Men 'intentionally acting like women' also banned
Iraq passes bill sentencing same-sex acts to 10-15 years’ jail
NEWSROOM – Iraq’s parliament passed a bill on Saturday criminalising same-sex relations, which will receive a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, in a move rights groups condemned as an “attack on human rights”.
Transgender people will be sentenced to three years’ jail under the amendments to a 1988 anti-prostitution law, which were adopted during a session attended by 170 out of 329 lawmakers.
A previous draft had proposed capital punishment for same-sex relations, in what campaigners had called a “dangerous” escalation.
The new amendments enable courts to sentence people engaging in same-sex relations to between 10 to 15 years in prison, according to the document, in the country where gay and transgender people already face frequent attacks and persecution.
They also set a minimum seven-year prison term for “promoting” same-sex relations and a sentence ranging from one to three years for men who “intentionally” act “like women.”
The amended law makes “biological sex change based on personal desire and inclination” a crime and punishes transgender people and doctors who perform gender-affirming surgery with up to three years in prison.
Homosexuality is taboo in Iraqi society, however there had not previously been a law that explicitly punished same-sex relations.
Members of Iraq’s LGBTQ+ community have been prosecuted for sodomy or under vague morality and anti-prostitution clauses in Iraq’s penal code.
Acting Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, staunchly defended the recent amendments to the 1988 Anti-Prostitution Law, describing them as “a necessary step to protect the moral structure of society and the supreme interest in safeguarding our children from calls for moral degradation and sexual deviancy that are invading countries around the world.”
In his statement, Mandalawi praised the efforts of the Legal Committee and fellow lawmakers, stating, “We extend our thanks to the Legal Committee and the honorable deputies for this achievement that serves the interest of our society.” He affirmed that “there is no place for homosexuality in Iraq, the land of prophets, pure imams, and righteous saints.”
“Iraq has effectively codified in law the discrimination and violence members of the LGBTI community have been subjected to with absolute impunity for years,” said Amnesty International’s Iraq Researcher Razaw Salihy.
“The amendments concerning LGBTI rights are a violation of fundamental human rights and put at risk Iraqis whose lives are already hounded daily,” Salihy added.
The amendments also ban organisations that “promote” homosexuality and punish “wife swapping” with a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years.
“The law serves as a preventive measure to protect society from such acts,” lawmaker Raed Al-Maliki, who advanced the amendments, told AFP.
He said passing the new amendment was deliberately postponed until after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani’s visit to the United States earlier this month.
The U.S. and the European Union oppose the law and “we didn’t want to impact the visit,” he said.
“It is an internal matter and we do not accept any interference in Iraqi affairs.”
The U.S. President has come down strongly on anti-LGBTQ+ laws passed in other countries since his inauguration, like one passed in Uganda last year.
LGBTQ+ Iraqis have been forced into the shadows, often targeted with “kidnappings, rapes, torture and murders” that go unpunished, according to a 2022 report by Human Rights Watch and the IraQueer non-governmental organisation.
Human Rights Watch’s Iraq researcher Sarah Sanbar said the new law change “is a horrific development and an attack on human rights”.
“Rather than focusing on enacting laws that would benefit Iraqis — like passing the draft domestic violence law or draft child protection law — Iraq is choosing to codify discrimination against LGBT people,” she said.
Reporting by AFP and 964media