The SNP has condemned LGBT oppression by ISIS
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has condemned human rights abuses in Iraq and Syria at the hands of ISIS.
The SNP has written to the Foreign Secretary urging him to appoint a special envoy for LGBT rights around the world.
The letter comes just a week after a landmark meeting of the UN Security Council on the plight of LGBT people at the hands of ISIS.
SNP Spokesperson for Equalities, Angela Crawley MP said: “The cruelty of Daesh terrorists is well known but this is the first time the victimisation, torture and murder of LGBTI people in Iraq and Syria has been the focus of such high-level attention. The SNP unequivocally condemns the barbaric treatment that gay people have suffered at the hands of Daesh.
“It is important that the UK, alongside the international community, sends a strong message that LGBTI rights are human rights and that we stand with LGBTI people living in fear wherever they live.
“Appointing a special envoy will help ensure that international attention does not forget the plight of LGBTI people who live under Daesh or LGBTI refugees who have fled the area – I urge the Foreign Secretary to do so as a matter of urgency.”
Two gay men who fled Syria after living under ISIS spoke at the UN to tell of being gay under the regime.
Subhi Nahas and Adnan spoke at a historic meeting of the UN Security Council, which was the first of its kind to address LGBT issues.
There has been a spate of killings out of killings by ISIS, of men accused of homosexuality.
Last month, a video, shot in Palmyra, showed two Syrian men be thrown off a building before being stoned to death.
The terrorist group, which operates predominantly across Syria and Iraq, is notorious for filming videos in which captives – usually Westerners or opposing fighters – are brutally slaughtered.
It has also taken to executing men it claims are gay, by throwing them off of tall buildings and pelting them with rocks in IS-produced videos.
Members of the terrorist group, which has published a number of graphic videos featuring the murder of supposed gay men, holds power across parts of Iraq, Syria and Libya.
