IRAQ 2017 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Iraq is a constitutional parliamentary republic. The outcome of the 2014

parliamentary elections generally met international standards of free and fair

elections and led to the peaceful transition of power from former prime minister

Nuri al-Maliki to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Civilian authorities were not always able to exercise control of all security forces,

particularly certain units of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) that were

aligned with Iran.

Violence continued throughout the year, largely fueled by the actions of the

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Government forces successfully fought to

liberate territory taken earlier by ISIS, including Mosul, while ISIS sought to

demonstrate its viability through targeted attacks. Armed clashes between ISIS

and government forces caused civilian deaths and hardship. By year’s end Iraqi

Security Forces (ISF) had liberated all territory from ISIS, drastically reducing

ISIS’s ability to commit abuses and atrocities.

The most significant human rights issues included allegations of unlawful killings

by some members of the ISF, particularly some elements of the PMF;

disappearance and extortion by PMF elements; torture; harsh and life-threatening

conditions in detention and prison facilities; arbitrary arrest and detention; arbitrary

interference with privacy; criminalization of libel and other limits on freedom of

expression, including press freedoms; violence against journalists; widespread

official corruption; greatly reduced penalties for so-called “honor killings”;

coerced or forced abortions imposed by ISIS on its victims; legal restrictions on

freedom of movement of women; and trafficking in persons. Militant groups killed

LGBTI persons. There were also limitations on worker rights, including

restrictions on formation of independent unions.

The government, including by the Office of the Prime Minister, investigated

allegations of abuses and atrocities perpetrated by the ISF; by year’s end the results

of some of these investigations were made public. The Kurdistan Regional

Government (KRG) High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International

Reports reviewed charges of Peshmerga abuse, largely against IDPs, and

exculpated them in public reports and commentaries. Impunity effectively existed

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for government officials and security force personnel, including the Peshmerga and

PMF.

ISIS committed the majority of serious abuses and atrocities. ISIS members

committed acts of violence on a mass scale, including killings through suicide

bombings and improvised explosive devices (IEDs); executions including

shootings and public beheadings; use of civilians as human shields; as well as use

of chemical weapons. They also engaged in kidnapping, rape, enslavement, forced

marriage, and sexual violence, committing such acts against civilians from a wide

variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds, including Shia, Sunnis, Kurds,

Christians, Yezidis, and members of other religious and ethnic groups. Reports of

ISIS perpetrating gender-based violence, recruiting child soldiers, trafficking in

persons, and destroying civilian infrastructure and cultural heritage sites were

credible and common. On August 15, Secretary Tillerson stated that, “ISIS is

clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in

areas it controls or has controlled. ISIS is also responsible for crimes against

humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups, and in some cases

against Sunni Muslims, Kurds, and other minorities.”

The government investigated allegations of ISIS abuses and atrocities, and in some

instances, publicly noted the conviction of suspected ISIS members under the 2005

counterterrorism law.

The government’s reassertion of federal authority in disputed areas bordering the

Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), after the Kurdistan Region’s September 25

independence referendum, resulted in reports of abuses and atrocities by the

security forces, including those affiliated with the PMF.

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:

a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated

Killings

There were numerous reports that ISIS and other terrorist groups, as well as some

government forces, including the PMF, committed arbitrary or unlawful killings

(see section 1.g.). During the year the security situation remained unstable due to

widespread fighting between the ISF and ISIS; periodic clashes between the ISF,

including the PMF, and Peshmerga; and the presence of militias in many liberated

areas, as well as sectarian, ethnic, and financially motivated violence. From

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January 1 to June 30, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) reported at

least 2,429 civilians killed and 3,277 injured in the country.

Some government security forces allegedly committed extrajudicial killings; the

government rarely made public its identification and prosecution of specific

perpetrators of abuses and atrocities. Human rights organizations reported that

both Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Defense personnel tortured detainees to

death. Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that the Iraqi Army’s 16th division

summarily executed suspected ISIS members it had detained.

During the year frequent unlawful killings by unidentified gunmen occurred

throughout the country. For example, in May local police reported the killing of a

member of a Sunni tribal militia operating under the umbrella of the PMF, and

another injured, in an attack carried out by unknown gunmen in Baghdad. In

August local police reported unknown gunmen killed a police officer stationed

northwest of Kirkuk.

Terrorist and politically motivated violence continued throughout the year,

including ISIS attacks on cities. Baghdad was particularly affected. UNAMI

reported that from January to October Baghdad experienced IED attacks on a

nearly daily basis. According to UNAMI, some attacks targeted government

buildings or checkpoints staffed by security forces, while many others targeted

civilians. ISIS carried out attacks against Baghdad’s civilian population, including

car bomb and suicide bomber attacks on May 30 that killed at least 20 civilians;

two IED attacks in the Muqdadiya District on July 27, killing two and injuring

three; and an August 28 IED attack on a Sadr City market that reportedly killed 12

and injured 30.

During the year authorities discovered numerous mass graves, including in Anbar,

Babil, and Ninewa Governorates. On February 9, the ISF uncovered two mass

graves in Rutba, Anbar Governorate, reportedly containing the remains of as many

as 25 ISF soldiers and civilians killed by ISIS in 2014. On February 15, Shlomo

Organization for Documentation reported the discovery of a mass grave west of

Mosul containing 150 remains, possibly of Christian civilians from the area. On

August 25, the Iraqi Army announced it found two mass gravesites at Badoush

prison and formed an investigative committee to exhume and investigate the

remains; but the continuing strike of the forensic investigators of the Martyr’s

Foundation, the government’s unit to investigate mass graves, prevented further

action by year’s end.

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Ethnic and sectarian-based fighting escalated in mixed governorates after liberation

operations. For example, Arab residents reported that Shia Turkomen PMF units

arrested, kidnapped, or killed Sunni Turkomen Arabs in Tal Afar after the ISF

liberated the city from ISIS rule in August. None of those responsible within PMF

units were brought to justice by year’s end. Additionally, media reported

allegations that unknown groups kidnapped or threatened Arabs in Kirkuk,

particularly in the weeks prior to the September 25 Kurdish independence

referendum. For example, unknown gunmen reportedly abducted and killed two

relatives of a Hawija-based ISIS leader in Daquq, south of Kirkuk August 23. On

September 12, unidentified gunmen reportedly killed three persons from a family

associated with an ISIS member in Mosul.

In June the Prime Minister’s Office established an investigative committee to

review allegations the ISF committed abuses and atrocities. Regarding May 2016

torture allegations against the Ministry of Interior’s Emergency Response Division

(ERD), on August 17, the Prime Minister’s Office stated, “The committee has

concluded...that clear abuses and violations were committed by members of the

ERD,” adding that the perpetrators of the abuses would face prosecution. At year’s

end the investigative committee continued its work but had not yet publicly

released its findings.

There were also reports of killings or other sectarian violence in the IKR. Minority

groups reported threats and attacks targeting their communities in non-IKR areas

that the KRG effectively controlled.

b. Disappearance

There was no publicly available comprehensive account of the extent of the

problem of disappeared persons.

Although officially under the command of the prime minister, some PMF units

operated with limited government oversight or accountability. According to

multiple nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the 643 men and boys whom

PMF units intercepted at ad hoc security screening sites following the liberation of

Fallujah in June 2016 remained missing and feared dead at year’s end.

ISIS carried out most abductions that targeted members of various ethnic and

religious communities. ISIS frequently abducted members of the security or police

forces, members of ethnic and religious minorities, and other non-Sunni

communities in areas under its control.

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According to the KRG Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, authorities

rescued more than 3,100 kidnapped Yezidi men, women, and children from ISIS;

however, authorities believed another 3,293 Yezidis, mainly women and children,

remained in ISIS captivity. IKR-based civil society organizations (CSOs) reported

some ISIS-kidnapped Yezidi children had been trafficked into Turkey. Authorities

located four such children in Turkey by year’s end, but efforts to establish their

identity and repatriate them moved slowly through Turkish courts. According to

the Turkmen Women’s Association, ISIS militants kidnapped an estimated 500

Turkmen Shia women and children from Ninewa Governorate in 2014, and 495

remained in captivity at year’s end.

Individuals, militias, and organized criminal groups carried out abductions and

kidnappings for personal gain or for political or sectarian reasons. For example, in

September security forces rescued four Christian youths, kidnapped for several

days as they traveled from Baghdad to Basrah for a national soccer team match.

The kidnappers reportedly planned to extort ransom from the families of the

kidnapped.

HRW reported that in June Yezidi fighters from the Ezidkhan Brigades, associated

with the PMF, disappeared 52 civilians (22 men, 20 women, and 10 children) from

the Sunni Imteywit tribe. Yezidi officials alleged that Imteywit and Jahaysh tribal

members participated in ISIS atrocities against Yezidis in 2014, allegations that the

tribal members denied.

