SUROOSH ALVI: From what we were seeing and hearing, the
secular society that was the hallmark of Saddam Hussein's
Iraq has largely been replaced with religious conservatism.
Mix that with Western-inspired youth culture, and there are
going to be problems.
Subcultures in Iraq are under attack.
For example, the Iraqi equivalent of emo kids are
being targeted.
And in one of the biggest stories out of Iraq since the
US has left, a number of them were supposedly killed.
-[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SUROOSH ALVI: However, there wasn't a lot of concrete
evidence supporting these stories.
And some people thought that the case of these emo killings
was just scare mongering to keep kids from
straying from tradition.
We went to meet with Dog Faced Corpse and Fatalogy, two local
metal bands, to get their opinion on it.
Oh, yeah.
Great.
Thanks buddy.
Cheers.
Shukran.
So this emo story, is it like legit or is it bullshit?
Did it actually happen?
-It did not.
-No, it's true, man.
-It's true?
-Yeah, it's true.
SUROOSH ALVI: See?
There's still like--
Well, you're saying it happened, and you're saying it
didn't.
-Yeah, it's happening.
-The media exaggerates the things.
I think it's bullshit.
As you know, they think that emos are metal heads are
satanists as this everything.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SUROOSH ALVI: So they had to turn the freezer off to plug
in the amp.
Across the street there's a religious cleric.
It's the month of Muharram.
And he gets pretty pissed off apparently.
So yeah, they're a bit freaked out about playing right now.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SUROOSH ALVI: Dog Faced Corpse, where does the name
come from?
-[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
-[SPEAKING ARABIC]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
-Sounds good?
SUROOSH ALVI: Yeah, man.
Thanks for doing that.
I know that the religious cleric is probably not too
happy right now.
It's Muharram and everything.
Or yeah, maybe he's out there.
It was pretty clear that no matter what kind of music
you're playing--
rap, emo, metal, or even classical--
you could get killed.
But in terms of oppression, the group that has it the
absolute worst is the gay community in Iraq.
What is the situation like here for you?
ALI AL-HAFEZ: [SPEAKING ARABIC]
SUROOSH ALVI: During Saddam Hussein's time, you were
persecuted for being gay.
And now you live in fear of being persecuted as well.
So it was bad before and it's still bad.
ALI AL-HAFEZ: [SPEAKING ARABIC]
These are my friends.
[SPEAKING ARABIC]
SUROOSH ALVI: That's you?
ALI AL-HAFEZ: Yeah.
SUROOSH ALVI: Yeah.
That's a good look for you.
ALI AL-HAFEZ: That's me.
Sorry.
Why?
Excuse me, cat.
SUROOSH ALVI: I assume it's a very underground kind of world
that you have.
ALI AL-HAFEZ: [SPEAKING ARABIC]
SUROOSH ALVI: Even though they might be part of the same
group that's persecuting you guys.
ALI AL-HAFEZ: [SPEAKING ARABIC]
SUROOSH ALVI: Wow.
That's crazy.
And are you getting help from the gay rights organizations
in the West?
No?
Not yet?
ALI AL-HAFEZ: [SPEAKING ARABIC]
-[SPEAKING ARABIC]