Ahead of a parliamentary vote on a draft Law on Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Assembly planned for the Iraqi Parliament’s session this Saturday 2 August, Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International’s Iraq Researcher, said:
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.
Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International’s Iraq Researcher.
“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.”
“Activists and journalists across Iraq are harassed, threatened, and arbitrarily arrested—often under vague defamation charges and other provisions in the penal code that are at odds with human rights. Amid a backdrop of extreme temperatures and devastating shortages of water and electricity, activists have been arrested for speaking out over corruption, and journalists have been judicially harassed for criticizing the authorities. Intimidation, smear campaigns, and a litany of repressive measures have cast a chilling effect on free speech.”
“This draft law is being surreptitiously snuck through in a shroud of secrecy. Civil society organizations that reviewed unofficially shared drafts noted with concern that the law would result in further violations of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, if passed. Now, while attacks on freedom of expression in Iraq continue unabated, a draft was put back on the table. Parliament claims the new draft is in line with Iraq’s constitutional and international obligations and “does not restrict peaceful assembly.” 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.”
Background
The draft law’s first reading took place on 3 December 2022 and the second reading on 9 May 2023. The drafts caused immense outcry from Iraqi civil society at the time, as, if turned into law, they would infringe on rights protected under Iraqi national law and international conventions that Iraq has ratified. Analysis by Amnesty International of past drafts of the Law that the organization had access to raised concerns regarding disproportionate restrictions on freedom of expression based on “public morals” or “public order” and about the impact on the right to liberty as, if passed, the law would result in arbitrary arrest and detention.
On the evening of 31 July, the Parliament released a statement saying that comments from civil society had been taken into account in the new draft, which was renamed “peaceful assembly law,” and that all articles pertaining to freedom of expression and criminal punishments have been removed, in the spirit of “not restricting protests.” Regrettably, the discussions of amendments to the draft have been carried out mostly in private, in a process that civil society has said lacks transparency and inclusiveness. No official draft of the law up for vote has been made public, making it difficult to assess whether it addresses the criticism it received and whether its language is adequately aligned with Iraqi legislation and international human rights law.
The Authorities have increasingly relied upon articles of the Iraq’s Penal Code pertaining to defamation, vandalism and destruction of government building to arrest and convict activists and journalists who have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from months to years, while others have faced hefty fines.
