Gay Men Tortured and Killed by Taliban

According to several European physicians interviewed last spring in Kabul, Afghanistan. Zohra Rasekh, a researcher for the group Physicians for Human Life, reported that Shiite Muslim Afghans, known as Hazara, were "gang-raped and killed and left at the doorstep of their homes." Rasekh added that homosexual men in the cities of Kandahar, Orezgan and Heart are "lined up against walls, bulldozed and buried alive." Norr Ullah Zadran, a Taliban representative, said that this practice is "100 percent correct," and also said that homosexuality, which is considered adultery, is punished by burying that person into a wall.

The Washington Post also reports that Ben Laden, a suspect in the recent embassy bombings in East Africa, has aided Islamic militants fighting in Afghanistan. Zadran commented while there is no proof that Laden supports the Taliban, but "I wish he could do it. That is what we need from anyone who is willing to help us.The country has been at war for 25 years. We really do not care."

Media Resources: The Washington Post - August 14, 1998

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