Mosul building used by ISIS to execute gay people demolished

A Mosul building used by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) to execute gay men has been torn down.

The building in downtown Mosul, Iraq, was heavily featured in ISIS news propaganda clips between 2014 and 2017, when the terrorist group controlled of the city.

Dozens of chilling clips were released from the location, showing men accused of having sex with other men thrown to their deaths from the roof, before being pelted with rocks.

ISIS execution building torn down in Mosul

The Chadirji Building, which was the headquarters of Iraq’s National Insurance Company prior to the ISIS occupation, had been heavily damaged during the 2017 bombardment campaign that forced ISIS out of the city.

Demolition work began a month ago at the site, and just three floors remain standing.

An Iraqi climbs up the rubble of the destroyed seven-storey Chadirji Building, designed by celebrated Iraqi architect Rifat Chadirji in the 1960s, on January 13, 2019, in the city of Mosul. (ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP/Getty)

According to The New Arab, city official Mohammad Jassem said: “It’s prone to collapse because of the rockets, shelling, and explosions that hit it and destroyed large parts of it.

“A committee was formed to study the building and assessed it was no longer viable, and that any restoration at this stage would be futile.”

Some in the city opposed the decision, arguing that it should have been kept in a ruined state “as a witness to the ugliness of Daesh’s crimes against Mosul.”

But resident Samira Ali called for the site to be replaced with a museum remembering the victims of the atrocities committed by ISIS.

She told AFP: “I hope this building is removed and that a garden or museum is erected in its place.