Iraq Passes Bill Criminalising Same-Sex Relations, Jail Upto 15 Years

Transgender people will be sentenced to three years' jail under the amendments to a 1988 anti-prostitution law, which were adopted during a session attended by 170 out of 329 lawmakers.

Iraq's parliament passed a bill on Saturday criminalising same-sex relations, which will receive a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, in a move rights groups condemned as an "attack on human rights".

Transgender people will be sentenced to three years' jail under the amendments to a 1988 anti-prostitution law, which were adopted during a session attended by 170 out of 329 lawmakers.

A previous draft had proposed capital punishment for same-sex relations, in what campaigners had called a "dangerous" escalation.