Journalist and political activist Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi, who was abducted by

gunmen in Baghdad in December 2016, was released in January. Members of a

Qatari hunting party, abducted in Muthanna in 2015, were released in April.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment

Although the constitution expressly prohibits torture in all its forms and under all

circumstances, including cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, government

officials, as well as local and international human rights organizations, documented

instances of government agents committing torture and other abuses. There were

reports police sometimes used abusive methods and coerced confessions for

investigations, and courts accepted forced confessions as evidence. ISIS, however,

committed most of such abuses.

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As in previous years, there were credible reports that government security forces,

to include militia units associated with the PMF, abused and tortured individuals

during arrest, pretrial detention, and after conviction. International human rights

organizations documented cases of torture and abuse in Ministry of Interior-run

facilities and to a lesser extent in Ministry of Defense-run detention facilities, as

well as in facilities under KRG control. In particular human rights organizations

alleged torture or other abuse of detainees by Ministry of Interior and Ministry of

Defense forces during the final stages of liberating Mosul and other areas from

ISIS rule.

Former prisoners, detainees, and human rights groups reported a wide range of

torture and abuse.

Abusive interrogation, under certain conditions, reportedly occurred in some

detention facilities of the KRG’s internal security unit, the Asayish, and the

intelligence services of the major political parties, the Kurdistan Democratic

Party’s (KDP) Parastin and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) Zanyari.

During monitoring visits to KRG prisons and places of detention between January

2015 and June 2016, UNAMI reported 70 detainees raised allegations of torture or

other mistreatment during interrogation.

On January 29, HRW reported that KRG authorities tortured boys between ages 11

and 17, who authorities had arrested because of alleged links to ISIS, and

prevented them from accessing counsel. According to the KRG Independent

Human Rights Commission there were 215 boys held by the KRG in an Erbil

juvenile detention facility on ISIS-related accusations. The commission

interviewed 165 boys. Most of the juveniles alleged both PMF and KRG security

forces subjected them to various forms of abuse, including beatings. Lawyers

provided by an international NGO were reportedly granted access and provided

representation to any juvenile without a court-appointed attorney.

Torture and abuse by terrorist groups was widespread. CSOs, humanitarian

organizations, and former ISIS captives reported numerous cases of torture, rape,

forced labor, forced marriage, forced religious conversion, material deprivation,

and battery by ISIS members. There were numerous reports of ISIS torturing and

killing civilians for attempting to flee areas under ISIS control. For example, on

August 28, local media reported that ISIS burned alive eight civilians, including an

infant, who had tried to flee ISIS-held Hawija.

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Prison and Detention Center Conditions

Conditions at some prison and detention facilities remained harsh and life

threatening due to overcrowding, physical abuse, and inadequate access to

sanitation facilities and medical care.

The Ministry of Justice reported that there were no accommodations for inmates

with disabilities, and a previously announced ministry initiative to establish

facilities for such detainees had not been fully implemented by year’s end.

Physical Conditions: Overcrowding in government-run prisons was a systemic

problem exacerbated by an increase in the number of alleged ISIS members

detained during the year. Physical conditions in government-run detention

facilities and prisons were often poor, according to international observers. Three

of the 24 correctional facilities managed by the Iraqi Corrections Service, the

government entity with legal authority to hold persons after conviction, were not

operational due to the security situation.

For example the sole prison in Muthanna governorate was designed to hold no

more than 50 prisoners in each cell; however, observers reported more than 120

persons in one cell. Basrah Central Prison, with a capacity of 1,900, held more

than 3,000 inmates; Ma’aqal Prison in Basrah, with a capacity of 250, held 500

prisoners. Overcrowding exacerbated corruption among some police officers and

prison administrators in southern governorates, who reportedly took bribes to

reduce or drop charges, cut sentences, or release prisoners early.

Inmates in government-run detention and prison facilities sometimes lacked

adequate food and water. Access to medical care was inconsistent. Some

detention facilities did not have an onsite pharmacy or infirmary, and authorities

reported that even when they existed, pharmacies were often undersupplied.

Women’s prisons often lacked adequate child-care facilities for inmates’ children,

whom the law permits to remain with their mothers until age four. Limited and

aging infrastructure worsened sanitation, limited access to potable water, and led to

preparation of poor-quality food in many prison facilities.

Authorities separated detainees from convicts in most cases. Prisoners facing

terrorism charges were isolated from the general detainee population and were

more likely to remain in Ministry of Interior or Ministry of Defense detention for

longer periods.

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Although the government held most juvenile pretrial detainees and convicts in

facilities operated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, there were reports

that Ministry of Justice-administered prisons, Ministry of Interior police stations,

and other Ministry of Interior detention facilities held some juveniles.

In March the Iraqi Army and the PMF took control of Badoush Prison, the site

where ISIS formerly held hundreds of women in captivity, near Mosul.

According to UNAMI, the KRG’s newer detention facilities in major cities were

well maintained, although conditions remained poor in many smaller detention

centers operated by the KRG Ministry of Interior. In some KRG Asayish detention

centers and police-run jails, KRG authorities occasionally held juveniles in the

same cells as adults. A Kurdistan Independent Human Rights Commission report

stated that authorities housed 37 minors in Erbil prisons with their convicted

mothers as of the middle of the year.

Administration: The central government reported it took credible steps to address

allegations of mistreatment in central government facilities; however, the extent of

these steps was not fully known. According to the Higher Judicial Council, the

judicial system dealt promptly with abuse allegations, and authorities sentenced to

one- to three-years’ imprisonment at least five Ministry of Interior officials for

committing abuses in Ministry of Interior facilities. The KRG had no uniform

policy for addressing allegations of abuse by the KRG Ministry of Interior or the

Asayish.

Human rights organizations reported that prison guards or arresting officers

released detainees only after the detainees paid a bribe. International and local

human rights groups reported that authorities in numerous instances denied family

visits to detainees and convicts. Guards allegedly often demanded bribes when

detainees asked to call their relatives or legal counsel.

Independent Monitoring: Iraqi Corrections Service prisons allowed regular visits

by independent nongovernmental observers. The International Committee of the

Red Cross reported the Ministries of Justice, Interior, Defense, and Labor and

Social Affairs largely permitted them access to prisons and detention facilities.

Authorities also granted UNAMI access to Ministry of Justice prisons and

detention facilities in Baghdad. There were reports of some institutional

interference in prison visits, and in some cases institutions required advance

notification to wardens and prison officials for outside monitor visits.

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The KRG generally allowed international human rights NGOs and

intergovernmental organizations to visit convicted prisoners and pretrial detainees,

but occasionally authorities delayed or denied access to some individuals, usually

in cases involving terrorism. The United Nations and the International Committee

of the Red Cross had regular access to IKR prisons and detention facilities. In July

the Kurdistan Independent Human Rights Commission reported the commission

often faced obstacles accessing Asayish facilities.

d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention

The constitution provides legal safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention.

During the year, however, there were numerous reports of arbitrary arrests and

detentions.

A 2014 prime ministerial executive order prohibits the arrest or remand of

individuals, except by order of a competent judge or court or as established by the

code of criminal procedures. The executive order requires authorities within 24

hours of the detention to register the detainee’s name, place of detention, reason for

detention, and legal basis for detention. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for

updating and managing these registers. The order requires the Ministries of

Defense and Interior and the National Security Service to establish guidelines for

commanders in battlefield situations to register detainees’ details in this central

competent authorities, to detain any person.

In 2016 the Council of Representatives (COR) passed an amended amnesty law

that provides for retrials of detainees convicted based on forced confessions or

evidence provided by secret informants. The Ministry of Justice reported

authorities released nearly 4,500 detainees from government custody between the

law’s enactment in 2016 and May 31.

There were numerous reports of arrests and temporary detention by government

forces, including the PMF and Peshmerga, of predominantly Sunni Arab IDPs

throughout the year. On June 3, HRW reported that KRG authorities detained

incommunicado three men and two boys from IDP camps for suspicion of ISIS

affiliation.

Prison authorities sometimes delayed the release of exonerated inmates or extorted

bribes from prisoners to vacate detention facilities at the end of their sentence

terms. According to NGO contacts, inmates whom the judiciary ordered released

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sometimes faced delays from the Ministry of Interior or other ministries to clear

their record of other pending charges.

There were some reports of PMF forces detaining Sunnis following the liberation

of ISIS-dominated areas; as well as Kurds and Turkmen in Kirkuk; and Christians

in the Ninewa Plains. In a May 22 article, HRW reported that PMF fighters

arbitrarily detained men who had fled fighting in their Mosul-area village in April.

PMF fighters interrogated the detainees regarding their ISIS affiliation and in some

cases beat and tortured them before releasing them.

