Iraq: New anti-LGBTQ+ law carries up to 15 years in prison

Iraq’s parliament passed a law this Saturday criminalizing homosexual relations and gender reassignment, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison, after the first version initially carried the death penalty.

In response, non-governmental organization Amnesty International criticized Agence France-Presse for “violating fundamental human rights” by saying Saturday’s amendments “endanger Iraqis already facing daily persecution” in a conservative country where sexual minorities live in running.

From 10 to 15 years of imprisonment

The amendments amend the 1988 anti-prostitution law and were adopted during a session attended by 170 out of 329 deputies, the parliament’s press service said in a statement.

According to the text seen by AFP, the new provisions provide for punishment of 10 to 15 years in prison for homosexual relations, as well as for violent acts involving wives.

Gender change prohibited

The law also bans “any organization promoting homosexuality in Iraq,” with a seven-year prison sentence for “promoting” homosexual relationships. It prohibits “changes in biological sex based on individual desires or inclinations” and imposes penalties of one to three years in prison for any person or doctor involved in such a transition.

A similar punishment is provided for any man whose behavior is considered effeminate. Iraqi society rejects homosexuality, and the small LGBT+ community is often the target of “kidnappings, rape, torture and murder” by armed groups who enjoy “impunity,” a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report noted in 2022. “Iraq has effectively institutionalized discrimination and violence directed against members of society for years with complete impunity,” Razav Salihi, an Amnesty researcher, told AFP.

US ‘deeply concerned’

Iraq has used the 1969 Penal Code to convict LGBT+ people, relying on an article that provides for “life imprisonment or several years’ imprisonment” for sodomy. Lawmaker Raed al-Maliki, the sponsor of the amendments, admits that the vote, originally scheduled for mid-April, was postponed to “not affect” Prime Minister Mohamed Chia al-Sudani’s visit to Washington.

“There is a rollback of the law in America and Europe,” he admits. “But for us this is an internal issue, we refuse any interference. “Today we know that Iraqi society refuses (homosexuality), but there is a deliberate promotion of cultures that we do not recognize,” he believes. “We are concerned about the future, and the law is a kind of prevention to protect society. »

The US State Department is “deeply concerned” by the law, spokesman Matthew Miller responded to X on Saturday, deploring that the law threatens the most vulnerable people in Iraqi society and “undermines the government’s economic and political reform efforts.”