Iraq has enacted a new legislation that penalizes same-sex partnerships with up to 15 years in jail, a move decried by rights campaigners as the latest blow on the country’s LGBTQ minority.
The Iraqi parliament passed a bill on Saturday that amends a 1988 anti-prostitution law to include acts such as “promoting homosexuality” (now punishable by up to seven years in prison) and “biological sex changes based on personal desires and inclination.”
Transgender persons and physicians who conduct gender reassignment surgery risk up to three years in prison under the new law, while it excludes situations of medical intervention to “treat birth defects to affirm the sex of the individual” following a court judgement.
The sentences are less harsh than those initially proposed by Raad al-Maliki, the independent Iraqi politician who submitted the measure in August 2023. He had sought to impose penalties of life imprisonment and death for same-sex relations.
However, the great majority of the 170 legislators who attended Saturday’s parliamentary session – out of a total of 329 – voted in favour of passing the measure with lower punishments.
The acting parliamentary speaker, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, stated that the new legislation is aimed at “protecting the moral fabric” of society.
“There is no place for homosexuality in Iraq, the land of prophets, pure imams, and righteous saints,” Al-Mandalawi declared in a statement on Saturday.
I’d sooner die than stay in Iraq.
Samar, a member of Baghdad’s LGBTQ community, described the legislation as “unfair” and part of a broader “trend” of homophobia in the country.
Samar, who uses only her first name for safety reasons, told CNN that she and her friends had been victims of multiple crimes because of their sexual orientation. She said that one acquaintance, a woman from Al-Diwaniah, was poisoned by her own family when they discovered she was a homosexual.
Many members of the LGBTQ community, including herself, are now desperate to leave the country, she explained.
“I started my own business a long time ago to raise funds to leave Iraq, legally or illegally. I’m in despair due to the amount of strain I’m under. “Let it be illegal migration; I’d rather die on the way than remain in Iraq,” Samar stated.
Samar further stated that the bill’s vote had been postponed until after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s recent meeting with US President Joe Biden.
Samar urged the United States and other countries to apply diplomatic pressure on the Iraqi government to repeal the law.
“I want to voice a demand from the queers in Iraq, not only to the American embassy in Iraq but to all embassies of countries that put human rights as a priority, that they intervene against this law and use diplomatic pressure to end the crimes that are going to happen because of it.”
Matthew Miller, a spokeswoman for the US Department of State, voiced great worry over the proposed legislation, claiming that it may severely restrict free speech and expression, impede NGO operations, and reduce Iraq’s attraction to international investors by weakening human rights and economic diversification.
He added that foreign business alliances have already expressed concern that such discriminatory measures might harm Iraq’s economic progress.
“Respect for human rights, as well as political and economic participation, is critical to Iraq’s security, stability, and development. This legislation contradicts these values and undermines the government’s political and economic reform efforts,” Miller stated on Saturday.
Sarah Sanbar, a Human Rights Watch Iraq researcher, called the new law “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 in a post.
Source: Nechirvan Mando and Eyad Kourdi, CNN
