A 15-year-old boy was arrested by ISIS militants on charges of homosexuality and then threw him from the top of a building in central Deir ez-Zor, Syria, reports Syrian news agency ARA.
Following the gay teen’s execution, ISIS demoted the man who raped him and sent him to the front lines.
“The horrific execution took place in front of a large crowd,” a local media activist who witnessed the killing told ARA.
The teen was captured “in the house of an ISIS leader” on Thursday.
“The boy was accused of being engaged in a homosexual relation with the prominent ISIS officer Abu Zaid al-Jazrawi,” said Sarai al-Din.
The Sharia Court in Deir ez-Zor demanded Abu Zaid die for being homosexual, but ISIS commanders stepped in and demanded he be spared and instead be sent to fight in Iraq.
“Abu Zaid was forced to leave Syria and join the fighting fronts in northwestern Iraq. The decision has been taken by the ISIS leadership,” al-Din said.
The United Nations now estimates that ISIS has executed at least 30 people for being gay.
The UN Security Council held its first discussion on ISIS attacks against LGBT people in the Middle East last month.
The executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Jessica Stern, said Islamic State’s homophobic violence was inspiring other militias and ‘private actors’ to attack gay people too.
She also said that persecution of LGBT people in Iraq and Syria began long before the emergence of ISIS.
Stern said: “In addition to men perceived as gay, trans-identified people and lesbians are among those who have been raped and killed,” she added.
She called on special strategies to combat attacks against gay people, including specific UN action to relocate those most in need.
