Israel and the United Arab Emirates are the only Middle Eastern countries to record cases of the virus as of Thursday. No cases of monkeypox have been detected in Iraq so far. He also blamed the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic on the legalisation of gay marriage in western countries. But this is not the first time that Sadr blamed the LGBTQ+ community for disease outbreaks. In 2016, Sadr himself called for an end to violence against the community, in a statement welcomed by HRW and other rights groups. Human Rights Watch has said that LGBTQ+ communities in Iraq live under the constant threat of abduction, rape, torture and murder at the hands of armed groups and the police. Homosexuality is illegal in Iraq, and being publicly queer is not socially accepted, which constantly puts the community at risk of threats and abuse. Who is Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraq’s most influential religious-political figure? Read More »
