Iraq: UN Human Rights Committee Adopts List of 26 Issues in View of the Country's Review in October 2015

During its 113th session held in March 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRCttee) – a body of 18 independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by its State parties – adopted a List of 26 Issues to be discussed during Iraq's fifth review in October-November 2015. In particular, the HRCtte asked Iraq to answer questions related to the State's counter-terrorism measures, use of the death penalty, practice of torture and incommunicado detention, and fair trial procedures. The State party is due to provide its answers in writing before then.

The List of Issues aims at facilitating the preparation of a constructive dialogue between the UN Committee's experts and the State party during their consideration of Iraq's fifth periodic report. As a party to the ICCPR since January 1971, Iraq must periodically report to the HRCttee on the implementation of the obligations deriving from it. Reviewed four times in 1980, 1987, 1994 and 1997, Iraq's report was submitted with a 13-year-delay in 2013. On 17 December 2014, Alkarama provided the HRCttee with suggestions of 22 questions to be raised with the Iraqi authorities, many of which were conveyed by the Committee.

In its List of Issues, the Committee addressed counter-terrorism measures and the respect – or lack thereof – of guarantees enshrined in the ICCPR. The UN experts requested that Iraq comment on reports according to which "the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005 has been inappropriately applied to critics of the government, including political opponents and journalists," and "terrorists suspects have been subjected to threats, torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions," as illustrated in the case of former member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, Ahmad Al Alwani, well known for his criticism of the government, who was severely tortured before being charged with terrorist-related charges.

The experts also conveyed reports according to which "a number of detainees, in particular those suspected of having committed terrorism-related offences, have been held incommunicado without access to lawyers or relatives for prolonged periods of time, in certain instances in secret facilities," such as retired Air Force Brigade pilot, Riad Al Obeidi, who was secretly detained in the Old Muthanna Airport in Western Baghdad for 10 months.

In light of the ongoing clashes with the Islamic State (IS), the HRCttee also requested Iraq to indicate which measures the State had taken to ensure that "State forces, groups under their control and forces collaborating with the State party do not perpetrate human rights violations under any circumstances and take all feasible measures to avoid civilian casualties."

The issue of the death penalty was also the subject of several questions by the UN experts, who asked how many convictions involving the capital penalty had been handed down in the last five years and requested clarifications on reports that "death sentences have been passed on the basis of unverified evidence provided by secret informants and/or confessions obtained under duress, or otherwise in the context of trials that did not meet international human rights standards," as reported by Alkarama to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) in the case of 17 people arrested for their real or perceived links to former Vice President Tariq Al Hashimi, who were all secretly detained and tortured before being accused of acts of terrorism.

The HRCttee also raised the issue of torture and in particular the practice of using forced confessions in court. The Iraqi authorities were requested to respond to allegations that "torture is practiced in prisons and detention centres, in particular as a means to elicit confessions" and that "the authorities fail to thoroughly investigate such cases and bring perpetrators to justice."

Moreover, regarding the right to a fair trial and the independence of the judiciary, the HRCttee raised concerns over arrests conducted by security forces without judicial warrants and the detention of individuals "without charge, trial or being brought before a judge for prolonged periods of time, sometimes even for years." The experts further demanded that clarifications be provided on reports indicating that "judges, lawyers and court officials have been intimidated, threatened and subjected to physical attacks, including killings, by armed opposition groups as well as intimidated and threatened by State authorities," as brought to the attention of the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of Judges and Lawyers (SR IJL) by Alkarama in the case of four high-profile lawyers on 7 May 2015.

Finally, Iraq's violation of its obligation to ensure freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and freedom of association in the country under articles 19, 21 and 22 of the ICCPR was also raised. The Committee referred to reports according to which "the State authorities have on a number of instances resorted to excessive use of force to disperse demonstrations, including with regard to the events that took place in Hawijah in April 2013, which reportedly resulted in a significant number of people dead or wounded," and asked whether investigations were carried out into these events, who was prosecuted and what were the penalties imposed.

Iraq is to provide its responses to the List of Issues before the 115th session of the HRCtee (19 October – 6 November), during which the implementation of the ICCPR in the country will be assessed. Alkarama will be contributing to the review by submitting an alternative report and meeting with the Committee's experts to brief them on our key concerns.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).