Iraq criminalises same-sex relationships with harsh prison sentences

Same-sex relationships are now illegal in Iraq, with sentences of up to 15 years in prison.

Human rights organizations have denounced this as a “attack on human rights,” and the parliament passed this bill on Saturday.

In a session attended by 170 out of 329 lawmakers, changes were made to a 1988 anti-prostitution law that stipulated a three-year prison sentence for transgender individuals.

The death penalty for same-sex relationships was included in an earlier draft, which activists referred to as a “dangerous” escalation.

According to the paper reviewed by AFP, the proposed revisions allow judges to punish those having same-sex relationships to between 10 and 15 years in prison in a nation where homosexual and transgender people already frequently experience discrimination and attacks.

They also established a sentence ranging from one to three years for men who “intentionally” act as women, and a minimum seven-year prison term for “promoting” same-sex relationships.

Under the new law, doctors who conduct gender-affirming surgery on transgender patients face up to three years in prison and are penalized for performing “biological sex change based on personal desire and inclination.”

Although homosexuality is frowned upon in Iraq’s conservative society, same-sex relationships were not previously specifically illegal. LGBTQ people in Iraq have faced legal action for sodomy or for violating the country’s imprecise morals laws and anti-prostitution provisions.

According to Amnesty International’s Iraq researcher Razaw Salihy, “Iraq has effectively codified in law the discrimination and violence members of the LGBTI community have been subjected to with absolute impunity for years.”

“Amendments pertaining to LGBTI rights violate basic human rights and endanger the lives of Iraqis, whose lives are already persecuted on a daily basis,” Salihy stated.

The changes also prohibit organizations that “promote” homosexuality and impose a 10-to 15-year prison penalty for “wife swapping.”

The law protects society from these kinds of atrocities by acting as a preventive mechanism, as lawmaker Raed al-Maliki said to AFP.

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He said that the new amendment’s passage was delayed until after the US visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani earlier this month.

“We didn’t want to impact the visit,” he said, referring to the opposition of the measure by the US and the EU. “We do not accept any interference in Iraqi affairs; this is an internal matter.”

According to US State Department spokesman Matt Miller on Saturday, the measure “undermines the government’s political and economic reform efforts” and puts those most vulnerable in Iraqi society in danger.

The department is “deeply concerned” about the legislation. Alarmed by “kidnappings, rapes, torture, and murders” that go unpunished, LGBTQ Iraqis have been driven into hiding, according to a 2022 study by Human Rights Watch and the non-governmental organization IraQueer.

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