"A message of support from inside iraq, ali you are our hero, our hope and the future you have in your vision for a better iraq will come one day, believe me. Please keep the faith, your fight is our fight, we all dream of a better world, a world with all people respect and love each other..."

Campaign organisers say that 60 letters have already been sent to Gordon Brown demanding he intervene.

On Monday the leader of the UK Green Party Caroline Lucas announced that she had written to Johnson.

Lucas wrote:

"I am writing with reference to the asylum application of Iraqi LGBT leader Ali Hili, currently living in exile in London. This application has been outstanding for nearly three years and while it is outstanding, Ali cannot travel. This impacts not only on Ali himself but also limits his ability to raise the profile of how LGBT rights are oppressed on a daily basis in Iraq."

"As I am sure you are aware, the group Iraqi LGBT estimates that over 700 LGBT people have been assassinated over the past few years. Human Rights Watch, working with the BBC for a report aired last year, confirmed that torture and persecution of the LGBT community is widespread and that many LGBT people claim life was safer during Saddam Hussein's regime. US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin spoke last month of their concerns for LGBT both in Iraq and as refugees, in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton co-signed by 64 other Congress people."

"Ali Hili, as a prominent campaigner for LGBT equality, will not be safe if he is returned to Iraq. He has received a fatwa from inside Iraq, as well as numerous threats in London which have forced him to move. He is under the protection of the Metropolitan Police. Moreover, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has advised 'favourable consideration' for asylum claims because of the situation in Iraq. I would, therefore, urge you to ensure that Ali Hili's asylum claim is granted as a matter of urgency and his right to travel guaranteed."

Documentary film maker David Grey of Village Films has released an appeal for Ali and Iraqi LGBT on YouTube. The video is titled 'Please help save gay lives in Iraq'.

Campaigners for Hili said that they were awaiting confirmation of further invitations to travel - Hili was asked to do a speaking tour of the United States last year but had to decline.

Hili's solicitor, Barry O'Leary, wrote to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in August 2009 that: "he desperately wishes to do this [travel] in order to further the aims of his organisation, that is, supporting lesbians and gay men in Iraq and bringing the world's attention to their plight."

Six months after his review application, the UKBA told O'Leary that:

    * the assistance which Hili has given to the Foreign Office "does not count"
    * the fatwa against him does not mean that Hili "falls within the classification of clear and immediate vulnerability"
    * that the delay in deciding Hili's asylum case (since July 2007) "is not in itself an exceptional circumstance"
    * his case is not "compelling"

O'Leary said: "I have made UKBA aware of the detriment the nearly three year delay is having on the work of Iraqi LGBT. I have also stressed that this will be a straightforward matter given Mr Hili’s very high profile and the documented risks to his life. Nevertheless they decided to leave him in the queue for a decision. This can only harm LGBT individuals in Iraq."

ENDS


For further information and requests for interviews and photographs contact:
gayasylumuk@gmail.com or call (UK) 07986 008420

For comment on the legal issues contact:

Barry O'Leary
Wesley Gryk Solicitors

Iraqi LGBT website

Video: Please help save lives in Iraq

Many thanks to David Grey.

Outrage as UK government refuses to take action on asylum application by Iraqi gay leader

Press statement
24 March 2010

 

For immediate use

Outrage as UK government refuses to take action on asylum application by Iraqi gay leader

Action demanded of Gordon Brown and Alan Johnson

Foreign Office opposition to persecution undermined by Home Office actions

The UK government through its Border Agency has refused to give priority to an application for asylum by the leader of Iraqi LGBT, Ali Hili, in exile in London. The application has been outstanding for nearly three years and while it is outstanding, he cannot travel.

This decision directly impacts on harshly persecuted Iraqi lesbians and gays through the reduced ability of their sole visible leader to raise their profile internationally.

US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin spoke last month of their concerns for LGBT both in Iraq and as refugees, in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton co-signed by 64 other Congresspeople.

Numerous human rights organisations and journalists have documented the pogrom against lesbians and gays in Iraq. Human Rights Watch has described a "campaign of torture and murder". Iraqi LGBT estimates that over 700 LGBT have been assassinated over the past few years. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has advised 'favourable consideration' for asylum claims because of the situation.