ISIS also detained individuals for a wide variety of reasons, including silencing

critics, punishing those accused of insurrection, or preventing residents from

fleeing ISIS-held territory. For example, on August 24, ISIS reportedly abducted

five families fleeing ISIS-held al-Qa’im, Anbar Governorate.

Role of the Police and Security Apparatus

Civilian authorities did not maintain effective control over some of the security

forces.

Numerous domestic security forces operate throughout the country. The regular

armed forces and domestic law enforcement bodies maintain order within the

country. The Peshmerga, including militias of the KDP and PUK, maintain order

in the IKR. The PMF, a state-sponsored umbrella military organization composed

of approximately 60 groups, operates throughout the country. The plurality of

PMF units were Shia, reflecting the demographics of the country, while Sunni,

Yezidi, Christian, and other minority PMF units also operate within their home

regions. A law and prime ministerial decree in 2016 established prime ministerial

authority over the PMF. While limited by law to operations in Iraq, in some cases

units reportedly supported the Assad regime in Syria independently of the Iraqi

government’s authority. The Iraqi government does not recognize these fighters as

PMF even if their organizations are part of the PMF. All PMF units officially

report to the National Security Advisor, but several units in practice are also

responsive to Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). At year’s

end the prime minister and the ISF did not demonstrate consistent command and

control over all of the PMF’s activities, particularly those units aligned with Iran.

The government’s efforts to formalize the PMF as a governmental security entity

continued at year’s end, but portions of the PMF remained Iranian-aligned.

Actions of these disparate units at times exacerbated security challenges, especially

but not only in ethnically and religiously diverse areas of the country.

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The ISF consists of security forces administratively organized within the Ministries

of Interior and Defense, the PMF, and the Counterterrorism Service. The Ministry

of Interior is responsible for domestic law enforcement and maintenance of order;

it oversees the Federal Police, Provincial Police, Facilities Protection Service, Civil

Defense, and Department of Border Enforcement. Energy police, under the

Ministry of Oil, are responsible for providing infrastructure protection.

Conventional military forces under the Ministry of Defense are responsible for the

defense of the country but also carry out counterterrorism and internal security

operations in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior. The Counterterrorism

Service reports directly to the prime minister and oversees the Counterterrorism

Command, an organization that includes three brigades of special operations

forces.

Impunity was a problem. There were reports of torture and abuse throughout the

country in facilities used by the Ministries of Interior and Defense. According to

international human rights organizations, abuse took place primarily during

detainee interrogations while in pretrial detention.

Problems persisted, including corruption, within the country’s provincial police

forces. The army and federal police recruited and deployed soldiers and police

officers on a nationwide basis. This practice led to complaints from local

communities that members of the army and police were abusive because of

ethnosectarian differences.

Security forces made limited efforts to prevent or respond to societal violence.

Although 16 family protection units, located in separate buildings at police stations

around the country, operated under police authority to respond to claims of

domestic violence made by women and children, they lacked sufficient capacity.

The most recent report detailing the units’ work is from 2014.

Additionally, some tribal leaders in the south reportedly banned their members

from seeking redress through these police units, claiming domestic abuse was a

family matter in which police should not become involved.

The two main Kurdish political parties, the KDP and the PUK, had their own

security apparatuses. Under the federal constitution, the KRG has the right to

maintain internal security forces, supported financially by the federal government

but under the KRG’s operational control. Accordingly, the KRG’s Ministry of

Peshmerga Affairs oversees 14 infantry brigades and two support brigades, but the

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PUK and KDP controlled tens of thousands of additional military personnel,

including militia forces generally referred to as the Peshmerga 70s and 80s

brigades.

The KDP and PUK maintained separate security and intelligence services, the

KDP’s Asayish and Parastin, and the PUK’s Asayish and Zanyari, respectively.

The KRG Independent Human Rights Commission routinely notified the Kurdistan

Ministry of Interior when it received credible reports of police human rights

violations.

KRG security services detained suspects in areas the regional government

controlled. The poorly defined administrative boundaries between these areas and

the rest of the country resulted in continuing confusion regarding the jurisdiction of

security forces and the courts, an issue exacerbated by ISIS control of parts of

these areas.

Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees

The constitution prohibits unlawful detention and mandates that authorities submit

preliminary documents to a competent judge within 24 hours of arrest, a period

that may extend in most cases to a maximum of 72 hours. For offenses punishable

by death, authorities may legally detain the defendant as long as necessary to

complete the judicial process. According to local media and rights groups,

authorities arrested suspects in security sweeps without warrants, particularly

under the antiterrorism law, and held some detainees for prolonged periods without

charge.

The government arbitrarily detained individuals and often did not inform them

promptly of the nature of the charges against them. The government periodically

released detainees, usually after concluding that it lacked sufficient evidence for

the courts to convict them. Many others remained in detention pending review of

other outstanding charges. The law allows release on bond for criminal (but not

security) detainees. Authorities rarely released detainees on bail. KRG internal

security units held some suspects incommunicado without an arrest warrant and

transported detainees to undisclosed detention facilities.

The law provides for judges to appoint paid counsel for the indigent. Attorneys

appointed to represent detainees frequently complained that insufficient access to

their clients hampered adequate attorney-client consultation. In many cases

detainees were not able to meet their attorneys until their scheduled trial date.

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There were reports that defendants did not have access to legal representation

during the investigation phase, appointed lawyers lacked sufficient time to prepare

a defense, and courts failed to investigate claims of torture while in detention.

Arbitrary Arrest: Police and military personnel sometimes arrested and detained

individuals without judicial approval, although there were no reliable statistics

available regarding the number of such acts or the length of detentions.

Authorities often failed to notify family members of the arrest or location of

detention, resulting in incommunicado detention.

There were reports that central government security forces, including the PMF and

Peshmerga, detained and arrested individuals, including IDPs, following the

liberation of areas from ISIS rule. For example, in September the Ninewa

Provincial Council reportedly filed a complaint to the central government and the

United Nations stating the PMF routinely detained local Sunni men under

suspicion of supporting ISIS. Humanitarian organizations also reported that in

many instances central government security forces did not inform detainees of the

reason for their detention or the charges filed against them. Humanitarian agencies

similarly reported central government security forces detained IDPs suspected of

ISIS membership or support.

HRW accused KRG forces of arresting 2,000 men and boys in IDP camps in

February. On February 28, the KRG’s High Committee to Evaluate and Respond

to International Reports confirmed the majority of the detainees were suspected

ISIS members. The committee claimed it informed detainees’ families of their

detention and that authorities released suspects within 24 hours thereafter unless

they were found to have terrorist affiliation.

KRG police and internal security service officers arrested and detained protesters

and activists critical of the KRG, according to NGO contacts and local press

reporting. On March 18, HRW accused KRG security authorities of detaining 32

unarmed protesters in Erbil on March 4 and allegedly using threats of retaliation to

discourage future protests.

Pretrial Detention: The Ministries of Justice, Defense, Interior, and Labor and

Social Affairs are legally authorized to hold pretrial detainees. Lengthy detentions

without due process and without judicial action were a systemic problem,

particularly during and immediately after ISF campaigns to liberate areas from

ISIS. The lack of judicial review resulted from several factors, including a large

number of detainees, undocumented detentions, slow processing of criminal

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investigations, an insufficient number of judges and trained judicial personnel,

authorities’ inability or reluctance to use bail or other conditions of release, lack of

information sharing, bribery, and corruption. Overcrowding of pretrial detainees

remained a problem in many detention facilities.

Lengthy pretrial detentions were particularly common in areas liberated from ISIS.

For example, the Ministry of Interior reportedly placed detainees in homes rented

from local residents in Ninewa, rather than in proper detention facilities, because

the fight against ISIS had mostly destroyed the latter. Use of makeshift facilities

led to significant overcrowding and inadequate services. There were allegations of

detention beyond judicial release dates as well as of unlawful releases.

There were no independently verified statistics concerning the number of pretrial

detainees in central government facilities.

In August the ISF detained more than 1,400 non-Iraqi women and children who

fled military operations in Tal Afar. The group included nationals primarily from

Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia, and China. Security forces held the group at a transit

facility for two weeks before moving them to a detention facility north of Mosul

and later to a facility near Baghdad. Authorities provided residents’ basic needs,

but the facility lacked sufficient medical care or shower facilities. Authorities

noted that the seclusion of this population protected the group from revenge attacks

expected due to their alleged affiliation with ISIS. As of November nearly the

entire group remained in central government custody, with some having been

repatriated to their countries of origin. Several hundred faced possible charges of

violating the counterterrorism law, while the remainder allegedly awaited

repatriation.

According to some observers, authorities held some detainees without trial for

months or years after arrest, particularly those detained under the antiterrorism law.

Authorities sometimes held detainees incommunicado, without access to defense

counsel or without formal charge before a judge within the legally mandated

period. Authorities at times detained spouses and other family members of

fugitives--mostly Sunnis wanted on terrorism charges--to compel their surrender.

