Iraqi lawmaker says political agreement is key to passing amnesty law

Shafaq News/ An Iraqi lawmaker on Sunday said a political is key for the approval of the general amnesty legislation, stressing that the election of a new parliament speaker would facilitate the process.

"Political differences have stalled many laws in parliament, most notably the general amnesty, oil and gas, and others," Iraqi lawmaker Adnan al-Juhayshi told Shafaq News agency.

"The general amnesty law is a crucial piece of legislation in parliament," he added. "Its passing in the coming phase requires a political consensus." Al-Juhayshi confirmed the parliament received the government-drafted law and said it is currently being reviewed by the parliamentary legal committee.

In early May, Iraqi authorities announced the execution of 11 people, all Sunni, convicted of terrorism-related charges. The executions were carried out in a federal prison in the southern city of Nassiriya, the only government facility authorized to conduct executions. Last December, Iraq executed 13 convicted persons on similar charges in the same prison.

Sunni politicians frequently complain that many of their constituents ended up on death row due to confessions extracted through torture, a claim routinely supported by human rights organizations, including those of the UN. Further fueling suspicion about these death sentences is the use of secret evidence. Iraqi law allows the use of secret evidence that the accused and their defense cannot see and respond to, raising concerns about the fairness of these trials.

Amnesty is a mainstream Sunni priority, as many Sunnis are in state prisons on terrorism changes, some awaiting execution. Figures vary greatly and are difficult to verify. Last year, Iraq’s Minister of Justice Khalid Shawani stated that 8,000 people are on death row out of 20,000 convicted on terrorism-related charges. In 2021, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, Ahmed Luaibi, announced that 50,000 people had been convicted of terrorism, with half receiving the death sentence. Counting those detained without trial, the number is likely to be much higher, given the lack of transparency for which Iraq is routinely criticized by human rights organizations and the families of detainee.