Algeria
Bahrain
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Palestine/Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Other Countries
Iraq - Latest Publications
IRQ - News
Iraq: Significant Efforts Needed to Address Severe Persisting Human Rights Issues
IRQ - News | 20 May 2015
On 19 March 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted during its 28th session the outcome of Iraq's Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a process aimed at assessing the human rights record of each UN Member State every four years. During the actual review that took place on 3 November 2014 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Abdulah Al Janabi, Head of the Human Rights Department of Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had regretted that Iraq was only able to accept 175 of the 229 recommendations made, using the pretext of the challenging security situation and the engagement of the State in combating the Islamic State (IS). In particular, the Iraqi authorities refused all the recommendations related to the establishment of a moratorium for the death penalty or to commit to safeguard other essential human rights such as the rights to freedom of expression, to a fair trial, and not to be subjected to torture.
Iraq: Broad Pattern of Harassment and Persecution of Lawyers through Arbitrary Arrest and Detention, Torture and even Death
IRQ - News | 12 May 2015
On 7 May 2015, Alkarama sent a communication to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (SR IJL) regarding the case of four high-profile Iraqi lawyers, victims of harassment by the Iraqi authorities, including through arbitrary arrest and detention, and even one extrajudicial execution. Defending political opponents and persons allegedly close to them, the lawyers have all been accused of terrorism in heavily flawed and politically-motivated trials. Carried out between November 2012 and June 2013, these reprisals fit within a wider pattern of persecution against judges and lawyers, in a climate of generalised political repression.
Iraq: Yemeni Citizen Arrested by US Forces in 2009 Disappears in Iraqi Prison
IRQ - News | 11 May 2015
On 30 April 2015, Alkarama sent a communication to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) regarding the case of Saleh Musa Ahmed Al Baydani, a Yemeni citizen who has been missing for over 10 months from the prison where he had been detained since December 2012. Arrested in August 2009 by U.S. forces when he was only 17, Al Baydani was sentenced to death two years later. His family is extremely concerned by his disappearance, as he remains at high risk of being executed.
Iraq: Father and Son Abducted in the Rural City of Mahmoudiyah, South of Baghdad
IRQ - News | 17 April 2015
On 14 April 2015, Alkarama and Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly sent an urgent action to the United Nations Committee of Enforced Disappearance (CED) regarding the disappearance of 29-year-old Yasser AbdelKarim Aswad Al Janabi, abducted by the military in June 2014, as well as a communication to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearance (WGEID) regarding the disappearance of his father, AbdelKarim Aswad Khodair Salman Al Janabi,arrested by the Federal Police in 2006. Despite taking various actions with the relevant national institutions regarding Yasser's disappearance over 10 months ago, his family hasn't been able to retrieve any information about him. Worried that both son and father could be tortured during their secret detention, their relatives contacted Alkarama and Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly to refer their case to the UN human rights protection mechanisms.
Iraq: Riad Al Obeidi Set Free After 10 Months in Secret Detention Centre in Baghdad
IRQ - News | 16 April 2015
On 15 April 2015, Riad Abdel Majeed Al Obeidi was freed after 10 months of detention in the secret facility of the old Muthanna airport in Western Baghdad. Alkarama and Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly had solicited the urgent intervention of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) on Al Obeidi's behalf three months after his abduction, leading to his successful release. As a State party to the 2006 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (ICPPED) since 2010, Iraq must respond to the CED's urgent requests for information on the situation of a disappeared person.