LGBT rights in Iraq
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| LGBT rights in Iraq | |
|---|---|
 Iraq |
|
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Decriminalized, though vigilantes have applied Sharia law (including executions) to persons for same-sex sexual acts[1] |
| Gender identity/expression | - |
| Recognition of relationships |
No recognition of same-sex couples |
Homosexuality is currently decriminalized - but abhorred in Iraq. Many LGBT people in the country suffer from discrimination, abuse, and murder. There are even allegations that uniformed Iraqi police officers have carried out lethal attacks on homosexuals.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Criminal code: Ba'athist
Homosexuality was briefly decriminalized in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, though individuals who were homosexual were often persecuted, murdered or blackmailed into becoming spies for the regime.[3] In the summer of 1993 compulsory religious education was introduced into Iraqi schools. Nightclubs accused of harboring prostitutes were closed and the constitution was amended to include the death penalty for homosexuality.[4]
The authoritarian nature of the Ba'athist government makes it difficult to gather definitive information about what were the Ba'athist polices with regards to sexual orientation or gender identity. In the United Nations, the Iraqi delegation cited religion at the time as their reasoning for opposing efforts to have the international body support gay rights, once again shattering the widely held view of Saddam as a secularist [5]
Laws were enacted reducing (or even eliminating) the penalties for the practice known as "honor killings" in the period between the early 1990s and 2003, and thus an Iraqi could face being murdered by their kin with relative impunity for bringing dishonor to their family. In practice many such incidents did not result in criminal proceedings being brought against the alleged perpetrator and the two recipients were women and gay people, with the Fedayeen Saddam also performing a sort of Mutaween (religious police) with for example the public decapitation of 200 prostitutes in October 2000 and stonings & throwing from buildings [the sharia punishments] people for sodomy [6] [7]
[edit] Occupation of Iraq
When Coalition Provisional Authority chief executive Paul Bremer took control of Iraq in 2003 he issued a series of decrees that restored the Iraqi criminal code back to its original 1969 edition, abolished the death penalty (which the newly formed Iraqi government restored in 2005), and removed most restrictions on free speech and assembly.
On February 5, 2005 the IRIN issued a report titled "Iraq: Male homosexuality still a taboo." The article stated, among other things, that "honor killings" by Iraqis against a gay family member are common and given some legal protection. The article also stated that the 2001 amendment to the criminal code stipulating the death penalty for homosexuality "has not been changed", even through Paul Bremer clearly ordered the criminal code to go back to its original 1969 edition.[8]
Since 2005 there have been reports that the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq's Badr Organization has been involved in death squad campaigns against LGBT Iraqi citizens, and that they are supported in these policies by the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.[9]
These reports seem to stem from a fatwa issued by Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani stating that homosexuality and lesbianism are both "forbidden" and that they should be "Punished, in fact, killed. The people involved should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing".[10]
[edit] Iraqi Constitution and Sharia Law
Early drafts in English of the 2005 Iraqi constitution contained a provision that asserted that none of the rights or liberties protected in the Constitution would apply to "deviants". Later revisions of the Iraqi Constitution removed the deviants clause. Several clauses throughout the revised document assert that Islam will be the foundation of the law and that various civil liberties shall be limited by "public morality".
[edit] References
- ^ Ottosson, Daniel (May 2009). "State-sponsored Homophobia: A world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults". International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). pp. Page 23. http://www.ilga.org/statehomophobia/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2009.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ^ 'Dying to Come Out: The War on Gays in Iraq', GQ, February 2007.
- ^ http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_5304
- ^ http://www.atour.com/news/international/20010710l.html
- ^ 'The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the war, losing the peace' by Ali Allawi; 'Republic of Fear' by Kanan Makiya page 215;
- ^ http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2006/ipp.pdf - page 55
- ^ http://www.iheu.org/node/1020
- ^ IRIN Middle East | Middle East | Iraq | IRAQ: Male homosexuality still a taboo | Human Rights |Feature
- ^ Direland: Shia Death Squads Target Iraqi Gays - U.S. Indifferent
- ^ Iraqi cleric wants gays killed in "most severe way" | News |Advocate.com