Hili has received many requests to speak about the situation in Iraq internationally, including from US-based groups such as the Gay Liberation Network and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Campaign, which he has been unable to pursue.

 

His solicitor, Barry O'Leary, wrote to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in August 2009 that: "he desperately wishes to do this [travel] in order to further the aims of his organisation, that is, supporting lesbians and gay men in Iraq and bringing the world's attention to their plight."

Six months after his review application, the UKBA told O'Leary that:

• the assistance which Hili has given to the Foreign Office "does not count"
• the fatwa against him does not mean that Hili "falls within the classification of clear and immediate vulnerability"
• that the delay in deciding Hili's asylum case (since July 2007) "is not in itself an exceptional circumstance"
• his case is not "compelling"

O'Leary said: "I have made UKBA aware of the detriment the nearly three year delay is having on the work of Iraqi LGBT. I have also stressed that this will be a straightforward matter given Mr Hili’s very high profile and the documented risks to his life. Nevertheless they decided to leave him in the queue for a decision. This can only harm LGBT individuals in Iraq."

As the public leader of the only group representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people both in Iraq as well as the diaspora, Hili has received a fatwa from inside Iraq as well as numerous threats in London which have forced him to move. He is under the protection of the Metropolitan Police.

Hili said: "It is extremely distressing that the British government is refusing to allow me to take up the many offers to speak on behalf of the lesbians and gays in our organisation. I have been the only person who has willingly identified themselves as a gay Iraqi and this has made me a target. But the British government doesn't take this seriously."

"Why are they undermining the work of our group? Why does the Foreign Office say it supports lesbians and gays around the world yet the Home Office does this to me,” he asks?

Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant wrote in his blog on Feb. 24: "I know some people dismiss LGBT rights as something of a sideshow in international relations, but I am proud to say that the FCO has argued for a decade that human rights are a seamless garment."

The Foreign Office Human Rights Report for 2009 specifically names Iraqi LGBT over other NGOs as a key source of information. Hili has met with them numerous times. The report quotes Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell condemming persecution of LGBT in Iraq.

Yet the same government through the Home Office effectively aids that persecution through the failure of recognition to Iraqi LGBT's leader.

Hili's supporters said that they would be taking the campaign to get his case decided - so Iraqi lesbians and gays can have a voice in the world - to the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

The internationally renowned human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has said of Hili:

"It was Ali Hili of Iraqi LGBT who first alerted the world to the organised killing of LGBT people in Iraq - way back in 2005. For a long time, he was a lone voice."

"Soon afterwards, he exposed the death fatwa against LGBT people issued by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

"Mr Hili was also the person who set up the 'underground railroad' and safe houses inside Iraq, to give refuge to LGBT people on the run from Islamist death squads and to provide escape routes to neighbouring countries - which saved the lives of many Iraqi LGBTs.

"While I would not wish to detract one iota from the contributions of others, it is important to show due generosity and humility by acknowledging that it was Ali Hili and Iraqi LGBT who first bought this issue to public consciousness. They deserve our gratitude."

Paul Canning, Editor of LGBT Asylum News and a Hili supporter, said: "If Ali is not deserving of expediency in decision making I don't know who is."

"The government should be 100% behind the work of Iraqi LGBT, indeed they are quite willing to accept their help and advice at the Foreign Office. But they treat Ali and, through him Iraqi lesbians and gays, like dirt who don't deserve our protection and support. It is completely outrageous."

 

Iraqi LGBT have set up a campaign web page on their website, see http://bit.ly/alihili

ENDS

For further information and requests for interviews and photographs contact:
gayasylumuk@gmail.com

For comment on the legal issues contact:

Barry O'Leary
Wesley Gryk Solicitors

Notes:

Iraqi LGBT is a representative organisation for over 100 people both inside Iraq and in the diaspora. It runs safe houses in Iraq and assists people to flee as well as supporting them in neighboring countries.

• Queerty: Interview with Ali Hili
• Iraqi LGBT website
  

• Foreign Office: Annual Report on Human Rights
• Human Rights Watch: Iraq: Stop Killings for Homosexual Conduct
• Peter Tatchell: Iraq - Ayatolla Sistani says death to gays
• LGBT Asylum News: Ministers Must Halt Deportation Of Gay Iraqi
• BBC: Saddam's rule 'better' for gay Iraqis
• LGBT Asylum News: Save LGBT refugees, 44 US congresspeople urge Hillary Clinton
• LGBT Asylum News: I'm Gay and Iraqi: Please Help Me!

