Apr 17, 2009  |  By: Chris Johnson  | COMMENTS     

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) is taking U.S. officials to task over alleged human rights abuses against LGBT people in Iraq.

Polis, who is gay, told the Blade that he urged action from the U.S. after looking into “a round of crackdowns on the gay population in Baghdad” during a congressional fact-finding trip to the country last week.

During his investigation, Polis said he learned that Iraqi officials in the Ministry of Interior were allegedly involved in human rights violations against LGBT people. He sent a letter to Patricia Butenis, the acting U.S. ambassador to Iraq, requesting “that the State Department follow-up on these allegations and urge the Iraqi government to respect all human rights.”

Polis said he heard reports about “different categories” of violence toward LGBT people in Iraq.

He said a café frequented by gay Iraqis was destroyed, leaving six Iraqis dead. Polis said it was unclear who was behind the destruction, but noted that the Iraqi government “failed to protect them.”

Polis also said he heard several gay Iraqis were jailed because of their sexual orientation and that one or more of them might have been executed by the Iraqi government. The lawmaker said he received a letter allegedly written by a jailed man who was beaten into confessing that he was involved with an LGBT rights group in Iraq.

“Even the modern Arab countries are a far cry from civil unions or laws to prevent discrimination,” Polis said, “but it’s an even grosser violation of human rights for gays to fear for their life and limb, which is what is occurring in Iraq.”

Brian Branton, chief of staff for Polis, said the lawmaker’s office doesn’t know whether these incidents are a new phenomenon or if they’ve been happening consistently for some time.

The allegations that Polis said he heard are similar to incidents of human rights abuses toward LGBT people in Iraq recently reported in the New York Times.

An April 8 article in the newspaper reported that while a democratic Iraq coupled with the recent improvements in security has allowed an LGBT subculture to emerge, the response to the community has been “swift and deadly.”

The Times reported that in the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have been discovered in Sadr City.

“Most have been shot, some multiple times,” the article says. “Several have been found with the word ‘pervert’ in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said.”

The article says that the killers are “not just Shiite death squads, but also tribal and family members shamed by their gay relatives.”

Polis said “it’s premature to say” whether U.S. officials could do more to address the issue. He said officials at the U.S. embassy in Iraq denied any knowledge of incidents before he brought their attention to the matter.

“We provided them with knowledge of these incidents, and the path that they follow in the next few weeks will help determine whether Iraq is allowed to kill off its own gay population or raise the concern of human rights,” he said.

Noel Clay, a State Department spokesperson, said U.S. officials “condemn the persecution of LGBTs in Iraq,” but he couldn’t confirm whether the violence they’re facing in Iraq is because of their sexual orientation.

Clay noted that while homosexuality is against the law in Iraq, the death penalty is not the punishment for homosexual acts.

“We’ve seen the reports, but there’s nothing that actually we can confirm,” he said. “So when I say we condemn the persecution of LGBTs in Iraq, that’s in general. I can’t confirm that these people that are reported to have been killed because they’re gay were done so because they were gay.”

Polis also said he spoke with the chair of the Iraqi parliament’s Human Rights Committee while he was in the country. He said she “reiterated her desire to protect all human rights,” but he received no further response from her or the Iraqi government on the alleged human rights abuses.

Caitlin Berczik, a spokesperson for the Iraqi embassy in the United States, said she couldn’t comment on the matter before Blade deadline.

A number of nonprofit organizations have taken interest in the reported violence toward LGBT people in Iraq. Amnesty International is writing a letter on the issue to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Polis said.

And Scott Long, director of the LGBT rights program for Human Rights Watch, was to travel Tuesday to Iraq to investigate the reported incidents.

Long said he intends to interview Iraqis to document the violence and to investigate any government involvement ...