Remembering Our Dead

Below is a list of transgender people murdered in the middle-east (and other Islamic countries) whose deaths are attributable to prejudice and that were reported in the media. This list does not include victims that were unreported.

“Ali” (1)
Location: Iraq
Date of death: January 2008
Cause of death: Executed for being transgendered
Remember Me: The name I used in life was not Ali, but it is the only name I am known by. I lived in a GLBT safe house in Basra, Iraq and was arrested by US-backed state police for being transgendered. They took me to their station where I was humiliated before being executed. My ordeal was made known through the efforts of a GLBT Iraqis-in-exile group that obtained a video of my treatment at the hands of the police.

Video of Ali before she was executed, showing Al-Basra Police Officers shaving her head and announcing proudly that they’re going to execute her, and anyone like her:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2tDVtjQNfQ

Unidentified Transgender (2)
Location: Iraq
Date of death: January 2008
Cause of death: Executed for being transgendered

Remember Me: I was the second of three transgenders taken to a Basra police station to be humiliated and then murdered.

Unidentified Transgender (3)
Location: Iraq
Date of death: January 2008
Cause of death: Executed for being transgendered

Remember Me: I was the last of three transgenders transgenders taken to a Basra police station to be humiliated and then murdered.

Dina (Haydar) Faiek
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Cause of Death: Burnt to death
Date of Death: 2005

40-year-old Dina was beaten by uniformed officers who doused her with gasoline. Witnesses said observers were cheering as she burned to death.

Notes: Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the single most powerful religious figure in Iraq today—a man the Bush administration plays up as a partner in peace and many have promoted for a Nobel Peace Prize—had posted a fatwa against gays on his Web site in October 2005. According to a translation, people “involved” in homosexuality “should be killed in the worst, most severe way possible.” It went unnoticed by most of the world. But Sistani is the spiritual leader of the Shia Muslim majority, especially followers of the main Islamic fundamentalist group called the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, whose armed militants in the Badr Organization have infiltrated the Interior Ministry police force. The Badr Organization is reportedly responsible for many of the antigay executions.

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4915172.stm

http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_5304

“Emad”
Location: Iraq
Cause of Death: Hit and ran over by car
Date of Death: 2006?

Roomate describes the condition of the body, which showed signs that they killed Emad by running her over with a car. His corpse was left alongside the road, and passersby openly debated if he was a man or a woman.
Sources:

http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_5304&pageNum=2

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/371/397/1955/3/15

Hosam Mortatha
Location: Iraq
Cause of Death: Shots to head and body
Date of Death: June 18, 2006

Hosam was a 12 year-old school pupil. Hosam was forced into a sex trade gang which sexually abuses children. He had been kidnapped and forced to dress like a girl. He was known in his school and neighborhood for his effeminate look and behavior. His killers are thought to have been Islamist militias. He was found with bullet wounds in his head and body.

Source: http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=9789

Dilek İnce
Location: Ankara, Turkey
Date of death: November 11, 2008
Cause of death: Shot eight times with shotgun

Remember Me: My name was Dilek and I wanted to live a quiet life with my husband. In October, I had been assaulted and I dared to testify against my two attackers. When I did, officials said that people were losing patience with people like me and the court did not convict my attackers. While in my car, I was attacked by two men with pump-action shotguns. When I arrived at the hospital, doctors said that I had taken at least 8 blasts at close range. While my two killers have not been found, the GLBT community responded to my murder by taking to the streets in the hundreds in protest.


Elly Susanna
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Date of death: November 7, 2007
Cause of death: Raped and drowned by police

Remember Me: My name was Elly and I spent time organizing the transgender community. One night when I was doing outreach to tell my friends about the 2007 Transgender Day of Remembrance I was arrested by police who gang-raped and drowned me.

Fedra
Location: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Date of death: July 20, 2007
Cause of death: Thrown off a building and run over

Remember Me: My name was Freda. All that is known about my life was that I was thrown off a building. I fell into an alleyway where I was then run down by a car.

Hasan “Tamara” Sabeh
Date of death: January 11, 2007
Location: Baghdad, Iraq
Cause of death: Shot to Death

Remember Me: I was a 34 year old fashion designer. While at work, a group of individuals wearing official Iraqi police uniforms dragged me into the street. They stripped me naked and then shot me at point blank range. My brother-in-law rushed to cradle my body and the Iraqi police murdered him too. After my death, they publicly mutilated my body and then hanged me as a warning to all GLBT Iraqis.

Unknown Transperson
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Cause of Death: Slit throat
Date of Death: November 11, 2005

Notes: This victim remains unknown, but was likely of Chinese of East Malaysian descent, but living within the local area. The victim’s body was discovered head-first in a garbage bin, wearing a dark T-shirt, white shorts and padded bra. Police revealed that there was a single slash wound on the neck and numerous bruises on the body.

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Other Sources:
International Transgender Day of Rememberance
Houston Transgender Day of Rememberance