Fridae

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has strongly cautioned against labeling the men gay in photos and videos showing them being thrown to their depths from a high tower by Islamic State extremists.

The commission has urged “people of conscience generally in the strongest possible terms against assuming that the men identified as ‘gay’ and against assuming the men engaged in homosexual acts (because) other than the photos themselves, very little is known about these executions.”

This was after video and pictures of Islamic State atrocities recently emerged including two men being thrown to their deaths and reported that this was punishment for being gay.

The group known as the Islamic State has conquered large swathe of Iraq and Syria and are enforcing a recently published tyrannical code of punishments ranging from flogging and amputation to crucifixion and other grotesque forms of capital punishments.

Death is reserved for most offences such as blasphemy, adultery, spying, apostasy, banditry. It also stipulates death for any person committing sodomy, as well as for the one receiving it.

To publicly call men “gay” can only do harm, says the commission. “If the men did not identify as gay, the allegation is inaccurate and obscures the Islamic State’s motivation for publicly labeling them as such. If the men indeed identified as gay, extreme caution should be exercised and consultation held with those they loved as widespread publicity potentially exposes their families, loved ones and intimate partners to harm.”

The commission, a leading international organization dedicated to human rights advocacy on behalf of people who experience discrimination or abuse on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, also said that one cannot assume that the executions were for sodomy solely on the basis of information from the Islamic State.

“Without evidentiary basis or independent confirmation, this sweeping allegation could be applied to anyone the Islamic State seeks to discredit—including human rights activists and anyone opposed to the Islamic State” it said on its website adding that “Accusing opponents of homosexuality is a tried and true tool used to discredit political adversaries throughout the world.”

The Islamic State group of extremists has recently carried out a seemingly unprecedented string of public executions within a 48-hour period.

Disturbing images appeared across its affiliated social media accounts claim to show the militants throwing two men from atop of a high tower as crowds below watched. The tower was reported to be in Nineveh, Iraq, controlled by Islamic State. Other images showed a woman with her arms tied behind her back stoned to death, of two other men tied to crosses before being shot. It is also believed that the militants executed 13 teenage boys for watching the recent Asian Cup football match between Iraq and Jordan.