This report addresses Iraq’s compliance with its human rights obligations with respect to the death penalty. The number of recorded death sentences in Iraq has increased from at least 41 in 2022 to at least 139 in 2023. At least 8,421 people were known to be under sentence of death at the end of 2023. According to Amnesty International, at the end of April 2024, as many as 150 people were at imminent risk of execution after President Abdul Latif Rashid reportedly ratified their death sentences, and Iraq was one of the top three executing countries in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2023.

On September 25, 2024, authorities in Nasiriyah executed 21 people (including one woman) for terrorism-related offenses; the execution was reportedly the largest mass execution in many years. In April 2024, authorities in the same prison executed 13 men for terrorism-related offenses. An independent human rights observatory in Iraq has documented a surge in “secret executions” in 2024, including 63 in May/June and 50 in September.

The high number of executions in 2023 and 2024 is particularly concerning in light of evidence of the use of torture in coercing confessions related to crimes punishable by the death penalty, the judiciary’s reluctance to investigate allegations of torture, allegations of unfair trials, and a lack of transparency in court proceedings.