Jurist Rights group raises concern over Turkey proposed anti-LGBT laws

[Dadparvar]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed alarm on Wednesday over Turkish government proposals to criminalize people within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, describing the development as “one of the most alarming rollbacks of rights in decades.”

According to the rights group, a leaked draft of the reform law reveals plans to amend the Turkish penal and civil codes with articles which target the LGBT community. The proposed changes to the civil and penal codes include imposing prison sentences of up to three years on anyone who “engages in attitudes or behaviors contrary to biological sex and general morality,” raising the minimum age for gender-affirming medical care from 18 to 25, and mandating permanent infertility for such procedures. The draft also reportedly proposes punishing healthcare professionals who provide such care with up to seven years in prison.

The Turkish government and human rights organizations have long clashed over LGBT rights, with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) being criticized for employing discourse centered on protecting “the family” and “public morals.” Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia Director at HRW, condemned the proposal, stating:

Bringing criminal charges against people for their gender identity or sexual orientation is a profound violation of human dignity and amounts to state-sanctioned oppression. The Turkish government should drop plans to introduce these amendments, which violate international law and leave LGBT people in constant fear of prosecution. The European Union and Council of Europe and their member states should use all diplomatic and political channels to ensure this regressive draft law, which puts LGBT people in Türkiye in grave danger, is abandoned.

The proposed legislation faces significant legal and diplomatic hurdles at the international level. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in Bayev and Others v. Russia that laws which “embody a predisposed bias… against a homosexual minority” are incompatible with the ECHR. Turkey is party to several international treaties, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantee the right to privacy, freedom of expression, and non-discrimination.

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