2012 Emo Killings in Iraq

In 2011, the emo subculture — associated in parts of the Arab world with homosexuality and satanism — gained popularity among Iraqi teenagers, following its earlier spread elsewhere in the region. Homosexuality was not illegal in Iraq at the time, but LGBT people faced widespread taboo, discrimination, and violence. Activists reported that anti-gay harassment had increased since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with gay Iraqis being bullied by security forces and attacked by paramilitary groups in heavily Shiite areas of Baghdad, including Sadr City and Al-Shu'ala, since at least 2006. Human Rights Watch stated that hundreds of Iraqi gay men had been killed since 2004, describing a campaign it said was led by the Mahdi Army with alleged collusion from Iraqi security forces.

In February 2012, Baghdad's Morality Police published a statement on the Iraqi Interior Ministry website criticizing emo teens for their clothing and piercings, condemning emo as Satanic, and stating that the Interior Ministry had given approval "to eliminate [the phenomenon] as soon as possible." In the following weeks, anti-emo flyers reportedly appeared in Baghdad neighborhoods, threatening death unless targeted young men changed their appearance and stopped listening to certain music genres.

Reported death tolls varied significantly by source. Interior Ministry security officers cited a figure of six deaths. Reuters reported hospital and security officials put the number at 14 or more. Human rights groups such as the BRussells Tribunal suggested the toll could be as high as 100. The Associated Press cited an unnamed Interior Ministry official putting the number at 58. The BBC reported the United Nations set a minimum of 12 deaths, while believing the actual number was higher. Victims were reportedly found in dumpsters after being beaten to death with cement blocks, in a method described as "death by blocking" ("mawt al-blokkah"), in which blocks were thrown at limbs before being thrown at the head.

In response, international rights organizations — including the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International — called for investigations. The Dutch government expanded its asylum policy toward LGBTQ Iraqis in May 2012. In 2013, Iraq's Council of Ministers established an inter-ministerial committee that issued a statement affirming that LGBTQ people are "no different" from others.

Responsibility for the killings was disputed. Iraqi commentators and at least one academic suggested that authorities may have tolerated paramilitary violence against emo youths as a means of directing paramilitary energy elsewhere. Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr denied responsibility for the deaths via an Iraqi television network, while criticizing emo teens. Iraqi officials publicly denied that any organized campaign existed, asserting that the reports were fabricated for political purposes. In September 2012, the BBC interviewed 17 gay men and former policemen in Baghdad who said the killings were ongoing and blamed the Interior Ministry for inciting the violence. No individuals have been publicly charged or convicted in connection with these killings according to available reporting.