Iraq has faced harsh international criticism over a law targeting the LGBT+ community. This was reported by the AFP agency on Monday. For example, the law punishes same-sex relations with ten to fifteen years in prison and bans all organizations that it says promote homosexuality in the country. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the law violates the conventions that Iraq has signed, and the new norm has been condemned by American and British diplomacy.
Baghdad
22:49 April 29, 2024
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The Iraqi parliament approved an amendment to the anti-prostitution law with harsh penalties aimed at sexual and gender minorities (illustrative photo) | Photo: René Volfík | Source: iROZHLAS.cz
On Saturday, the Iraqi parliament approved an amendment to the anti-prostitution law with harsh penalties aimed at sexual and gender minorities. Same-sex relationships are punishable by ten to fifteen years in prison, and men whose behavior the authorities deem to be intentionally too effeminate face three years in prison, AFP writes.
Up to 15 years in prison for homosexuality. Iraq passes strictest anti-LGBTQ law yet
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Change of gender based on personal desire will also be prohibited, and the law also prohibits “all organizations promoting homosexuality in Iraq.”
“This law violates several international human rights treaties and conventions ratified by Iraq, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and should be repealed,” the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement on Monday. According to him, similar laws expose people to harassment, hate crimes or police violence.
Over the weekend, American diplomacy also expressed its disapproval of the law. Its spokesman, Matthew Miller, warned that the amendment to the law could be misused to limit freedom of expression in Iraq. He added that the new arrangement threatens those who face the greatest danger in Iraqi society.
British Foreign Minister David Cameron also considers the law dangerous.
Iraqi politicians, on the other hand, defend the new arrangement. According to Parliament Speaker Muhsin Mandalavi, the norm will contribute to protecting the values of Iraqi society and children from “moral perversion and homosexuality”.
Homosexuality is taboo in Iraq’s conservative society, but no law has yet directly punished it, writes the AP agency.
It also points to a 2022 report by Human Rights Watch, which stated that people from the LGBT+ community in Iraq faced rape, torture and restrictions on personal freedom, with authorities unable or unwilling to take effective action against the perpetrators of such acts.
CTK
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Tags: Iraq faces international criticism antiLGBTQ law iRADIO
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