Iraq

Same-sex sexual activity is explicitly prohibited in Iraq, since the Iraqi Parliament passed an amendment to a 1988 anti-prostitution law in April 2024. Before this law was passed, certain offences in the Penal Code 1969, such as those criminalising ‘immodest acts’ and ‘prostitution’, as well as Sharia law, were used to criminalise LGBT people. Both men and women are criminalised under the new law. Transgender people are also explicitly criminalised.

There is some evidence of the Penal Code 1969 being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being occasionally subject to arrest. During ISIS’ control of Iraq, there were reports of the death penalty being imposed against LGBT people under a strict interpretation of Sharia law. There have been consistent reports of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, including frequent murders, assaults, and harassment.

2024

On 27 April, Iraq’s Parliament passed an amendment to the Law on Combatting Prostitution of 1988, called the Anti-Prostitution and Homosexuality Law. The law criminalises same-sex sexual conduct with a maximum prison sentence of fifteen years. According to a copy of the bill, the law aims to “protect Iraqi society from moral depravity and the calls for homosexuality that have overtaken the world.” The law sets at least seven years in prison for “promoting” homosexuality. It also imposes between one to three years in prison for “biological sex change based on personal desire and inclination”, doctors who perform gender-affirming surgery, and men who “intentionally” act like women. An earlier draft of the bill had proposed capital punishment for same-sex sexual conduct.

The passing of this law means that Iraq now explicitly criminalises same-sex sexual conduct, in addition to criminalising LGBT people through vague morality laws in the Penal Code. The law comes into force fifteen days after the President receives the bill as passed by the Iraqi Parliament.

2023

In August, a bill was introduced to Parliament to amend the Law on Combating Prostitution of 1988. The Bill sought to explicitly make same-sex relations and transgender expression a criminal offence. It further sought to punish same-sex relations with the death penalty or life in prison, punish “promoting homosexuality” with a minimum seven years in prison and a fine, and criminalise “imitating women” with up to a three-year sentence.

The Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) banned media from using the term “homosexuality”, asking it to be replaced by “sexual deviance”. The word “gender” was also banned. The ban applies to all media and social media companies operating in Iraq. It prohibits all licensed CMC phone and internet companies from using the terms in any of their apps.

2022

In July, a member of the ruling party of Iraq announced that parliament was planning to introduce a law that would explicitly prohibit homosexuality. In a statement to the state-run Iraqi News Agency, Aref al-Hamami, a who sits on the parliamentary legal committee said: “The new law will hold homosexuals to account and impose the most severe penalties on them.”

In response, LGBT activists warned that passing such a law would put the lives of members of the LGBT community in Iraq in severe danger.

In September, it was revealed that the parliament of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region was considering a bill aimed at criminalising LGBT advocacy. The bill, proposed by an MP from the Kurdistan Islamic Union, would see activists supporting LGBT rights in Iraq Kurdistan potentially facing a year in jail or a maximum fine of up to five million Iraqi dinars (£2,972).

2021

In August, it was reported that the President had announced the introduction of a new Penal Code, Iraq’s first in more than fifty years. It does not appear that this code was adopted.

2023

The US Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices reported that at least 20 people were prosecuted as a result of a campaign led by the Ministry of Interior to crack down on “indecent content.” According to the same report, in July, the Presidency of the Cassation Court in Erbil affirmed a judgment of the Sulaymaniya Preliminary Court to dissolve Rasan Organization due to “its activities in the field of homosexuality.” It was also reported that in September, two transgender makeup artists in Erbil were arrested, detained in jail for five days, and subjected to forced medical examinations.

2021

In April, it was reported that several LGBT people had been arrested by Kurdish security forces in the city of Sulaymaniyah. Local security forces told  media that the arrests had occurred as part of an operation to arrest people they suspected of being LGBT and for immorality.

“Following the meeting of the High Security Committee of Sulaymaniyah and after securing the permission from the investigating prosecutor of Sulaymaniyah, it was decided that tonight an operation be carried out to prevent those who are homosexuals in the city of Sulaymaniyah and this operation is with the cooperation of all the security forces,” Pshtiwan Bahadin, head of the operation, told local website Rachlaken during live Facebook coverage on the evening of the arrests.

2019

The US Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices noted offences such as public indecency and prostitution are used to prosecute such conduct. However, the same charges were applied to heterosexual people who engaged with extra-marital sex. 

2017

ILGA’s 2017 State-Sponsored Homophobia Report indicated that Sharia judges have ordered the execution of numerous men and women for same-sex intimacy and that LGBT people have been subjected to violence by both police and local militias. LGBT people have also been targeted in ISIS-held areas in Northern Iraq.

