The new legislation was adopted in a parliamentary session on Saturday where 170 out of 329 lawmakers voted in favour
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Iraq’s parliament passed a draconian bill on Saturday which would make same-sex relations in the country, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The bill introduced an amendment to the 1988 anti-prostitution law. The legislation will now cover acts including “promoting homosexuality”.
The person will also be punishable if they undergo “biological sex changes based on personal desires and inclination”. In light of this, transgender individuals and doctors who perform gender reassignment surgery can face up to three years in prison.
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However, the new law does exclude cases of medical intervention to “treat birth defects to affirm the sex of the individual”, CNN reported.
Less severe than the previous proposal
The new legislation was adopted in a parliamentary session on Saturday where 170 out of 329 lawmakers voted in favour. The previous draft which was proposed by Raad al-Maliki, the independent Iraqi lawmaker, stated that people involved in same-sex relations should be awarded capital punishment.
After the voting on Saturday, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, the acting parliamentary speaker said 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 said in a statement on Saturday.
The concept of homosexuality in Iraq
It is pertinent to note that homosexuality is already a taboo in Iraq’s conservative society. However, in the past, there had not been a law that would explicitly punish people involved in same-sex relations.
This does not mean that the members of the LGBTQIA+ community did not face any form of atrocities in the country. They have been prosecuted for sodomy under the vague morality and anti-prostitution clauses in Iraq’s penal code.
“Iraq has effectively codified in law the discrimination and violence members of the LGBTQ community have been subjected to with absolute impunity for years,” said Amnesty International’s Iraq researcher, Razaw Salihy.
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“The amendments concerning LGBTQ rights are a violation of fundamental human rights and put at risk Iraqis whose lives are already hounded daily,” Salihy added.
The new legislation also bans organisations that “promote” homosexuality and punish “wife swapping” with a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years.
Maliki who advanced the bill to the Iraqi parliament told AFP that “the law serves as a preventive measure to protect society from such acts”. He mentioned that the passing of the new amendment was postponed until and after the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s visit to the United States which took place earlier this month.
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In the past, LGBTQ+ Iraqis have been often targeted with “kidnappings, rapes, torture and murders” that often went unpunished.
The condemnation that followed
Shortly after the legislation was passed, the US condemned the Iraqi Council of Representatives’ atrocious decision.
“The United States is deeply concerned by the Iraqi Council of Representatives’ passage of an amendment to existing legislation, officially called the Anti-Prostitution and Homosexuality Law, which threatens constitutionally protected human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the US State Department said in a statement.
“The law bans same-sex relations with steep fines and imprisonment and punishes those who ‘promote homosexuality.’ Limiting the rights of certain individuals in a society undermines the rights of all,” the statement furthered.
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Meanwhile, “kidnappings, rapes, torture and murders” that go unpunished told AFP that 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.
With inputs from agencies.