• Iraqi LGBT annual report

Support for LGBT Iraqi Refugees

Rep. Tammy Baldwin

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Source: Office of Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin - February 4

GILLIBRAND, BALDWIN TO SEC. CLINTON: SAVE LGBT REFUGEES


LGBT Individuals Tortured and Killed in Iraq in 2009


No Proper Investigations, No Arrests for Crimes Against LGBT Individuals in Iraq


Take Action to Enforce Human Rights Laws to Protect Members of the LGBT Community in Countries Where Their Rights Are Abused.

Washington, D.C. – With hundreds of LGBT individuals being beaten, persecuted and even killed in Iraq, Iran and other countries, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), joined by 11 of their Senate colleagues and 31 of their House colleagues, today wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to work with U.S. Ambassadors, the United Nations and NGOs across the globe to enforce human rights laws that protect LGBT individuals in the countries where they are under threat. Where safe conditions are not possible, the U.S. and the UN must work with refugee and human rights groups to expedite refugees’ flight to safety.

According to Human Rights Watch, there is no official number of deaths since the killing of LGBT individuals began in Iraq, but the U.N. has provided rough estimates range in the hundreds in 2009 alone. Not one murder of an LGBT individual in Iraq has led to an arrest, according to Human Rights Watch.

“It is time for us in Congress to take a strong stand against all hate crimes and persecution – wherever they occur,” Senator Gillibrand said. “People in this world should not have to suffer or fear for their lives because of who they are or what they believe in. It is wrong and it must end. If Iraq, Iran and other countries are not providing the legal protections that members of their LGBT communities are entitled to, it is our duty to join with our partners in the international community, enforce the human rights laws that protect us all, and free LGBT individuals from persecution. While the ultimate goal is safe conditions in these countries, until that happens, the U.S., UN and the international community must ensure that LGBT refugees can reach safety in countries where they won’t face persecution”

“The lives of LGBT individuals in Iran and Iraq, as well as those LGBT refugees who have fled persecution, are in grave danger,” said Congresswoman Baldwin, Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. “I know Secretary of State Clinton shares our concerns for human rights and I hope she will use the full force of her office to respond to the plight of Iraqi and Iranian LGBT refugees and urge the UNHRC to do the same,” Congresswoman Baldwin said.

“Senator Gillibrand’s letter highlights the difficulty that foreign lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) refugees face when their home countries, and their countries of first asylum, permit or condone discrimination and brutal attacks based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Secretary Clinton has said that LGBT rights are human rights and we agree. We look forward to working with the State Department and Senator Gillibrand to ensure that U.S. foreign policy strongly supports protecting the human rights of LGBT individuals abroad.”

“Today, these Members of Congress have presented a comprehensive set of recommendations that will help ensure the protection of individuals who flee persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender identity only to face further persecution and violence in the countries they have fled to in search of safe refuge,” said Human Rights First’s Eleanor Acer. “We praise their leadership on this issue, and urge the administration to implement these measures including a fast-track resettlement process for individuals facing serious protection risks.”

Gideon Aronoff, President & CEO of HIAS said, ““Refugees who have fled persecution on the basis of their sexuality are among the most vulnerable in the world, as persecution often follows them across borders from one country to the next. Additionally, in some parts of the world the LGBT population is at special risk because of strong cultural mores that reject and demonize all but traditional male/female relationships. For some, resettlement to the U. S. or another free country is the only life-saving solution, but neither the U.S. Refugee Program nor the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is adequately prepared to give LGBT refugees the access to safety which they so desperately need. The Congressional letter organized by Sen. Gillibrand to Secretary Clinton suggests sensible and concrete steps to save the lives of LGBT refugees, and we urge the Department of State to give these suggestions expeditious consideration.”

