Iraq has passed a law that imposes a 15-year jail sentence on those convicted of engaging in same-sex relations, with 179 out of 329 lawmakers present in parliament during the decision on Saturday.
The amended law also mandates a three-year jail term for transgender individuals under revisions to a 1988 anti-prostitution statute.
Lawmaker Raed al-Maliki, who proposed the amendments, emphasized in an interview that the law is intended to prevent such acts or beliefs and protect society.
Al-Maliki noted that the amendment’s passage was delayed until after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani’s recent visit to the United States.
He affirmed Iraq’s stance of not tolerating any external interference, despite opposition from the United States and the European Union.
In addition to the penalties for same-sex relations and transgender identity, Iraq enforces a minimum seven-year jail sentence for promoting same-sex relations and a one to three-year jail term for men posing as women intentionally.
Civil rights groups have criticized this development as a violation of human rights.
The previous version of the law, which proposed capital punishment, was considered a dangerous escalation.
The amended law also criminalizes “biological sex change based on personal desire and inclination,” threatening both transgender individuals and doctors who perform gender-affirming surgery with up to three years in prison.
Amnesty International’s Iraq researcher Razaw Salihy described the amendments as codifying discrimination and violence against the LGBTI community, while Human Rights Watch’s Iraq researcher Sarah Sanbar denounced the law as a severe setback and an assault on human rights.
