Country: Iraq

In a country which has suffered from decades of conflict and violence, numerous violations remain in the post-ISIL era, including executions, abductions, torture, and unfair trials. Iraq remains the country with the highest number of enforced disappearances worldwide, with estimates going up to one million missing persons. This practice, which began at the time of Saddam Hussein and persisted after the 2003 U.S. invasion, escalated in the context of the fight against ISIL, and continues to be used in a widespread and systematic fashion by government forces and state-sponsored militias.

The country with the fourth highest number of executions in the world, the death penalty is routinely handed down by courts, in the vast majority of cases under the broad 2005 Anti-Terrorism Law, which applies the death sentence mandatorily. This is particularly concerning considering that the country suffers from a flawed judicial system which systematically admits confessions extracted under torture as evidence.

The authorities also continue to clamp down on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly by subjecting journalists to interference and by cracking down on peaceful protests.

Civil and political rights in Iraq under the scrutiny of the Human Rights Committee

On March 7-8, 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee examined Iraq’s sixth periodic report to assess the human rights situation in the country. The Committee monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iraq ratified in 1971. In their Concluding Observations, adopted following the review of Iraq, the UN […]

Alternative report submitted in the context of the review of Iraq’s second periodic report by the UN Committee against Torture

Widely practiced during the time of Saddam Hussein, torture remains widespread in Iraq, despite the ratification of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) in 2011. The present report is based on a collection of 22 testimonies of victims that demonstrate the widespread nature of the practice […]

Joint letter to the President of Iraq regarding the ongoing enforced disappearance of Abdel-Messih Sarkis

Two years after the abduction of Abdel-Messih Sarkis, MENA Rights Group and End Impunity in Iraq call on Iraqi President Barham Salih to take action to secure his release.

Report on Iraq’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since 2015

The present report analyses Iraq’s implementation in law and practice of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) ratified on 25 January 1971. This analysis examines the progress made by the State party to implement the recommendations issued by the Human Rights Committee’s (HR Committee) during the period spanning from the issuance of […]

Opinion Piece: Protection for Victims of Enforced Disappearance in Iraq?

On November 23, 2010, Iraq became the twentieth State to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED). Yet more than a decade after signing this landmark convention, Iraq continues to have one of the highest numbers of forcibly disappeared persons worldwide. The International Day of the Victims of […]

Code of Criminal Procedure of 1971

Increasing repression against activists, journalists and other critics in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region

While the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has long enjoyed the reputation of a place of tolerance and respect for free expression, over the course of 2020 and 2021, the Kurdish authorities have increasingly cracked down on demonstrators, activists, journalists and other critics. In February 2021, five journalist and activists who are known to be critical […]

Pourquoi le droit international impose aux autorités de rapatrier les ressortissants français condamnés à mort en Irak ?

MENA Rights Group, en collaboration avec leur avocat français, a demandé l’intervention du Rapporteur spécial des Nations Unies sur les exécutions extrajudiciaires, sommaires ou arbitraires afin de demander le rapatriement dans leur pays d’origine des ressortissants français qui risquent d’être exécutés en Irak.

Joint Statement: Stop violations against journalists in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

On the International Day for Freedom of the Press on May 3, the undersigned organizations call on the authorities of the Kurdistan region of Iraq to stop their continuous violations of the freedom of the press, lift restrictions imposed on journalistic work; to end their campaigns on the prosecution and detention of journalists for their […]

Iraq draft law places undue limits on the right to protest

Imposing prison sentences and fines on assembly organisers creates a climate of fear and violates Iraq’s international human rights obligations