Iraqi parliament debates law restricting right to protest
Legislation has been introduced to the parliament that will introduce new restrictions including on insults to religious sects, a ban on nighttime protests and restrictions on gatherings on public roads, near hospitals, schools and government buildings.
The new bill, being debated in parliament on Saturday, will also require prior approval from local authorities for protests at least five days in advance.
Ten-year jail sentences could be handed down for those advocating war, terrorism or ethnic, racial or sectarian hatred, while those who desecrate or insult religious symbols or sites could face a minimum of one year in prison and a fine of one million dinars.
Amnesty International and the INSM Foundation for Digital Rights criticised the legislation, noting that it comes in the wake of a wider crackdown on dissent, including the arrest of government critics.
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'Lawmakers must vote against or propose amendments to any laws that would add to the arsenal of tools that the authorities are already using to restrict civic space or betray Iraq's constitutional and international commitments to protect freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,' said Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International's Iraq researcher.
"However, with no real transparency and no public debate on the current draft, civil society is left guessing what is being put before lawmakers to vote on. In light of Iraq's record on suppression of freedom of expression and assembly, the fear is that the new law will not bring much needed positive changes.'
The parliament has claimed the new draft is in line with Iraq's constitutional and international obligations and 'does not restrict peaceful assembly'.
At least 20 individuals were prosecuted between January and June this year over what Amnesty said was the peaceful exercise of their human right to free expression.
Tensions heating up
Iraq has seen regular demonstrations in recent years against entrenched corruption, regular power cuts and violence from state-linked armed groups.
Tensions regularly run high in the summer as shortages of power and water make living unbearable in heats that often top 50 degrees.
Hundreds of people protested last week near the cities of Hilla and Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad, blocking roads and burning tires, in protest at the shortages.
Why Turkey abruptly cancelled an Iraqi oil pipeline agreement Read More »
Iraq's water resources ministry has said that 2025 has been "one of the driest since 1933", and that water reserves are down to only eight percent of full capacity.
The draft Law on Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Assembly's first readings took place on 3 December 2022 and on 9 May 2023. Following outcry from rights groups, the parliament announced on 31 July that passages referring to freedom of expression had been removed from the law, in the spirit of "not restricting protests".
However, there has been little transparency with regards to the alterations made to the original draft and civil society representatives have protested their lack of involvement.
William Warda, co-founder of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, told Middle East Eye he feared the new legislation did "not adhere to international human rights standards".
"Without information, we cannot talk about freedom of expression," he said.
He added that Iraq needed to instead strengthen mechanisms for accountability.
"I believe that in democratic countries, the private sector should also be subject to the principle of transparency - such as political parties, companies and organisations - for the purpose of criticising anyone who will hold public office in the future or monitoring the work of companies or organisations in democratic countries," he explained.
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