The letter is signed by:

1. Kirsten E. Gillibran, United States Senator
2. Patrick J. Leahy, United States Senator
3. Daniel K. Akaka, United States Senator
4. Jeff Bingaman, United States Senator
5. Sherrod Brown, United States Senator
6. Robert P. Casey Jr., United States Senator
7. Russell D. Feingold, United States Senator
8. Frank R. Lautenberg, United States Senator
9. Joseph L. Lieberma, United States Senator
10. Jeff Merkley, United States Senator
11. Charles E. Schumer, United States Senator
12. Ron Wyden, United States Senator
13. Tammy Baldwin, United States Representative
14. Jared Polis, United States Representative
15. Barney Frank, United States Representative
16. Jan Schakowsky, United States Representative
17. Jerrold Nadler, United States Representative
18. Michael M. Honda, United States Representative
19. Lois Capps, United States Representative
20. James P. Moran, United States Representative
21. Zoe Lofgren, United States Representative
22. David Wu, United States Representative
23. Edolphus Towns, United States Representative
24. Carolyn Maloney, United States Representative
25. Alcee Hastings, United States Representative
26. John Conyers, United States Representative
27. Luis Gutierrez, United States Representative
28. Bill Delahunt, United States Representative
29. Eliot Engel, United States Representative
30. Raúl M. Grijalva, United States Representative
31. Chellie Pingree, United States Representative
32. Joseph Crowley, United States Representative
33. Gary Ackerman, United States Representative
34. Anthony Weiner, United States Representative
35. Maurice Hinchey, United States Representative
36. Steven Rothman, United States Representative
37. James P. McGovern, United States Representative
38. Lynn Woolsey, United States Representative
39. Paul Tonko, United States Representative
40. Mike Quigley, United States Representative
41. Steve Israel, United States Representative
42. Howard Berman, United States Representative
43. Henry Waxman, United States Representative
44. Brad Sherman, United States Representative

Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Baldwin’s letter to Secretary Clinton is below:

LGBT Refugees Letter to Clinton 2-4-10

720 brutally murdered as 'gay cleansing' continues unchecked in Iraq

An organization dedicated to securing asylum for LGBT refugees from Iraq estimates that over 720 LGBT men and women have been murdered by extremist militias in the last six years.
London-based Iraqi LGBT reports the Iraqi government has largely been absent in pursuing the roaming "death squads" in Iraq who seek out LGBT victims, likely due to the influence of extremist Shia religious parties that are calling for a moral cleansing of Iraq.

The organization says the rise of fundamentalist groups in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion has proven deadly to LGBT Iraqis, who are now being forced to either hide or face the consequences. On its website, Iraqi LGBT says, "there is little hope for Iraqis suffering under the new socio-political climate. Once the most liberal and secular of the Arab nations, nowadays religious extremism has taken hold of the country to the detriment of its people."

The extremist groups and police were using the Internet to track down LGBT Iraqis this past summer, but at least two gay Iraqis were able to be saved by Iraqi LGBT. In August, police raided the houses of Asad Galib and Faeq Ismail, both 24 years old, and took them into custody. They were held and questioned for about four hours and accused of viewing gay websites in an internet café. Both men denied the accusations and explained that the websites had already been open when they began using the computers. They were later released and put in a safe house sponsored by Iraqi LGBT.

But the big question continues to be, why hasn't the U.S. government done anything to help? It is hearbreaking that Iraqi LGBT has to beg for donations on its website, instead of getting any form of help whatsoever from us to help stop the gay genocide in Iraq.

President Obama has remained completely silent on the issue, even after receiving a letter from Rep. Jared Polis urging his administration to take action, and a 67-page report by Human Rights Watch in August outlining in explicit detail the torture and murder of LGBT Iraqis, which was featured prominently in nearly every U.S. media outlet, including the New York Times and CNN. Since the HRW report was released, there hasn't been a single change in military strategy to protect LGBT Iraqis from the roaming death squads or the Iraqi police.

Better question - why haven't American LGBT people and their supporters expressed more outrage about the horrendous situation facing LGBT Iraqis? Are we so caught up in our own myopic obsession with equal rights here that we forget about the plight of our brothers and sisters in the (still) U.S.-occupied territory? Why aren't we doing more to try and help them? Why aren't we doing more to speak out on their behalf?

Iraqi LGBT is doing all it can, but being the only organization dedicated to helping gay Iraqis, it's difficult for them to make much of an impact. So far, Iraqi LGBT says nearly 100 individuals in Iraq have directly benefited from their work, and they have been involved in securing asylum for Iraqi refugees who have been forced to flee the country.

