Islamic State claims 30 killed for sodomy, UN meeting told
UNITED NATIONS - The head of an international gay rights organization is telling the U.N. Security Council that the Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for executing at least 30 people for sodomy.
Monday's event is the first time the council has met on gay rights. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power calls the closed-door meeting "historic."
Before today, the #UNSC had never had a meeting on #LGBT rights. This was long overdue-a small but important step that must not be our last.
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) August 24, 2015
Heartbreaking account today by one man in hiding after being repeatedly attacked by ISIL & others: "In my society, being gay means death"
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) August 24, 2015
The executive director of The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission says that courts established by the Islamic State group claim to have punished sodomy with stoning, firing squads, beheadings and pushing from tall buildings.
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.
The Islamic State group holds large parts of Syria and Iraq.