Heller said, was to continue its dialogue with Iraq, and guide the State in its implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In concluding remarks, Claude Heller, Committee Chair, said that the Committee was very much aware of the difficult security situation faced by Iraq, and thanked the delegation for coming to Geneva to participate in the dialogue.
Convicts on death row were also able to request amnesty.
Retrial was available for inmates on death row, and retrial of such cases often led to commuting of death sentences. Terrorist crimes aimed at destabilising the State were punished with the death penalty. On the death penalty, the delegation stated that the Iraqi Government had agreed that the death penalty would be used for certain crimes, but not issued for crimes that did not violate the right to life. No man was allowed to enter a female prison.
The delegation added that women’s prisons were all managed by female experts. On women’s prisons, Dindar Farzanda Zuber Zebari, Coordinator of International Recommendations of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said that in 2021, the Kurdistan Regional Government had established four female detention facilities. The Baghdad Central Prison, for example, had been expanded to house 15,000 inmates, and was at 95 per cent capacity. The delegation said that new prisons were being built and others enlarged in line with human rights standards. There was information in this guide on the prevention of torture and enforced disappearance. A Human Rights Guide had been produced by the Ministry of Defence and distributed to all military academies. In spite of security challenges, the delegation said that Iraq had conducted human rights training courses for security personnel, aiming to put an end to human rights abuses. The training curriculum for students in military colleges and the police was designed to enforce the principles of human rights and protect detainees from torture. Introducing the report, Salar Abdulsattar Mohammed, Minister of Justice of Iraq and head of the delegation, said that training in human rights conventions, including against torture, had become part of training programmes for public officials. How many death sentences had been handed down in the past 18 years, he asked, and for what offences? How many capital sentences had been commuted? Tuzmukhamedov also raised the issue of the death penalty, asking for information on prospective legislative amendments to it.
Liu Huawen, Committee Expert and Country Co-Rapporteur for Iraq, asked what efforts had been made to reduce overcrowding in prisons? He also asked if women’s prisons were managed by male staff? Another Committee Expert raised the issue of the condition of prisons for females, saying that they had old infrastructure and bad material conditions, and there was overcrowding in these prisons. The Committee against Torture today concluded its consideration of the second periodic report of Iraq, with Committee Experts praising Iraq’s human rights training programmes in police and military colleges, and raising questions about overcrowding in prisons and the continued use of the death penalty.īakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov, Committee Expert and Country Co-Rapporteur for Iraq, said that it was very impressive that several hours of training each week were dedicated to human rights modules in military and police colleges.