The US Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices found that militia groups drafted LGBT ‘kill lists’ and executed men perceived to be LGBT. ISIS continued to publish videos of violent executions of people perceived to be gay, including by stoning and being thrown from buildings.

2023

The US Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices reported that despite repeated threats and violence against LGBT people, the government repeatedly fails to prosecute those who have attacked LGBT people. It also reported that some political parties have sought to justify these attacks.

In September, Noor Alsaffar, a 23-year-old prominent TikToker who self-described himself as a cross-dresser and makeup artist, was shot dead by an unknown individual in the streets of Baghdad in what appears to be a hate crime based on gender expression. Police confirmed that the crime was under investigation.

In February, Human Rights Watch reported that social media and same-sex dating applications have been used by armed groups to extort LGBT people, and enable their arrest and prosecution. It also reported that once detained, LGBT people were often tortured.

2022

Research from Human Rights Watch found evidence of killings, abductions, torture, and sexual violence against LGBT people by armed groups in Iraq. Based on interviews with 54 people, the research found evidence of abductions, attempted murder, extrajudicial killing, instances of sexual violence, threats to rape and kill, and cases of online targeting by armed units within the Popular Mobilization Forces. The report documents abuses by armed groups and police against children as young as 15.

2020

The US Department of State report found that, despite repeated threats and violence against LGBT people, the Iraqi Government failed to properly prosecute attackers and protect victims. Furthermore, LGBT people faced intimidation, threats, violence, and discrimination, and could not live openly. Those who faced violence and injury had no recourse in the courts.

In May, media reports suggested a young gay man was killed in Baghdad and another in Babil Province just days after the EU Mission in Iraq hoisted a rainbow flag in support of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, which sparked political backlash.

2019

In April, a transgender woman was killed by her family in Basrah after they discovered her hormone medication.

In August, another transgender woman was found dead in Baghdad, having been shot twice and her clothes ripped off her body.

2018

In June, posters and banners supporting LGBT rights were anonymously put up in the streets of Baghdad. The campaign was lead by two NGOs: an anonymous local NGO in Iraq, and Sweden-based IraQueer. Amir Ashour, the President of Iraqueer, said: “The media rarely report on violence committed against LGBT people, and certainly never come out and condemn it. We did an investigation where we counted 220 killings of LGBT people across the country – and that’s just in 2017.”

In October, Ahmad Majed Mutairi, a 14-year-old, was brutally killed on video because he had ‘feminine’ looks.

2017

In January, the group Asa’eb Ahl Al-Haq, a Shiite Islamist military movement part of a coalition to fight against the Islamic State group, published a list of 100 people accused of homosexuality, who were threatened with death. Since then, some have been killed, others have fled the country, and a large number of them are now missing.

In March, a close family member killed a man purported to be one of two men shown in a gay-sex video circulated online.

In July, an actor and model, Karar Nushi, was stabbed to death due to his perceived sexuality.

2013 

A joint report on Human Rights in Iraq by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that LGBT individuals continue to be exposed to violence: “Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender persons (LGBT) continue to be targeted for violence, harassment, threats and intimidation on account of their perceived sexual orientation. UNAMI received reports of at least six murders that were motived by perceptions of sexual orientation. Many people who are LGBT informed UNAMI that they fear violence from family members, militias, members of the public, and from the authorities should their sexual orientation be revealed. A number of cases confirmed that they had been sexually and physically assaulted by police after their sexual orientation was disclosed”.

2012 

A report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees includes statistics from a London based LGBT organisation that estimates there have been 750 killings of LGBT men and women since 2003. The report notes many accounts of persecution, including harassment, torture, ostracism by family members and society, and targeted violence. The LGBT section of the report concludes by suggesting LGBT individuals from Iraq may have a valid claim for asylum: “In light of widespread prejudice, traditional or tribal values of “honour”, potentially problematic legal provisions of the Iraqi Penal Code, and strong media bias against LGBTI individuals, UNHCR considers that LGBTI individuals are likely to be in need of international refugee protection on account of their membership of a particular social group, i.e., their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, since they do not, or are perceived not to conform to prevailing legal, religious and social norms.”

The country profiles on the Human Dignity Trust’s website are developed through a combination of in-house expertise and research, including monitoring media reports; sourcing reports from partners and stakeholders; and reviewing reports from governments and other human rights organisations.

We go to great lengths to ensure that, to the best of our knowledge, the information provided on our website is correct and up to date. If you believe that any information on our website is inaccurate, you may bring this to our attention by e-mailing administrator@humandignitytrust.org.

Information on this website is provided for general use only and should not be relied on as a definitive position on the law as it applies at any given time. No liability can be accepted for any use of the information in this website and/or links from it.