Metro Weekly

ISIS executes four men for homosexuality

ISIS fighters pushed the men from a rooftop in Mosul

ISIS militants hold a man over the edge of a building, File Photo
ISIS militants hold a man over the edge of a building, File Photo

As if the world needed further reminding of the depravity and brutality of ISIS — particularly in the wake of revelations that a teenager was used to bomb a wedding in Turkey, killing more than 50 people — reports are coming out of Iraq that ISIS fighters continue to execute men accused of homosexuality by throwing them from rooftops.

Iraqi News reports that four men were executed in the city of Mosul on Saturday for the crimes of homosexuality and sodomy. They were blindfolded, before being pushed from the top of a building in the city center.

“ISIS members executed four people, including two of its own members, on charges of homosexuality and sodomy,” according to Iraqi News’ source. “The execution was carried out by throwing the men from the top of a former insurance company building…in dour al-Toub area in central Mosul.”

Those who survived the fall were stoned to death by a large crowd of men and their sons. It’s a gruesome practice witnessed in other mass executions of men accused of being gay, including this January, when 25 men were executed through a mixture of being thrown from rooftops, stoned to death, and shot in the head.

ISIS fighters push a man from a building, File Photo
ISIS fighters push a man from a building, File Photo

Age is inconsequential to the horrors of ISIS, with a 15-year-old boy thrown from a building in January after being accused of having a relationship with an ISIS fighter. The fighter was spared execution and instead sent to fight against Iraqi security forces.

Under the strict interpretation of Sharia law used by ISIS, homosexuality and sodomy are punishable by death — for both the person giving and the person receiving. Incidentally, Saudi Arabia — a U.S. ally — mandates a similarly extreme punishment for homosexuality. There, a first offence can be punished with prison, flogging, chemical castration, torture or death. A second conviction automatically carries the death penalty.

Related: ISIS embraced gay couple, then stoned them to death

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