But so much more is needed.

http://www.examiner.com/x-4107-International-LGBT-Issues-Examiner~y2009m11d16-720-brutally-murdered-as-gay-cleansing-continues-unchecked-in-Iraq

TERROR CAMPAIGN AGAINST LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER IRAQIS CONTINUES UNCHECKED BY IRAQI GOVERNMENT

IRAQI LGBT – November 2009 – The rise of fundamentalist groups in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. led invasion has proven deadly to LGBT Iraqis, who are now being forced to either hide or face the consequences.

Using the internet as a means to track down new victims, militia members are now employing computer analysts to monitor traffic on gay dating and networking websites in the region. They work with internet café owners to single out people who frequent these sites and set up fake profiles in the attempt to lure them out.

On the 28th of August, police raided the houses of Asad Galib and Faeq Ismail, both 24 years old, and took them into custody. They were held and questioned for about four hours, accused of viewing gay websites in an internet café on the 21st of July. Both men denied the accusations and explained that the websites had already been open when they had begun using the computers. They were later released and are now in contact with Iraqi LGBT, a London based organization working to support and protect LGBT individuals in Iraq.

Others who have been accused or are suspected of such activities have not been as lucky.

On the 2nd of September, the body of 21-year-old student Mizher Hussien was discovered in Al Najaf, a city south of Baghdad. His head and genitals had been severed, and he had the word “pervert” written in black across his chest. The details of his murder are unknown, and Iraqi police have refused to launch an investigation into the cause or motivation of the crime.

On the 18th of September in Al Shatra Amara, two bodies were found exhibiting signs of torture. They had both been decapitated and left with a paper stating, “This is the end of all pervert homosexuals”.

Iraqi LGBT has been working since 2003 to raise awareness of the abuses being committed against LGBT people in Iraq, as well as provide protection to those who have been targeted. The organization currently funds a number of safe houses in the region, with nearly 100 individuals in Iraq directly benefitting from their work. In addition, Iraqi LGBT has been involved in securing asylum for Iraqi refugees who have been forced to flee the country.

Unfortunately, Iraqi LGBT has not been able to help everyone. The organization estimates that over 720 LGBT men and women have been murdered by these extremist militias in the last six years. The Iraqi government has largely been absent in pursuing the roaming death squads who carry out these acts, likely due to the influence of extremist Shia religious parties that are calling for a moral cleansing of Iraq.

With extremist militias threatening all those known to support LGBT rights, including the 2006 raid of an Iraqi LGBT planning meeting in which five activists were arrested, there is little hope for Iraqis suffering under the new socio-political climate. Once the most liberal and secular of the Arab nations, nowadays a religious extremism has taken hold of the country to the detriment of its people.
Iraqi LGBT calls for immediate international action to prevent the further torture and execution of LGBT people in Iraq. More information and details on making donations to the safe houses effort can be found at our Iraqi LGBT blog

The Observer - How Islamist gangs use internet to track, torture and kill Iraqi gays

Iraqi militias infiltrate internet gay chatrooms to hunt their quarry – and hundreds are feared to be victims.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/13/iraq-gays-murdered-militias

Sitting on the floor, wearing traditional Islamic clothes and holding an old notebook, Abu Hamizi, 22, spends at least six hours a day searching internet chatrooms linked to gay websites. He is not looking for new friends, but for victims.

"It is the easiest way to find those people who are destroying Islam and who want to dirty the reputation we took centuries to build up," he said. When he finds them, Hamizi arranges for them to be attacked and sometimes killed.

Hamizi, a computer science graduate, is at the cutting edge of a new wave of violence against gay men in Iraq. Made up of hardline extremists, Hamizi's group and others like it are believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 130 gay Iraqi men since the beginning of the year alone.
The deputy leader of the group, which is based in Baghdad, explained its campaign using a stream of homophobic invective. "Animals deserve more pity than the dirty people who practise such sexual depraved acts," he told the Observer. "We make sure they know why they are being held and give them the chance to ask God's forgiveness before they are killed."
The violence against Iraqi gays is a key test of the government's ability to protect vulnerable minority groups after the Americans have gone.

