ISIS has claimed responsibility for 30 executions for ‘sodomy’
In a historic meeting held in response to the persecution of gay people by ISIS, the UN Security Council has heard that the extremist group takes responsibility for 30 killings over “sodomy”.
The landmark closed-door meeting was held today, and details were released to the press.
The executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Jessica Stern, said the courts established by ISIS claim responsibility for having stoned, shot and beheaded those accused of sodomy.
Jessica Stern, whose remarks were released publicly, says fear of the group has fueled violence by other militias and “private actors” against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals.
US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, said in advance of the meeting that it would focus on “ISIL and its systematic targeting of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) persons who find themselves in ISIL-controlled territory.”
The meeting was hosted by the US and Chile, and all member states interested in LGBT protections were able to attend.
“This will be a historic meeting. It will be the first Security Council meeting on LGBT rights,” Power told reporters.
The US and Chile published a note ahead of the meeting outlining that the extremist group “has targeted one particular community with seeming impunity and scant international attention: LGBT individuals and those perceived to be LGBT.”
Chad Griffin, the President of the Human Rights Campaign, hailed the meeting, saying: “The gruesome images and videos documenting ISIS’s horrific violence are a haunting reminder of humankind’s capacity for evil.
“By convening this meeting, Ambassadors Power and Melet have made clear that these human rights abuses against LGBT people are not only deeply heinous and inhumane, but also a matter of utmost importance to global security.”
There has been a spate of killings out of killings by ISIS, of men accused of homosexuality.
Last month, a video, shot in Palmyra, showed two Syrian men be thrown off a building before being stoned to death.
The terrorist group, which operates predominantly across Syria and Iraq, is notorious for filming videos in which captives – usually Westerners or opposing fighters – are brutally slaughtered.
It has also taken to executing men it claims are gay, by throwing them off of tall buildings and pelting them with rocks in IS-produced videos.
Members of the terrorist group, which has published a number of graphic videos featuring the murder of supposed gay men, holds power across parts of Iraq, Syria and Libya.