Iraqi Police Gay Murder

Is this democracy and freedom?

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article362151.ece

[i]Iraqi police ‘killed 14-year-old boy for being homosexual’
By Jerome Taylor
Published: 05 May 2006

Human rights groups have condemned the “barbaric” murder of a 14-year-old boy, who, according to witnesses, was shot on his doorstep by Iraqi police for the apparent crime of being gay.

Ahmed Khalil was shot at point-blank range after being accosted by men in police uniforms, according to his neighbours in the al-Dura area of Baghdad…[/i]

It seems the killings are coming from the Badr militia and al-Sistani. The Iraqi police are infiltrated by al-Sistani’s followers. The homosexual killings aren’t sanctioned by the government, but are a function of the religious fundamentalists in Iraqi. The question should be:

Are Islamic fundamentalists truly evil people?

From what the article says I’m not even sure the kid was necessarily gay, just whoring himself out to men so that he could help feed his family. It’s a generally sad situation, both gays being killed for being gay and people being driven into prostitution.

I posted hastily without thinking the original question through. I apologize for that. I’m not going to edit my original post though.

I pondered this issue while in the bathroom.
You have actually asked a good question. To ask a more specific question; is a democracy in the middle east going to criminalize fatwas such as those issued by al-Sistani? Is a free society going to tolerate Islamic fundamentalism?