Iraq's Government Must Deliver on Human Rights Commitments, Says Amnesty International

Iraq's government has been urged to deliver on its human rights commitments, with Amnesty International expressing concern over the lack of progress made in addressing systemic impunity for human rights violations.

A new ministerial programme was launched in May 2026, but little progress has been made in delivering on promises to strengthen human rights, empower women, and bolster independent civil society.

Despite commitments to address violence against women and girls, survivors are left with little redress and protection. Draft domestic violence legislation has been stalled in parliament for over a decade, and amendments to the Personal Status Code adopted in August 2025 continue to undermine the equality of women and girls before the law.

Independent civil society activists, journalists, and human rights defenders face intimidation, judicial harassment, and physical violence for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly. Peaceful protesters demanding basic rights continue to be met with unlawful force by security forces and detentions.

The government must chart a new course for Iraq, particularly for those whose human rights have been violated with impunity for too long, including women and girls, detainees, those forcibly disappeared and their relatives, human rights defenders, activists, and media workers.

Amnesty International is calling on the Prime Minister to prioritize the adoption of comprehensive legislation against gender-based violence, ensure prompt and impartial investigations into attacks on activists, and end the use of 'public morality' campaigns that undermine freedom of expression and peaceful dissent.

Human rights defenders, especially women's rights defenders, journalists, and activists, continue to face persistent attacks, intimidation, and judicial harassment simply for doing their job. The first half of 2026 saw escalating attacks, including the assassination of activist Yanar Mohammed in Baghdad, and investigations were announced but no information has been publicly shared on their progress.

In prisons across Iraq, overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, and a critical lack of access to healthcare make conditions cruel and inhuman. Families of detainees routinely report the ill-treatment of their loved ones as well as denial of or delays in accessing medical care.

Amnesty International is also calling on the Prime Minister to demonstrate unequivocal resolve in ending the long-standing denial of truth and justice to the anguished families of the thousands of victims of enforced disappearance by revealing their fate and providing adequate reparations for the harm suffered.

**Systemic Impunity and Human Rights Violations**

The ongoing systemic impunity in Iraq is rooted in years of unaddressed state abuses and historic violations across the country. Authorities have consistently failed to hold perpetrators accountable for the violent crackdown on the 2019 nationwide protests, leaving survivors and victims' relatives without redress.

Similarly, justice remains systematically denied to the families of thousands of men and boys who were arbitrarily arrested or abducted and forcibly disappeared following military operations against the Islamic State armed group, including at least 643 individuals abducted from Saqlawiya, Anbar governorate, a decade ago in 2016 and whose fates remain unknown.

**Table: Key Dates and Events**

| Date | Event | | --- | --- | | 14 May 2026 | Launch of the government's 2026-2029 Ministerial Programme | | August 2025 | Adoption of amendments to the Personal Status Code | | 2 March 2026 | Assassination of activist Yanar Mohammed in Baghdad | | 21 April 2026 | Attempted killing of an activist in Babel governorate | | 2019 | Nationwide protests referred to as the Tishreen movement | | 2016 | Abduction of at least 643 individuals from Saqlawiya, Anbar governorate |