Saudi Arabia: Protest against the death penalty for homosexual conduct
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The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) On January 1, 2002, 'Ali bin Hittan bin Sa'id, Muhammad bin Suleyman bin Muhammad and Muhammad bin Khalil bin 'Abdullah, all Saudi Arabian nationals, were executed in Abha, Asir province, possibly solely for their sexual orientation.
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has issued an action alert released by Amnesty International, regarding three men in Saudi Arabia who were executed, possibly solely on account of their homosexual conduct.
The case of the 3 men recently beheaded in Saudi Arabia has stirred an ongoing controversy. It is not clear from the information made available by the Saudi government whether the reason behind the beheading was the men's sexual orientation or the fact they may have engaged in sexual activities with under-age boys.
The case of the 3 men recently beheaded in Saudi Arabia has stirred an ongoing controversy. It is not clear from the information made available by the Saudi government whether the reason behind the beheading was the men's sexual orientation or the fact they may have engaged in sexual activities with under-age boys.
WLUML is unable to take a stand on this specific case because of the lack of reliable information and the reluctance of the Saudi authorities to cooperate with well-established human rights organisations. However, the ICO wish to reiterate that we believe all human beings who engage in consensual homosexual relationships should be free of any form of coertion by the state or the community. At the very same time, we also strongly support the rights of children not to be forced into any type of sexual activity - whether homosexual or heterosexual. In many Muslim countries and communities, issues such as sexual exploitation of children and teenagers, incest or early forced marriages remain very strong taboos, even though there is no denying that many children and teenagers do face such problems.