KRG authorities also reportedly held detainees for extensive periods in pretrial

detention. According to local NGOs and the IKR Independent Human Rights

Commission, prisoners held in regional government-administered Asayish prisons

sometimes remained in detention for more than six months without trial.

According to IKR judicial officials, IKR law permits extension of pretrial

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detention of up to six months under court supervision. As of September there were

an estimated 1,700 pretrial detainees, including 71 women, in various KRG

facilities, according to the KRG Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

Detainee’s Ability to Challenge Lawfulness of Detention before a Court: The

constitution grants detainees the right to a prompt judicial determination on the

legality of their detention and the right to prompt release and compensation if

found to have been unlawfully detained. In practice individuals faced lengthy

detentions without the possibility of prompt release, regardless of guilt. Despite

the 2016 reform law concerning rights of detainees, NGOs widely reported that

detainees had limited ability to challenge the lawfulness of detention before a

court, and a bribe was often necessary to gain release. While a constitutional right,

the law does not allow for compensation for a person found to have been

unlawfully detained.

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, although certain articles of

law restricted judicial independence and impartiality. The country’s security

situation and political history left the judiciary weak and dependent on other parts

of the government. One individual heads both the Federal Supreme Court that

rules on issues related to federalism and constitutionality and the Higher Judicial

Council that manages and supervises the court system, including disciplinary

matters. Local and international media claimed this arrangement was politically

motivated and undermined judicial independence.

Corruption or intimidation reportedly influenced some judges in criminal cases at

the trial level and on appeal at the Court of Cassation. The Commission of

Integrity routinely investigated judges on corruption charges, but some

investigations were reportedly politically motivated.

Numerous threats and killings by sectarian, tribal, extremist, and criminal elements

impaired judicial independence. Judges, lawyers, and their family members

frequently faced death threats and attacks. Lawyers participated in protests

demanding better protection from the government against threats and violence.

Judges were also vulnerable to intimidation and violence. For example, in June

gunmen attempted to kill a judge hearing terrorism-related cases in Basrah.

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The Kurdistan Judicial Council is legally, financially, and administratively

independent from the KRG Ministry of Justice, but the KRG executive influenced

politically sensitive cases.

Trial Procedures

The constitution provides all citizens the right to a fair and public trial.

By law accused persons are innocent until proven guilty. The law requires

detainees to be informed promptly and in detail of the charges against them and the

right to a fair, timely, and public trial. Defendants have the right to be present at

their trial, the right to a privately retained or court-appointed counsel, at public

expense if needed, and the right to an interpreter without a fee. Nonetheless,

officials routinely failed to inform defendants promptly or in detail of charges

against them. Judges assemble evidence and adjudicate guilt or innocence.

Defendants and their attorneys have the right to confront witnesses against them

and present witnesses and evidence. They may not be compelled to testify or

confess guilt. Nevertheless, in numerous cases, forced confessions served as the

primary source of evidence without the corroboration of forensic evidence or

independent witness testimony. The law provides the right to appeal, although

there is a statute of limitations for referral; the Court of Cassation reviews criminal

cases on appeal.

Observers, including some government officials, the United Nations, and NGOs,

reported trial proceedings fell short of international standards. Although

investigative, trial, and appellate judges generally sought to enforce the right to a

fair trial, defendants’ insufficient access to defense attorneys was a serious defect

in proceedings. Many defendants met their lawyers for the first time during the

initial hearing and had limited access to legal counsel during pretrial detention.

This was particularly true in counterterrorism courts, where judicial staff

reportedly sought to complete convictions and sentencing for thousands of

suspected ISIS members in short periods of time. Trials were public, except in

some national security cases, but some faced undue delays.

KRG officials noted that prosecutors and defense attorneys frequently encountered

obstacles in carrying out their work and that prisoners’ trials were unnecessarily

delayed for administrative reasons. According to the IKR’s Independent Human

Rights Commission, detainees have remained in KRG internal security service

facilities for extended periods even after court orders for their release.

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Political Prisoners and Detainees

The government did not consider any incarcerated persons to be political prisoners

or detainees and stated that all individuals in prison had been either convicted or

charged under criminal law or were detained and awaiting trial while under

investigation.

It was difficult to assess claims that there were no political prisoners or detainees

due to the lack of government transparency, prevalence of corruption in arrest

procedures, slow case processing, and inaccessibility to detainees, especially those

held in counterterrorism, intelligence, and military facilities. Political opponents of

the government asserted the government imprisoned or sought to imprison persons

for political activities or beliefs under the pretense of criminal charges ranging

from corruption to terrorism and murder.

Niaz Aziz Saleh, convicted in 2012 of leaking KDP party information related to

electoral fraud, remained in a KRG prison, despite the completion of his sentence

in 2014.

Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies

Individuals and organizations may seek civil remedies for, or cessation of, human

rights violations. Administrative remedies also exist, although due to the

overwhelming security focus of the executive branch, coupled with an understaffed

judiciary dependent on the executive, the government did not effectively

implement civil or administrative remedies for human rights violations.

KRG law provides for compensation to persons subject to unlawful arrest or

detention. The KRG’s Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs handles

compensation for unlawful arrests or detentions, and its Human Rights

Commission reported that while approximately 5,000 cases (including many

historical cases) received approval for compensation of a piece of land, 10 years’

salary, and college tuition for one family member, the government could not pay

compensation due to budget constraints. The ministry stated there were 13,000

unlawful arrests pending compensation decisions.

f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or

Correspondence

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The constitution mandates that authorities may not enter or search homes except

with a judicial order. The constitution also prohibits arbitrary interference with

privacy, but security forces often entered homes without search warrants.

Some government forces and militia groups forced alleged ISIS sympathizers from

their homes in several governorates. For example, there were reports that PMF

militia group Kata’ib Hizballah kidnapped and intimidated local Arab Sunni

residents in Diyala and Babil Governorates and prevented Arab Sunni IDPs from

returning to their places of origin. There were credible reports that local

authorities punished family members of suspected ISIS members. In some

instances local community leaders threatened to evict these family members from

their homes forcibly; bulldoze the homes; and/or injure or kill these relatives.

IDPs returning to towns and areas in the Ninewa Plains reported ISIS had

destroyed temples, houses of worship, cemeteries, and schools. A Catholic social

organization conducted a survey of several historically Christian towns and found

1,233 houses destroyed, 3,520 houses burned, and 8,217 partially damaged. The

same organization reported that as of September 3, only 200 Christian families

from a pre-ISIS population of 19,000 families had returned to the Ninewa Plains;

Christian IDPs in several Ninewa Plains villages under PMF control reported the

PMF imposed arbitrary checkpoints and detained civilians without legal authority

to do so.

g. Abuses in Internal Conflict

Killings: From January 1 to June 30, UNAMI reported a minimum of 5,700

civilian casualties, including at least 2,429 persons killed and 3,277 injured. It was

not clear how many civilians were intentionally targeted.

According to international human rights organizations, some Shia militias,

including some under the PMF umbrella, committed abuses and atrocities. The

groups participated in operations against ISIS as part of the PMF and were

implicated in several attacks on Sunni civilians, reportedly avenging ISIS crimes

against the Shia community. For example, in September HRW reported that Shia

PMF fighters affiliated with the Badr Organization detained and beat at least 100

male villagers and allegedly shot and killed four who self-identified as ISIS-

affiliated during counter-ISIS operations outside Hawija.

ISIS was the major perpetrator of abuses and atrocities in the country, responsible

for deaths of many innocent civilians. The United Nations, international human

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rights groups, and media reported that ISIS executed hundreds of noncombatants,

including civilians living under, or trying to flee from, its rule. From May 26-29,

according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ISIS

killed more than 200 civilians as they attempted to flee fighting in western Mosul.

These abuses were particularly evident in and around Mosul, as well as western

Anbar, where ISIS reportedly killed numerous civilians who attempted to flee ISIS

rule or refused to fight the ISF. There were also numerous reports of ISIS killing

civilians in al-Qa’im, Anbar Governorate, in August and September for allegedly

cooperating with ISF or attempting to flee to liberated territory.

Throughout the year ISIS detonated vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices

and suicide bombs in public markets, security checkpoints, and predominantly Shia

neighborhoods. For example, ISIS claimed responsibility for September 14 attacks

on a checkpoint and restaurant in Dhi Qar that killed 94 civilians.

ISIS also reportedly killed individuals, including minors, who did not conform to

ISIS dictates. For example, on August 3, ISIS reportedly killed a 12-year-old boy

publicly in al-Qa’im, Anbar Governorate, for verbally insulting ISIS members.

