The criminal justice system in Iraq remains weak. There are a wide range of reports (largely conducted by international NGOs, UN organisations, and state agencies) that reveal a consistent failure to meet international and domestic legal obligations. Areas of particular concern include:
- Arrest and detention: Iraqi security forces continue to engage in arbitrary arrest and detention, arresting suspects without a judicial warrant and without informing them of the reasons for their arrest or detention. Under Iraq’s Anti-Terrorism Law (2005), all arrests can be conducted without a warrant. Prolonged detention without trial is a systemic problem, due in part to lack of resources and capacity in the judicial system, in addition to political decisions and corruption. For offenses punishable by death, Iraqi law permits authorities to legally detain a defendant for as long as needed to complete the judicial process.
- Due process and fair trial standards: Judicial independence is undermined by routine intimidation of and violence committed against judges and their family members by sectarian, tribal, extremist and criminal elements. Terrorism suspects are often held incommunicado (without access to legal counsel or to family). Indigent detainees (often female detainees) also had poor access to legal counsel in pre-trial detention. Trials were generally reported to be public, except in some national security cases. Security officials throughout Iraq have continued to use coerced confessions as methods of investigation, and courts have frequently accepted them. They were often the sole or significant piece of evidence on which convictions were found.
- Torture: There is evidence that torture and ill treatment of detainees occurs routinely. There are also persistent reports of deaths in custody, but little publicly available information about steps taken by Iraqi authorities to investigate them. A key factor undermining accountability is the fact that legal responsibility for arrest and detention in Iraq is split between different ministries and security forces.
- Death penalty: The death penalty continues to be widely used in Iraq. The vast majority of death sentences in recent years are believed to have been imposed under the Anti-Terrorism Law.
- Conditions of prisons and detention facilities: Conditions at some prison and detention facilities suffer from overcrowding, food shortages, and inadequate access to proper sanitation and medical care.
- Women and youth: A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report (2014) on abuse of women in Iraq’s criminal justice system finds that security forces carry out illegal arrests and other due process violations against women at every stage of the justice system. It also finds that women are subjected to threats of, or actual, sexual assault. In accordance with the law, the government held most juvenile pre-trial detainees and post-trial prisoners in Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs facilities.
