A Libyan militia has reportedly
captured 12 gay men and threatened to execute them.
According to Gay Star News, the group
claims the men were captured while attending a private party in Ain
Zara, a suburb of Tripoli, on Thursday.
The men were described by their
kidnappers as the “third sex” in a Facebook post.
Human Rights Watch Libya identified the
group as the Al-Nawasi militia, an extremist Salafist group which has
reportedly attacked more moderate forms of Islam.
“We never had any gay nightclubs in
Libya, so it is not uncommon for Libyans – straight, bisexual and
gay men to party in a private space, drink, dance, have fun and
sometimes even have sex,” a Libyan LGBT activist known as Khaleed
is quoted as saying by Gay
Star News. “The fact that they were captured by this extreme
Salafist militia is very worrying.”
Khaleed said that the Libyan militia
groups have filled a void left by largely absent or powerless police.
The Al-Nawasi militia has also claimed
that it is now part of the Libyan Ministry of Interior.