Abductions: Militias, criminal armed groups, ISIS, and other unknown actors

kidnapped many persons during the year. While in some cases individuals were

kidnapped due to their ethnic or sectarian identity, other individuals were taken for

financial motives. ISIS reportedly detained children in schools, prisons, and

airports, and separated girls from their families to sell them in ISIS-controlled

areas for sexual slavery.

According to Yezidi NGO contacts, since 2014 ISIS caused more than 360,000

Yezidis to flee to areas under KRG control. The KRG Office of Yezidi Rescues

reported ISIS kidnapped 6,417 Yezidis (3,547 women and 2,870 men); of that

number, the office facilitated the rescue of 1,108 women, 335 men, and 1,635

children. The office reported there were 3,319 Yezidis still missing as of

September.

In May, COR member Vian Dakhil reported the KRG had paid more than 5.8

billion Iraqi dinars ($5.0 million) in ransom to secure the release of 3,004 Yezidis

from ISIS, and more than 69.9 million Iraqi dinars ($60,000) to middlemen to

arrange safe passage to IKR-controlled areas.

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Kidnappings also were a tactic used in tribal conflicts throughout the country. For

example, Basrah police reported four tribal dispute-linked kidnappings during the

year.

Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture: Reports from international human

rights groups stated that government forces and PMF abused prisoners and

detainees, particularly Sunnis (see section 1.a.).

According to international human rights organizations, ISIS used torture to punish

individuals connected to the security services and government, as well as those

they considered apostates, such as Yezidis. Thousands of women, particularly

those from ethnic and religious communities that ISIS considered as not

conforming to their doctrine of Islam, were raped, sexually enslaved, murdered,

and endured other forms of physical and sexual violence.

ISIS forces killed civilians who cooperated with the government and anyone who

refused to recognize ISIS and its caliphate or tried to escape ISIS-controlled

territory. For example, in September ISIS reportedly killed 10 civilians in Hawija

for allegedly cooperating with the ISF. ISIS also punished minors in areas under

its control.

ISIS attempted to attack both ISF units and civilian-populated areas with chemical

substances, including chlorine and sulfur mustard gas. For example, in March

humanitarian agencies reported ISIS used chemicals containing blistering agents

during the ISF’s battle to liberate Mosul.

Child Soldiers: There were no reports that the central government’s Ministries of

Interior or Defense conscripted or recruited children to serve in the security

services. Some armed militia groups, however, under the banner of the PMF,

provided weapons training and military-style physical fitness conditioning to

children under age 18. The government and Shia religious leaders expressly forbid

children under age 18 from serving in combat; even so, there was evidence on

social media of children serving in combat positions. For example, local media

reported at least one PMF-linked Shia militia managed a military readiness training

camp for teenagers below age 18 in the Taza area south of Kirkuk during the

summer months.

KRG and independent sources stated the Yezidi Resistance Forces and Yezidi

Women’s Protection Units’ militias employed Yezidi minors in paramilitary roles

in Sinjar. Kurdish media reported that the Kurdistan Worker’s Party recruited

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children from Sulaimaniyah and Halabja Governorates and had armed and

transferred more than 250 Yezidi youth from the town of Sinjar to bases in Qandil.

Media reported the party also recruited children from Makhmour. Turkish air

strikes in April killed one child soldier in Khanasour District of Sinjar.

ISIS forced children to serve as informants, checkpoint staff, and suicide bombers

in areas under its control. The NGO Yazda claimed ISIS continued to force Yezidi

children into combat roles, including sending young boys to conduct suicide

attacks against the ISF in Mosul.

Also see the Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report at

www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/

Other Conflict-related Abuse: Conflict disrupted the lives of hundreds of

thousands of persons throughout the country, particularly in Baghdad, Anbar, and

Ninewa Governorates.

The government, the PMF, and ISIS established roadblocks that impeded the flow

of humanitarian assistance to communities in need. Local officials reported PMF-

affiliated militias looted Kurdish homes and threatened Kurdish residents in

Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu in October and November. The KRG, specifically

KDP-run checkpoints, also restricted the transport of food, medicines, and medical

supplies, and other goods into some areas. In September, Yazda accused the KDP

of using checkpoints to prevent Yezidi IDP returns to southern Sinjar. Local

sources reported that Asayish required clearance letters for anyone to cross the

main bridge from Dahuk to Ninewa.

Reports of ISIS’s targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure were common,

including attacks on roads, religious sites, and hospitals.

ISIS attacked cultural and religious heritage sites in areas under its control. On

June 21, ISIS destroyed the al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul, famed for its leaning

minaret.

ISIS increasingly used civilians as human shields in combat and targeted civilian

areas with mortars. Amnesty International reported that ISIS used hundreds of

Mosul residents as human shields during the ISF’s campaign to retake the city

from ISIS control.

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Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Expression, Including for the Press

The constitution broadly provides for the right of free expression that does not

violate public order and morality, express support for the banned Ba’ath party, or

advocate altering the country’s borders through violent means. The primary

limitation on individual and media exercise of these rights was self-censorship due

to credible fear of reprisals by the government, political parties, ethnic and

sectarian forces, terrorist and extremist groups, or criminal gangs.

Freedom of Expression: Despite the constitutional protection for freedom of

expression, central government and KRG oversight and censorship sometimes

interfered with media operations, at times resulting in the closure of media outlets,

restrictions on reporting, and interference with internet service. Individuals were

able to criticize the government publicly or privately but not without fear of

reprisal. For example, on March 14, KRG security forces prevented a Nalia Radio

and Television (NRT) journalist from covering the visit of a western ambassador to

Bashiqa. On August 28, the KRG Directorate of Media, Printing, and Publications

announced it would temporarily halt the broadcast of NRT, a media outlet that

criticized the KDP and the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum; NRT

was closed for one week before resuming programming without incident. On

October 28, the National Commission of Media and Communications called for

Erbil-based Rudaw TV and Kurdistan 24 TV to suspend broadcasts for operating

without a license and broadcasting programs that incite violence.

Press and Media Freedom: An active media expressed a variety of views largely

reflecting the owners’ political viewpoints. Media also self-censored to comply

with government restrictions against “violating public order” and because of a fear

of reprisal by militias, criminal organizations, and private individuals, including

political figures. Media outlets, unable to cover operating costs through

advertising revenue, frequently relied upon political funding that diminished their

ability to report unbiased news. Political parties strongly influenced, or controlled

outright, most of the several hundred daily and weekly print media publications, as

well as dozens of radio and television stations.

Some media organizations reported arrests and harassment of journalists, as well as

government preventing them from covering politically sensitive topics, including

security issues, corruption, and weak governmental capacity. Government, KRG

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security authorities, and militias sometimes prevented journalists from reporting;

they cited security pretexts.

On July 1, the Kurdish Journalists’ Syndicate released a report alleging 56 reported

violations of press freedom in the first half of the year. From January 1 to

September 1, according to the Metro Center for Defending Journalists’ Rights,

there were 166 press violations against 144 journalists and media outlets. Both

organizations reported that security forces physically blocked journalists’ access to

story locations and press conferences.

Security forces barred Gorran-affiliated Kurdish News Network journalist Hazhar

Anwar Jawhar, who reported he received several death threats, from covering

stories, and they repeatedly assaulted him. He stated KDP security forces in

Makhmour prevented him from reporting in the area in 2016 and that a KRG

Ministry of Interior official warned him in April that if he did not lower his profile,

he would be killed.

Violence and Harassment: According to a report of the Committee to Protect

Journalists, 34 journalists were killed during the year.

Reporting from ISIS-controlled areas remained dangerous and difficult.

Journalists covering armed clashes involving government, militia, and ISIS forces

faced serious threats to their safety, with several instances of journalists killed or

injured. Military officials, citing safety considerations, sometimes restricted

journalists’ access to areas of active fighting.

Media workers often reported they were pressured by persons and institutions,

including politicians, government officials, security services, tribal elements, and

business leaders, not to publish articles critical of them. Media workers reported

accounts of government or partisan violence, intimidation, death threats, and

harassment. For example, on January 31, government officers reportedly harassed

and beat a Radio al-Mirbad journalist to prevent him from reporting negative news

in Basrah Governorate.

Throughout the IKR there were numerous beatings, detentions, and death threats

against media workers. In some cases the aggressors wore military or police

uniforms. For example, on March 10, unknown gunmen fired on the house of

freelance journalist Hemin Kareem in Sulaimaniyah. Kareem claimed he was

targeted due to his critical writing on social media. According to a November 2

HRW statement, on October 30, at least six masked men in military uniforms

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broke into the Daquq home of Arkan Sharifi, a high school principal and

cameraman for Kurdistan TV, and stabbed him to death. At year’s end the

assailants remained unidentified and their motives unknown.