Dr Toby Dodge, of London University's Queen Mary College, believes that the violence may be a consequence of the success of the government of Nouri al-Maliki. "Militia groups whose raison d'être was security in their communities are seeing that function now fulfilled by the police. So their focus has shifted to the moral and cultural sphere, reverting to classic Islamist tactics of policing moral boundaries," Dodge said.

Homosexuality was not criminalised under Saddam Hussein – indeed Iraq in the 1960s and 1970s was known for its relatively liberated gay scene. Violence against gays started in the aftermath of the invasion in 2003. Since 2004, according to Ali Hali, chairman of the Iraqi LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) group, a London-based human-rights group, a total of 680 have died in Iraq, with at least 70 of those in the past five months. The group believes the figures may be higher, as most cases involving married men are not reported. Seven victims were women. According to Hali, Iraq has become "the worst place for homosexuals on Earth".
The killings are brutal, with victims ritually tortured. Azhar al-Saeed's son was one. "He didn't follow what Islamic doctrine tells but he was a good son," she said. "Three days after his kidnapping, I found a note on my door with blood spread over it and a message saying it was my son's purified blood and telling me where to find his body."

She went with police to find her son's remains. "We found his body with signs of torture, his anus filled with glue and without his genitals," she said. "I will carry this image with me until my dying day."

Police officers interviewed by the Observer said the killings were not aimed at gays but were isolated remnants of the sectarian violence that racked the country between 2005 and 2006. Hamizi's group, however, boasts that two people a day are chosen to be "investigated" in Baghdad. The group claims that local tribes are involved in homophobic attacks, choosing members to hunt down the victims. In some areas, a list of names is posted at restaurants and food shops.

The roommate of Haydar, 26, was kidnapped and killed three months ago in Baghdad. After Haydar contacted the last person his friend had been chatting with on the net, he found a letter on his front door alerting him "about the dangers of behaving against Islamic rules". Haydar plans to flee to Amman, the Jordanian capital. "I have… to run away before I suffer the same fate," he said.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Shia militia known as the Mahdi army may be among the militants implicated in the violence, particularly in the northern part of Baghdad known as Sadr City. There are reports that Mahdi army militias are harassing young men simply for wearing "western fashions".

A Ministry of Interior spokesperson, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, denied allegations of police collaboration. "The Iraqi police exists to protect all Iraqis, whatever their sexual persuasion," he said.

Hashim, another victim of violence by extremists, was attacked on Abu Nawas Street. Famous for its restaurants and bars, the street has become a symbol of the relative progress made in Baghdad. But it was where Hashim was set on by four men, had a finger cut off and was badly beaten. His assailants left a note warning that he had one month to marry and have "a traditional life" or die.

"Since that day I have not left my home. I'm too scared and don't have money to run away," Hashim said.

Iraqi LGBT welcome Human Rights Watch report on pogrom, urges practical aid

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate use

Iraqi LGBT welcome Human Rights Watch report on pogrom, urges practical aid

The Iraqi LGBT group today welcomed the release by Human Rights Watch of its report 'They want us exterminated' which documents the killing of LGBT people in Iraq, in particular the extensive media coverage it has generated. Much of the information in the report is sourced from Iraqi LGBT members.

"This report underlines what we have been saying since our group's formation in 2006," said Iraqi LGBT spokesperson, Ali Hili. "We have information on over 700 killings including honour killings."

However Hili says that the group, which has 100 members inside Iraq (as well as refugees in neighboring countries) and supports LGBT people through safe houses, offers practical support (food etc.), psychological and educational support, is chronically underfunded.

"We are the only people offering support to our fellow Iraqi LGBT inside Iraq but because we do not have the funds we have had to turn people away," he said.

The group recently published its annual report, available on its website, which showed how the money it receives is spent.

The report explains how it has developed methods of operating clandestinely which are essential for such an operation in the Middle East. Hili is the only visible member of the group and as a result has attracted death threats in his exile in London. He is under police protection.

Recently it received a second substantial donation from a Dutch group. However due to low funding it has had to close safe houses and slow its development plans.

At the same time it has seen very large amounts of money raised in the United States go to a Lebanese group which is supposed to be supporting Iraqi LGBT refugees. Ali says that the refugees, delivered to Lebanon by Human Rights Watch, have in fact been abandoned and some have returned to Iraq because they had no practical support.

