Shafaq News- Baghdad

The Iraqi Presidency and Justice Ministry have failed to carry out death sentences against people convicted of terrorism-related offenses, lawmaker Youssef Al-Kilabi, a member of the State of Law Coalition (SLC), said on Saturday.

Speaking with Shafaq News, Al-Kilabi revealed that thousands of convicts sentenced under Article 4 of Iraq’s Anti-Terrorism Law for affiliation with armed groups, particularly ISIS, have remained on death row for years. He described the failure to carry out the sentences as a “real shortcoming” by the Presidency and Justice Ministry.

Parliament, Al-Kilabi added, is following the issue to determine which parties are obstructing the executions.

Shafaq News was unable to immediately obtain comment from the Presidency or Justice Ministry regarding Al-Kilabi’s accusations.

President Nizar Amedi disclosed in August that more than 14,000 death sentences had accumulated at the Presidency since he took office, describing the issue as “a longstanding national and constitutional matter.”

Months earlier, lawmaker Zahraa Al-Hajami proposed amending Iraq’s Code of Criminal Procedure to allow executions to proceed without presidential approval, leaving judicial rulings as the final authorization. The Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) opposed the proposal, arguing that removing the presidential decree required under Articles 285–289 of the 1971 law would eliminate a final institutional safeguard and could accelerate executions.