Published 2024-04-27 20.00
unsaveSave
expand-left
full screenPrison in Baghdad, Iraq. Archive image. Photo: Karim Kadim/AP/TT
Iraq’s parliament has approved an amendment to the law that criminalizes same-sex relationships. The punishment can be between ten and fifteen years in prison.
Promoting same-sex relationships is punishable by at least seven years in prison, and for men who “intentionally” pose as women, the punishment is between one and three years in prison. Transgender people can be sentenced to up to three years in prison, according to the amendment, which is based on an anti-prostitution law from 1988.
In an earlier draft to amend the law, the death penalty was proposed for same-sex sex.
Homosexual relations are a social taboo in Iraq, but so far have not been punishable.
– The change in the law regarding LGBTQ rights is a violation of basic human rights and means that Iraqis, who are already persecuted today, risk their lives, says Razaw Salihy at Amnesty International.