Iraqi parliament approves anti-gay law, Netherlands ‘seriously concerned’ | Abroad

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is “seriously concerned” about the law. “Criminalizing homosexuality goes directly against international agreements to which Iraq has agreed,” the ministry responded in an English-language tweet. Moreover, protecting the rights of minorities is “essential for the stability” of the country, the department added.

According to politicians from the conservative Shia parties in particular, the measure was introduced to uphold religious values ​​in the country and to “protect the population against moral depravity”. Human rights lawyers immediately condemned the new legislation as yet another attack on Iraq’s LGBTI community.

Convicts who violate the ‘Act on Combating Prostitution and Homosexuality’ will be sentenced to at least ten years behind bars. The maximum is set at fifteen years. Someone who encourages prostitution or homosexuality can get seven years in prison.

Initially, there was talk of the death penalty for the most serious offense, as in neighboring Iran, but that proposal failed after heavy pressure from the United States and European countries.

Until Saturday, sex between people of the same sex was not officially banned in Iraq, but the media, among other things, had not been allowed to use the word homosexuality for some time and had to speak or write of a “sexual deviation”. The term transgender was also out of the question.

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