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Iraq’s justice minister says prisons are at double their capacity as amnesty law takes effect
- Iraq's justice minister Khaled Shwani announced on Saturday that executions have been suspended since the general amnesty law took effect amid the country’s severe prison overcrowding.
- The halt of executions and new releases follow a January amnesty law passed with strong Sunni support amid criticism of death penalty use and prison conditions.
- Iraq’s 31 prisons are currently housing around 65,000 inmates, which is roughly twice the number they were originally designed to hold, leading to significant challenges in healthcare and upholding human rights within the facilities.
- According to Shwani, over two thousand inmates have been freed since the amnesty law was implemented, with a committee currently evaluating additional candidates for release, while negotiations continue to repatriate foreign nationals excluding those condemned to death.
- Shwani emphasized limited executions only for severe crimes, reaffirmed strict inmate protection measures, and noted ongoing prison reforms aiming to reduce overcrowding from 200% to 100% by next year.
32 Articles
32 Articles
Prison crisis in Iraq
Iraqi Justice Minister Khalid Shivani said that there are 65,000 prisoners in 31 jails across the country, and that facilities are operating at 200 percent. “When we took office, the overcrowding was 300 percent; we reduced it to 200 percent in two years. Our goal is to reach international standards next year,” Shivani told The Associated Press. 2,118 prisoners were released from prisons affiliated with the Justice Ministry under the general amn…
Iraq prisons at double their capacity as amnesty law introduced
As a general amnesty law takes effect in Iraq, the country's prisons are facing a crisis of overcrowding, housing more than double their intended capacity, the country's justice minister said in an interview. Justice Minister Khaled Shwani told The Associated Press on Saturday that Iraq's 31 prisons currently hold approximately 65,000 inmates, despite the system being built to accommodate only half that number. He acknowledged that the overcrowd…
Shafaq News/ Iraqi Justice Minister Khalid Shawani confirmed on Monday that there are 65,000 prisoners in the country. He pointed out that executions have stopped after the approval of the general amnesty law, and explained that Iranian citizen Mohammad Alireza, who was convicted of killing American citizen Steven Truell in Baghdad in 2022, is still under the custody of Iraqi authorities. The minister said in an interview with the American Assoc…
Associated Press News
Iraq's justice minister says prisons are at double their capacity as amnesty law takes effect
As a general amnesty law takes effect in Iraq, the country’s prisons are facing a crisis of overcrowding, housing more than double their intended capacity, the country’s justice minister said in an interview.
Independent Istanbul MP Mustafa Yeneroğlu said, “Our prisons have broken record after record, exceeding 400 thousand. Effective steps should be taken instead of temporary solutions.”
Minister of Justice Khaled Shawani confirmed today, Monday, that there are 65,000 prisoners in the country. While noting that executions have been halted after the approval of the general amnesty law, he explained that Iranian citizen Mohammad Ali Reza, who was convicted of killing an American citizen,
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