Iraq
While Iraq continued to enjoy increased security and stability in 2024 following decades of armed conflict, impunity and a lack of justice and accountability for serious crimes, shrinking civic space, flaws in the justice system, discriminatory legal norms disproportionately impacting LGBT people, women, children, and minorities, and inadequate provision of government services remained key areas of concern. Authorities also ramped up attacks on Iraqi’s rights by passing or attempting to pass draconian laws that would restrict their freedoms. These include a law criminalizing homosexuality, a draft amendment to the Personal Status Law, and a draft law on the right to information. Violent repression of protesters and arrests of journalists covering protests continues.
- Children's Rights
Iraq: New Personal Status Code Makes Women Second ClassOctober 15, 2025
News Release - Human Rights Council
UN: Abusive Governments Set to Win Rights Council SeatsOctober 9, 2025
News Release - Economic Justice and Rights
Iraq: Damage to Kurdistan Region Oil Fields Puts Rights at RiskJuly 29, 2025
News Release
Videos
Watch more Videos
Reports
More reports- July 8, 2024 Report
Iran: Security Forces Killing Kurdish Border Couriers
In Poor Region, Scores Killed Taking Goods Across the Iran-Iraq Border
- June 4, 2024 Report
Iraqis with Disabilities Excluded from Jobs
Persistent Failure to Ensure Right to Work; Quotas Unfilled
- March 3, 2024 Report
“My Marriage was Mistake after Mistake”
The Impact of Unregistered Marriages on Women’s and Children’s Rights in Iraq
- September 25, 2023 Report
Iraq: Torture Survivors Await US Redress, Accountability
No Clear Path to Compensation for Iraqis Abused in Detention by US Forces
News
- February 11, 2026 Statement
Joint Statement by the Coalition for Just Reparations Criminal Justice Working Group
Criminalizing Core International Crimes, Pursuing Cumulative Prosecutions of ISIS Affiliates through Rigorous Trials, and Activating UNITAD Evidence
- March 27, 2025 Commentary
Iraq’s Climate Crisis is a Human Rights Crisis
- March 10, 2025 News Release
Iraq: Personal Status Law Amendment Sets Back Women’s Rights
Some Improvements from Original Draft, but Still Problematic
- January 16, 2025 News Release
Iraq: Repressive Laws Roll Back Rights
Freedoms Under Threat; Executions on the Rise
- November 19, 2024 News Release
Iraq: Surging Unlawful Executions
Executions Follow Unfair Trials Based on Torture-Tainted Evidence
- November 18, 2024 News Release
Iraq: Sinjaris Finally Compensated
Positive First Step; More Help Needed
- November 14, 2024 Dispatches
US Jury Awards $42 Million to 3 Iraqis Abused at Abu Ghraib Prison
Still No Accountability for US Military Abuses During ‘Global War on Terror’
- September 19, 2024 Commentary
Iraq's Amended Personal Status Law Could Make 9-Year-Olds Brides
- August 16, 2024 News Release
Iraq: Parliament Poised to Legalize Child Marriage
Sweeping Bill Imperils Women’s, Children’s Rights
- August 13, 2024 News Release
Iraq: Exhume Mass Grave Sites to Ensure Justice
End of UN Mandate Raises Concerns About Recovery, Identification of Victims
Our people
Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe. Join our movement today.
