2.8.1. Legislative framework and developments
Consensual same-sex sexual acts continue to be punishable by law in Syria.762 According to the article 520 of the 1949 Syrian Penal Code, ‘Unnatural Sexual Intercourse’ is a crime punishable for up to three years imprisonment,763 and it is applicable to men as well as women.764
According to a confidential source cited by the Netherlands MFA, since the fall of the Assad regime and as of late April 2025, criminal courts continued to apply the Penal Code;765 however, other confidential sources consulted were not aware of any LGBTIQ individuals who had been convicted under this section of the law.766 Instead, LGBTIQ individuals have been arrested and prosecuted under vague interpretations of other legal provisions, including offences related to public decency and morality,767 prostitution,768 or trafficking of illegal substances.769
- 762
Human Dignity Trust, Syria, last updated 6 January 2026, url; ILGA World, ILGA World Database – Syria, [2026], url
- 763
HRW, World Report 2026, Syria: Events of 2025, 4 February 2026, url; ILGA World, ILGA World Database – Syria, [2026], url
- 764
Human Dignity Trust, Syria, last updated 6 January 2026, url; GEM, We Are Here, We Are Syrian, We Are Queer, Get Used to It, 2024, url, p. 14
- 765
Netherlands (The), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, May 2025, url, p. 97
- 766
Netherlands (The), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, January 2026, url, p. 108
- 767
GEM, Syria: The Legal Position on LGBTQIA+ Individuals’ “Fear of Entering the Police Station and Not Exiting”, 5 May 2026, url, pp. 2, 3; DK, DIS, Syria: Situation of LGBT+ persons, January 2026, url, p. 2
- 768
DK, DIS, Syria: Situation of LGBT+ persons, January 2026, url, p. 2
- 769
Worldcrunch, As Syria Faces New Divides, LGBTQ+ Hate Remains The Most Reliable Consensus, 22 February 2025, url