"We have been trying to support one refugee who returned to Iraq from Lebanon because his medical needs were not being supported and who is now in danger. Through the United Nations, he has actually been accepted as a refugee by Sweden however it costs $2000 just for him to get back to Lebanon and then there are his travel costs to Sweden on top of that plus organising support in Sweden."

"This is an example of a case where we have great difficulty helping. It also shows something of the real costs involved in actually supporting people. Another example of that would be the bribes we have had to pay to save peoples lives."

"Our group represents Iraqi LGBT - they are our members - and, despite immense difficulties, our group has gained a lot of experience since we were established. Please support us if you want to help save LGBT people in Iraq."

Donations to Iraqi LGBT can be made to the PayPal Account iraqilgbt@yahoo.co.uk .

Or make cheques payable to (IRAQI LGBT) and send them to:

Iraqi LGBT
22 Notting Hill Gate
Unit 111London,
W11 3JE
United Kingdom

For further information please call ++44 (0) 79-819 59453 or email iraqilgbt@googlemail.com or see http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com

Ali said that the group also welcomed those who could donate their skills.

ENDS


ATTACHMENT

The Safe Houses Project

IRAQ: Emergency Shelter, Human Services and Protection for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People:

IRAQI LGBT started to establish a network of safe houses inside Iraq in March 2006.

As of today, we have only two safe houses open and running funded by HIVOS a Dutch based human rights organization.

The members of our group inside Iraq urgently need funds to open at least four safe houses. These funds will allow us to keep the four safe houses open and running, and provide safety, shelter, food and many other needs for our LGBT friends inside Iraq. Any funds we receive that go beyond what we need for these four safe houses could be used to open more safe houses in the near future. We desperately need to add more because we have so many urgent cases in other cities. We receive requests for shelter every day, but we are not able to help yet.

Every safe house has around 200 square meters of living space, but harbors 10 to 12 people, so is very overcrowded. The residents are struggling badly because of the shortages of almost all the basic necessities in Iraq.

Rent: We have paid three months rent in advance. The most recent payments were in August. The average rent per safe house per month is $ 600 US Dollar.

Security: We paid the salaries of two guards per house, at $ 200 US Dollar per guard per month.

Other expenses of each house: We have paid $ 600 a month for each house approximately for natural gas and kerosene for cooking, and for food, fuel for generators which provide the electricity supply.

Urgent priority needs: Our priorities at this stage are: natural gas or kerosene for cooking and heating; fuel for generating electricity; food; mobile phones and calling cards; money for transportation to allow residents some freedom of movement; beds, mattresses, blankets, sheets and pillows; cameras; printers; two computers; house supplies, such as cooking pans, dishes, and flatware; some furniture; clean water for drinking and bathing; soap for washing and bathing, tooth paste, razors and of course housing, guards etc.

Amount needed and how it would be spent (per month):

• Natural gas or kerosene for cooking and heating - 50 GBP
• Fuel for generating electricity – $ 300
• Food - $ 600
• Mobile phones, calling cards, and internet café charges - $ 450 etc.
• Transportation – $ 250
• Beds, mattresses, blankets, sheets and pillows – $ 1,300 – onetime payment
• Cameras – $ 100 – onetime payment
• Printers – $ 100 - onetime payment
• Two computers – $ 1,200 - onetime payment
• Kitchen supplies, such as cooking pans, dishes, and flatware – $ 400 – onetime payment
• Some furniture – $ 500– onetime payment
• Clean water for drinking and bathing; $ 250
• Toiletries (soap for washing and bathing, tooth paste, razors etc.) – $ 150

We also need to pay for medicines for the members of our group, doctors will come and have a home visit monthly for all members their cost is $ 400 US Dollar each month.

• Iraqi LGBT Annual Report and Financial Statements For the period ending 31 May 2009

• Human Rights Watch Report Says

• Report: The Iraqi anti-LGBT pogrom

Ali Hili - Iraqi Lgbt - Chair
22 Notting Hill Gate
Unit # 111
London , W11 3JE
United Kingdom
Mob: ++44 798 1959 453
Website : http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com/

Iraqi LGBT Annual Report and Accounts

Iraqi LGBT Annual Accounts

Iraqi LGBT Annual Report