IRAQ MURDER CLAIMS REFUTED

Claims that members of the US military were involved in the execution and torture of gay Iraqis have been refuted by the US Army Criminal Investigative Command (USACIDC).

The allegations were made by a gay Iraqi refugee, known as Hussam, at a recent benefit held at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters and were first reported by the Washington Blade.

“The USACIDC Special Agents have looked into allegations that US service members were involved in committing atrocities against gays in Iraq and have found no credible evidence that the allegations have merit,” the USACIDC Chief of Public Affairs Chris Grey wrote in an email to activist Michael Petrelis.

At the benefit, Hussam showed gruesome photographs of acts allegedly committed against gays in Iraq, and claimed that US service members were involved in other anti-gay attacks, including detaining Iraqi civilians thought to be gay and executing them.

However his story apparently changed after being investigated by the USACIDC. “In a sworn statement to Special Agents, the individual giving the presentation at the 24 July fundraiser said his words were taken out of context, he was misunderstood due to language barriers, and he was misquoted,” Grey wrote.

“He also said he never witnessed any actions of US Soldiers that he would classify as criminal or any evidence of US service members targeting Iraqi men or women because of their sexual orientation.”