Censorship or Content Restrictions: The law prohibits producing, importing,

publishing, or possessing written material, drawings, photographs, or films that

violate public integrity or decency. The penalties for conviction include fines and

imprisonment. Fear of violent retaliation for publishing facts or opinions

displeasing to political factions inhibited free expression. Public officials

reportedly influenced content through rewarding positive reporting with bribes,

providing money, land, access to venues, and other benefits to journalists,

particularly to members of the progovernment Journalists’ Syndicate. These

restrictions extended to privately owned television stations operating outside of the

country.

The Ministry of Culture must approve all books published in or imported into the

country, thereby subjecting authors to censorship.

In August the National Commission of Media and Communications prevented two

television channels from broadcasting the satirical al-Basheer Show, reportedly for

violating the code of media conduct.

The KDP banned NRT, Payam, and the Kurdish News Network from covering the

frontlines of the fight against ISIS in Ninewa Governorate as well as Mosul

liberation operations that started in October 2016. Additionally, on August 28, the

KRG banned NRT local broadcasts for one week because of commercial

advertisements for the “No for Now” anti-Kurdistan Region independence

referendum campaign. On August 31, KDP supporters raided NRT headquarters in

Dahuk and destroyed the NRT logo on the roof of the building.

Libel/Slander Laws: Criminal and civil law prohibits defamation. Many in media

complained this provision prevented them from freely practicing their profession

by creating a strong fear of prosecution, although widespread self-censorship

impeded journalistic performance as well. Public officials occasionally resorted to

filing libel charges that in some cases resulted in punitive fines on individual media

outlets and editors, often for publishing articles containing allegations of

corruption. When cases went to court, the courts usually sided with the journalist,

according to local media-freedom organizations.

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Libel is a criminal offense under KRG law as well, and judges may issue arrest

warrants for journalists on this basis.

Nongovernmental Impact: Nongovernmental actors, including militia groups,

reportedly threatened journalists with violence for reporting on sensitive subjects.

Internet Freedom

There were overt government restrictions on access to the internet, and there were

credible reports, but no official acknowledgement, that the government monitored

email and internet communications without appropriate legal authority. Despite

restrictions, political figures and activists used the internet to criticize corrupt and

ineffective politicians, mobilize protesters for demonstrations, and campaign for

candidates through social media channels.

The government acknowledged that it interfered with internet access in some areas

of the country due to the deterioration in the security situation and ISIS’s

disruptive use of social media platforms. During the year there were reports that

government officials attempted to have pages critical of the government removed

from Facebook and Twitter as “hate speech,” although they did not succeed in

doing so.

There were no reports the Ministry of Communications imposed social media

blackouts. Sporadically throughout the year, the government instructed internet

service providers to shut down the internet during school exams, reportedly so

students could not cheat.

According to the World Bank, approximately 21 percent of the population used the

internet in 2016, compared with 17 percent in 2015.

ISIS also severely restricted access to the internet and telephone service in areas

under its control and threatened users with death.

Academic Freedom and Cultural Events

Social, religious, and political pressures significantly restricted the exercise of

freedom of choice in academic and cultural matters. In all regions various groups

reportedly sought to control the pursuit of formal education and granting of

academic positions. The country’s universities did not pursue gender-segregation

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policies. ISIS limited female education beyond the primary level in areas that it

controlled.

Academic freedoms remained restricted in areas of active conflict and in ISIS-

controlled territory. ISIS targeted libraries, museums, and academic institutions in

violent attacks and abducted students and faculty. The situation improved during

the year, however, as the government liberated locations from ISIS rule, and

thousands of schools reopened.

ISIS limited cultural expression by targeting artists, poets, writers, and musicians

in areas under its control.

NGOs in the KRG reported that senior professorships were easier to obtain for

those with links to the traditional KDP and PUK ruling parties.

b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The government sometimes limited freedoms of peaceful assembly and

association.

Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

The constitution provides for freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration

“regulated by law.” Regulations require protest organizers request permission

seven days in advance of a demonstration and submit detailed information

regarding the applicants, the reason for the protest, and participants. The

regulations prohibit all “slogans, signs, printed materials, or drawings” involving

“sectarianism, racism, or segregation” of citizens. The regulations also prohibit

anything that would violate the constitution or law; encourage violence, hatred, or

killing; or prove insulting to Islam, “honor, morals, religion, holy groups, or Iraqi

entities in general.” Provincial councils traditionally maintained authority to issue

permits. Authorities generally issued permits in accordance with the regulations.

In large part the government respected the right of its citizens to freedom of

peaceful assembly. For example, on March 24, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr

addressed an estimated 50,000 followers in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square to demand

anticorruption reforms; the protest remained peaceful, and the estimated 2,000 riot

police deployed for the occasion did not interfere with the assembly.

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On September 19, hundreds of protesters reportedly gathered in Kirkuk to protest

the Iraqi parliament’s motion to remove Kirkuk governor Najmaldin Karim from

office; the protest was peaceful, and there were no reports government forces acted

to disband the protest.

In some cases government forces dismissed unauthorized protests or restricted

protests for security reasons. On February 11, riot police dispersed thousands of

Sadr supporters gathered outside a gate to Baghdad’s International Zone; the

clashes reportedly resulted in the death of one police officer and four protesters.

HRW reported the KRG security services and local police detained 32 persons in

Erbil on March 4 for participating in a demonstration without a permit. Twenty-

three of those detained were released the same day, three others were released four

days later, and six foreign nationals were held for more than 10 days. One of those

detained told HRW that authorities never charged him, but the police chief told

him to leave Erbil.

Freedom of Association

The constitution provides for the right to form and join associations and political

parties, with some exceptions. The government generally respected this right,

except for the legal prohibitions against groups expressing support for the Ba’ath

Party or Zionist principles. The penal code stipulates that any person convicted of

promoting Zionist principles, association with Zionist organizations, assisting such

organizations through material or moral support, or working in any way to realize

Zionist objectives, is subject to punishment by death. There were no known cases

of individuals charged with violating this law during the year.

The government reported it took approximately one month to process NGO

registration applications, an improvement from past years. NGOs must register

and periodically reregister in Baghdad. The NGO Directorate in the Council of

Ministers Secretariat reported 3,450 registered NGOs as of November.

In January, KRG officials in Dahuk temporarily closed the offices of the Yazda

organization, allegedly because it did not abide by NGO regulations requiring it to

obtain approval to do advocacy work. A local NGO reported that the PUK

Asayish prevented it from holding a meeting on corruption in February.

c. Freedom of Religion

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See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at

www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/

d. Freedom of Movement

The constitution and other national legal instruments recognize the right of all

citizens to freedom of movement, travel, and residence throughout the country, but

the government did not consistently respect these rights. In some instances

authorities restricted movements of displaced persons, and authorities did not allow

camp residents to depart without specific permission, thereby limiting access to

livelihoods, education, and services.

The government generally cooperated with the Office of the UN High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for

Migration, and other humanitarian organizations to provide protection and

assistance to IDPs, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons,

or other vulnerable populations. The government did not have effective systems to

assist all of these individuals, largely due to funding shortfalls, lack of capacity,

and lack of access. The security situation and armed clashes between the ISF and

ISIS throughout the year caused significant movement of civilians, further

complicating the government’s coordination of relief efforts. Security

considerations in and near active combat areas, unexploded ordnance, destruction

of infrastructure, and official and unofficial restrictions limited humanitarian

access to IDP communities.

Abuse of Migrants, Refugees, and Stateless Persons: UN agencies, NGOs, and the

press reported that sectarian groups, extremists, criminals, and, in some alleged but

unverified cases, government forces attacked and arrested refugees, including

Palestinians, Ahwazis, and Syrian Arabs.

Local NGOs reported that abuse of Syrian refugees, often by other refugees, was

common, including violence against women and children, child marriage, forced

prostitution, and sexual harassment.

In-country Movement: The law permits security forces to restrict in-country

movement pursuant to a warrant, impose a curfew, cordon off and search an area,

and take other necessary security and military measures in response to security

threats and attacks. There were numerous reports that security forces, including

the ISF and Peshmerga, as well as the PMF, selectively enforced regulations

requiring residency permits to limit entry of persons into liberated areas under their

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control. UNAMI and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

received multiple reports that Kirkuk’s largely non-Arab authorities denied Sunni

Arab IDPs from Kirkuk’s Hawija District, as well as Salah al-Din and Ninewa

Governorates access to Kirkuk.

There were reports that some PMF militias harassed or threatened civilians fleeing

conflict zones, and targeted civilians with threats, intimidation, physical violence,

abduction, destruction of property, and killing. There were a number of reports

that IDPs, particularly those suspected of ISIS affiliation, faced hostility from local

government authorities and populations, as well as threats of expulsion.

