Last edited: April 28, 2007


Iraq

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  • Penalty:  
  • Restrictions:

International Lesbian and Gay Association's World Legal Survey

Homosexual behaviour between consenting adults is not an offence under Iraq's Penal Code. However homosexuality is taboo, and there is no visible support for lesbian and gay rights. (PB).

Under Article 395 of the 1969 Penal Code, the age of consent to sodomy was set at 18. Where the minor is between 15 and 18 years old and does not resist the act, the adult may be punished with imprisonment of up to 7 years. Where the minor is 14 years or below, the punishment is a maximum of 10 years. (Schmitt and Sofer - "Sexuality and Eroticism among Males in Moslem Societies")’

[This information predates the U.S. Invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. I have not found any information of changes in the law under the new governments. -Bob]

Iraq: Sexual Orientation, Human Rights and the Law - An analysis of Iraqi law by Edward TJ Brown, January 29, 2005.


Ahmed Khalil was shot at point-blank range after being accosted by men in police uniforms, according to his neighbors in the al-Dura area of Baghdad.

News

Editorials

  • Iraq Struggles to Stop Persecution of Gays - by Deb Price in The Detroit News, April 16, 2007
    Militias warn Iraqi families they will be murdered if they don't hand over or kill their gay relatives.
    An Iraqi family pays ransom for the return of a gay man, only to learn later that his mutilated body has been found.
    An Iraqi father is released without being tried for hanging his gay son to defend the family's "honor."
    Secretive religious "courts" try, sentence and execute gays.

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