Gay Men Fear Vicious Persecution And Death Under ISIS

Gay Men Fear Vicious Persecution And Death Under ISIS: REYHANLI, Turkey (AP) — Before a crowd of men on a street in the Syrian city of Palmyra, the masked Islamic State group judge read out the sentence against the two men convicted of homosexuality: They would be thrown to their deaths from the roof of the nearby Wael Hotel.

He asked one of the men if he was satisfied with the sentence. Death, the judge told him, would help cleanse him of his sin.

"I'd prefer it if you shoot me in the head," 

32-year-old Hawas Mallah replied helplessly.

The second man, 21-year-old Mohammed Salameh, pleaded for a chance to repent, promising never to have sex with a man again, according to a witness among the onlookers that sunny July morning who gave The Associated Press a rare first-hand account.

"Take them and throw them off," the judge ordered. Other masked extremists tied the men's hands behind their backs and blindfolded them. They led them to the roof of the four-story hotel, according to the witness, who spoke in the Turkish city of Reyhanli on condition he be identified only by his first name, Omar, for fear of reprisals.

By employing the grisly method of execution, the Islamic State group aims to show to radicals that it is unflinchingly carrying out the most extreme strains in Islam — a sort of "ideological purity" the group boasts distinguishes it even from other militants. The punishment "will protect the Muslims from treading the same rotten course that the West has chosen to pursue," IS proclaimed in its online English-language magazine Dabiq.

The Quran tells the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom — and sodomy in Arabic is known as "liwat," based on Lot's name.

The Islamic State group bases its punishment on one account in which Muhammad reportedly says gays "should be thrown from tremendous height then stoned."

Omar, the man who watched the execution in Palmyra, said he remains shaken.

It began when IS militants blared on loudspeakers for men to gather to witness the execution. Then a black van pulled up outside the Wael Hotel, and Mallah and Salamah were brought out.

The first to be thrown off was Mallah.  He was tied to a chair so he couldn't resist, then pushed over the side. He landed on his back, broken but still moving. 

A fighter shot him in the head.

Next was Salameh. He landed on his head and died immediately. Still, fighters stoned his body, Omar said.The bodies were then hung up in Palmyra's Freedom Square for two days, each with a placard on his chest: 

"He received the punishment 

for 

practicing the crime of Lot's people."


He asked one of the men if he was satisfied with the sentence. 
Death, 

the judge told him, would help cleanse him of his sin.