The United Nations and humanitarian agencies reported that Kirkuk authorities

confiscated identification documents or served notices of eviction to IDPs from

Salah al-Din, Anbar, and Diyala Governorates, provoking their departure from

camps and urban centers. Authorities reportedly used coercive measures during

eviction notifications. Amnesty International reported that PMF units

(predominantly Shi’a militias) and the Peshmerga forces prevented civilians,

largely Sunni, from returning to their homes after they ousted ISIS.

In Anbar the United Nations and humanitarian agencies noted reports of collective

punishment against families with relatives suspected of affiliation with extremist

groups in retaken areas. Anbar authorities reportedly made efforts to stop this

practice and to work toward post-ISIS reconciliation.

The KRG restricted movement across the areas it administered. Authorities

required nonresidents to obtain permits that authorized limited stays in the IKR.

These permits were generally renewable. Citizens who sought to obtain residency

permits for KRG-controlled areas required sponsorship from a resident in the

region. Citizens (of all ethnosectarian backgrounds, including Kurds) crossing into

the IKR from central or southern regions were obligated to cross through

checkpoints and undergo personal and vehicle inspection. The government

imposed similar restrictions on IDPs from Ninewa Governorate and the disputed

territories. While authorities allowed many IDPs to return to their places of origin

in retaken areas, ethnic Arabs originating from disputed territories under control of

the Peshmerga forces were generally prevented from doing so.

KRG authorities applied restrictions more stringently in some areas than in others.

The United Nations and international humanitarian organizations stated that

practices regarding the entry of IDPs and refugees seeking to return were more or

less restrictive depending upon the ethnosectarian background of the displaced

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individuals and the area to which they intended to return. There were also reports

that authorities sometimes closed checkpoints into the region for extended periods,

forcing IDPs to wait. Officials prevented individuals whom they deemed security

threats from entering the region. KRG officials generally admitted minority IDPs

into the IKR, although security checks were occasionally lengthy. Entry often was

more difficult for men, particularly Arab men traveling without family.

Due to military operations against ISIS, the ISF, including the PMF and KRG

Peshmerga, increased the number of checkpoints and erected makeshift roadblocks

in many parts of the country (see section 1.g.). During military operations to

retake Mosul, Tal Afar, Hawija, and areas of western Anbar, the ISF managed the

transportation of numerous IDPs from muster points to designated and available

sites, without allowing IDPs any option to choose displacement sites. In more

severe cases, authorities transported households suspected of ISIS affiliation,

including many women and children, to substandard sites without any information

or freedom of movement. Sites included Ninewa’s Hamam al-Alil and Tel Kayf

camps, as well as Salah al-Din’s al-Shahama camp.

ISIS restricted freedom of movement, particularly in the west and north (see

section 1.g.). There were numerous credible reports that ISIS killed civilians

trying to flee, including in the cities of Hawija, Qayara, and Mosul, when the ISF

moved to liberate those areas.

Foreign Travel: The government required exit permits for citizens leaving the

country, but the requirement was not routinely enforced.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

The constitution and the national policy on displacement address IDP rights, but

few laws specifically do so. The government and international organizations,

including UN agencies and NGOs, attempted to provide protection and other

assistance to IDPs. High numbers of IDPs outside of camps strained host

communities’ resources. Since 2014 the United Nations has designated the

country’s humanitarian crisis as a level three emergency, its highest level, citing

the scale, urgency, and complexity of the situation.

In some areas violence and insecurity, along with long-standing political, tribal and

sectarian tensions, hampered progress on national reconciliation and political

reform, complicating the protection environment. Thousands of families have

experienced multiple displacements, and large numbers were compelled to move

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across governorates in search of protection. Forced displacements, combined with

the protracted and largely unresolved problem of millions of persons uprooted in

the past decades, had a destabilizing effect on the country’s already complex social

and political dynamics, straining the capacity of local authorities and revealing the

limitations of legal and administrative frameworks.

All citizens are eligible to receive food under the Public Distribution System

(PDS); however, authorities implemented the PDS sporadically and irregularly,

with limited access in recently retaken areas. Authorities did not distribute all

commodities each month, and not all IDPs could access the PDS in each

governorate. Low oil prices further limited funds available for the PDS. Citizens

could only redeem PDS rations at their place of residence and within their

registered governorate, causing loss of access and entitlement following

displacement. Following military operations in Mosul, the government included

PDS in the first wave of services restoration.

Persons who did not register as IDPs in their places of residence sometimes faced

limited access to services. Local authorities often determined whether IDPs would

have access to local services. Through the provision of legal aid, the United

Nations and other humanitarian agencies assisted IDPs in obtaining documentation

and registering with authorities to improve access to services and entitlements.

Humanitarian agencies reported some IDPs faced difficulty with registration due to

lack of required documentation and administrative delays. Many citizens who

previously lived in ISIS-controlled areas did not have civil documents for the prior

two or three years, increasing the difficulty of obtaining identification and other

personal documents.

Although government assistance focused on financial grants, it did not make

payments consistently. Faced with the large movements of IDPs across the

country, the government provided food, water, and financial assistance to many but

not all IDPs, including in the KRG. Many IDPs lived in informal settlements

where they did not receive adequate water, sanitation, or other essential services.

According to the International Organization for Migration, as of October, 12

percent of IDPs lived in shelter arrangements that did not meet minimal safety or

security standards, 24 percent lived in IDP camps and settlements, and

approximately 48 percent resided in private accommodations, including host

family residences, hotels, motels, and rented housing.

Since 2014 armed conflict has displaced more than 3.2 million persons,

predominantly from Anbar, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din Governorates. From

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October 2016 to July, Mosul military operations cumulatively displaced more than

one million persons, primarily to other areas of Ninewa Governorate. Subsequent

military operations in Tal Afar prompted additional Ninewa displacement, while

operations in Hawija and western Anbar displaced more than 109,000 persons and

67,000 persons in central and southern regions of the country, respectively, as of

mid-November. Almost 2.3 million individuals returned to their communities

throughout the country in the past two years. Up to one million individuals

remained displaced from the 2006-08 sectarian conflict.

While humanitarian assistance generally reached IDPs in most of the country,

access to those remaining in ISIS-controlled areas was limited. Humanitarian

personnel were restricted from providing assistance in these areas due to security

and movement limitations that constrained aid delivery.

During September central government authorities evicted Anbar IDPs from

Amiriyah Fallujah IDP camp complex. The Anbar Operations Command

repeatedly mandated the return of IDPs to areas of origin in Falluja District,

despite insecurity and vulnerability to sectarian threats in these areas.

Furthermore, confiscation of documentation, particularly from male IDPs,

increased protection risks and impeded IDPs’ access to public services and

humanitarian assistance. In November and December, government officials forced

the return of hundreds of IDPs in Anbar and Salahuddin.

On July 9, HRW reported that KRG forces expelled at least four Yezidi IDP

families and threatened others because of the participation of their relatives in Iraqi

security forces. The Asayish returned the displaced families to Sinjar where access

to basic goods and services was very limited. As of the end of August, the Asayish

expelled more than 200 Yezidi IDPs from camps, according to the Yezidi

Documentation Organization.

Protection of Refugees

Access to Asylum: The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status,

and the government established a system for providing protection to refugees.

According to UNHCR, the country hosts more than 284,000 refugees, primarily

from Syria, with smaller numbers of Iranians, Turks, and Palestinians. The

government generally cooperated with UNHCR and other humanitarian

organizations to provide protection and assistance to refugees in the country.

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Employment: Refugees and asylum seekers are legally entitled to work in the

private sector. Palestinian refugees, however, faced job insecurity when working

in the public sector due to their ambiguous legal status; the government did not

recognize their refugee status and did not allow them to obtain citizenship. Syrian

refugees were able to obtain and renew residency and work permits both in refugee

camps and in the KRG. Iraqi authorities arrested refugees who sought work

outside of the KRG and returned them to the KRG.

Durable Solutions: There was no large-scale resettlement or integration of non-

Iraqi refugees in central and southern Iraq. Ethnic Kurdish refugees from Syria,

Turkey, and Iran generally integrated well in the KRG, although economic

hardship plagued families and prevented some children, especially Syrians, from

enrolling in formal school. Education service providers in the KRG reported that

out-of-camp IDP populations had the poorest school attendance and highest

dropout rates amongst IDPs, refugees, and host communities. In September the

KRG reported that approximately 60 percent of Syrian refugees in the region lived

outside camps. Many worked in Erbil or found shelter with relatives locally.

Stateless Persons

UNHCR estimated there were more than 48,000 stateless individuals in the country

in 2016, the latest year for which complete data were available.

As of 2006 the latest year for which data were available, an estimated 54,500

Bidoun individuals, descendants of individuals who never received Iraqi

citizenship upon the state’s founding, living as nomads in the desert near or in the

southern governorates of Basrah, Dhi Qar, and Qadisiyah, remained undocumented

and stateless. Prolonged drought in the southern section of the country forced

many individuals from these communities to migrate to city centers, where most

obtained identification documents and gained access to food rations and other

social benefits. Other communities similarly at risk of statelessness included the

country’s Romani population; the Ahwazi, who are Shia Arabs of Iranian descent;

the Bahai religious minority; inhabitants of the southern marshlands; members of

the Goyan and Omariya Turkish Kurdish tribes near Mosul; and nationals of South

Sudan.

Stateless persons faced discrimination in employment and access to education.

Many stateless persons were not able to register for identity cards, which prevented

them from enrolling in public school, registering marriages, and gaining access to

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some government services. Stateless persons also faced difficulty obtaining

public-sector employment and lacked job security.

Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process

The constitution provides citizens the ability to choose their government in free

and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal

suffrage. Despite violence and other past irregularities in the conduct of elections,

citizens generally exercised this right.

Elections and Political Participation

Recent Elections: In 2014 the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC)

conducted elections for both the Iraqi COR and the provincial councils of Erbil,

Dahuk, and Sulaimaniyah Governorates. International and local observers

monitored the elections. Despite security concerns, monitors declared the elections

credible and free from widespread or systemic fraud. There were limited reports of

abuse or electoral irregularities. IHEC announced preliminary election results, and

the Federal Supreme Court certified the results in 2014. The government is

scheduled to hold parliamentary and provincial elections in May 2018.

In 2015 the KRG established the Kurdistan Independent High Electoral

Commission that has authority to supervise all elections and referenda within the

IKR, previously under central government IHEC supervision. Despite the

objection of the federal government, on September 25, the KRG held a referendum

on independence from the central government of Iraq; KRG authorities held the

referendum in both the IKR and in disputed areas bordering it. Neither the central

government nor foreign governments recognized this unilateral, nonbinding

referendum. Minorities in the disputed areas reported heavy-handed pressure to

vote for or against the measure. On November 1, KRG President Barzani stepped

down from the office of the presidency, citing the expiration of his mandate.

Political Parties and Political Participation: Political parties and coalition blocs

tended to organize along either religious or ethnic lines, although some parties

indicated interest in crossing sectarian lines during the year. Membership in some

political parties conferred special privileges and advantages in employment and

education.

On September 15, the KRG parliament reconvened for the first time since its

closure in 2015 with 68 of its 111 members in attendance. With parliamentarians

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from the Gorran and Kurdistan Islamic Group boycotting the session, 65 of the 68

members present voted in favor of a five-point resolution in support of the

September 25 Kurdish independence referendum.

Participation of Women and Minorities: No laws limit participation of women,

members of minorities in, or both in the political process, and they did participate.

The constitution mandates that women constitute at least 25 percent of

parliamentary and provincial council membership. In 2014 parliamentary

elections, 22 women received sufficient votes to win seats in the 328-seat COR

without having to rely on the constitutional quota, compared with five in 2010.

More than 60 additional women were awarded seats based on the quota, raising the

total number of seats women held to 86. Despite an increase in the number of

female parliamentarians, political discussions often marginalized female members

of parliament. Two women served in the Council of Ministers.

Of the 328 seats in parliament, the law reserves eight seats for minorities: five for

Christian candidates from Baghdad, Ninewa, Kirkuk, Erbil, and Dahuk,

respectively; one Yezidi; one Sabaean-Mandean; and one Shabak. There is one

Christian cabinet minister.

Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government

The law provides criminal penalties for conviction of corruption by officials, but

the government did not always implement the law effectively. There were

numerous reports of government corruption during the year. Some officials in all

parts of the government engaged in corrupt practices with impunity, and

investigation of corruption was not free from political influence. Family, tribal,

and religious considerations significantly influenced government decisions at all

levels. Bribery, money laundering, nepotism, and misappropriation of public funds

were common. The 2016 amnesty law allowed some individuals convicted of

corruption to receive amnesty upon repaying money they had obtained by

corruption.

Corruption: Lack of agreement concerning institutional roles and political will,

political influence, poor transparency, and unclear governing legislation and

regulatory processes hampered joint efforts to combat corruption. Although

anticorruption institutions increasingly collaborated with civil society groups--

organizing workshops, surveys, and training courses--the effect of expanded

cooperation was limited. Media and NGOs attempted to expose corruption

independently, although their capacity to do so was limited. Anticorruption, law

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enforcement, and judicial officials, as well as members of civil society and media,

faced threats and intimidation in their efforts to combat corrupt practices (see

section 2.a.).

In 2016 the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board approved a three-year

6.22 trillion Iraqi dinars ($5.34 billion) stand-by arrangement that called for the

government to take measures through June 2019 to combat corruption in addition

to completing a fiscal rationalization program. The Commission of Integrity (COI)

is undertaking a National Strategy to Combat Corruption (2015-19) that aims to

increase training and development of staff of the inspectors general office and the

COI.

The Central Bank leads the government’s efforts to combat money laundering and

terrorist financing. Through the offices of Banking Supervision and Financial

Intelligence, the Central Bank worked with law enforcement agencies and the

judiciary to identify and prosecute illicit financial transactions. The investigatory

capacity of authorities remained extremely limited, although they were successful

in prosecuting money-laundering cases linked to financial transfers to ISIS-

controlled territories. The COI, which prosecutes money-laundering cases linked

to official corruption, suffered from a lack of investigatory capacity.

The Council of Ministers Secretariat has an anticorruption advisor, and the COR

has an integrity committee. The Council of Ministers’ secretary general led the

Joint Anticorruption Council, which also included the Federal Board of Supreme

Audit’s chairperson, the COI’s commissioner, and representatives from the offices

of the inspectors general; the Ministry of Interior’s economic crimes head may

attend when warranted.

On August 8, the COI issued a summary of the commission’s January 1 through

June 30 biannual report. The summary stated the commission filed 4,385

corruption cases and worked on 4,450 existing cases; issued 2,923 subpoenas, of

which 218 were to senior officials, including 34 to ministers or officials with

ministerial rank. The commission reported it issued 880 arrest warrants, including

23 to ministers or officials with ministerial rank. The commission reported it

referred the cases of 1,249 officials accused of corruption to a competent court,

among them seven ministers and 55 senior officials. There were 285 convictions,

including six of three ministers, and 24 of 15 senior officials. The commission

reported it restored 98 billion dinars ($84 million) to the state treasury. The COI

did not release the names of government officials in its semiannual report.

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Several governors were implicated in corruption during the year, including Suhaib

al-Rawi of Anbar, Majid al-Nasrawi of Basrah, and Ahmed Abdullah al-Jabouri of

Salahuddin.

In May international media reported that the central government launched a

corruption investigation against the director general of the State Oil Marketing

Organization, Fallah al-Amiri, accusing him of making under-the-table deals with

companies that were bidding on contracts to market and export oil for it.

The Baghdad Integrity Court, which specializes in integrity cases, announced it

was investigating dozens of corruption cases involving many government

ministries. On March 22, the Integrity Court announced it had adjudicated 611

cases; the results of the court decisions were not publicly available.

On September 13, the Integrity Court announced Basrah Provincial Council chair

Sabah al-Bazouni received a three-year sentence for taking bribes from the Saudi

investment company Dao al-Jumaih. As of September Bazouni was appealing the

charges and still faced separate additional corruption charges.

On April 13, KRG authorities arrested the head of the KRG’s Central Bank and his

deputy on charges of corruption related to mishandling accounts. By year’s end,

the general manager and his deputy were under house arrest until the still

undecided trial date. Also during the year, authorities arrested KRG officials at the

director general level and below on corruption charges at the Ministry of Martyrs

and Anfal Affairs and the Sulaimaniyah Immigration Department.

Financial Disclosure: The law authorizes the COI to obtain annual financial

disclosures from senior public officials, including ministers, governors, and

parliamentarians, and to take legal action for nondisclosure. Penalties if convicted

range from fines to imprisonment. A unified system for enforcing annual financial

disclosures did not exist. The COI has no jurisdiction over the IKR, but Kurdish

members of the central government were required to conform to the law. The law

obligates the COI to provide public annual reports on prosecutions, transparency,

accountability, and ethics of public service.

The Kurdistan Commission on Public Integrity is responsible for distributing and

collecting financial disclosure forms in the IKR. There was no information

available indicating that public officials faced penalties for financial nondisclosure.

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Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and

Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights

Domestic and international NGOs operated in most cases with little government

interference, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases.

Government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views.

Due to the ISIS-driven humanitarian crisis, the majority of local NGOs focused on

providing assistance to IDPs and other communities the conflict has affected. In

some instances these NGOs worked in coordination with central government and

Kurdistan regional government authorities. A number of NGOs also investigated

and published findings on human rights cases. When NGOs alleged human rights

abuses that concerned government actions or actions of ethnic or religious groups

allied with the government, there were some reports of government interference.

NGO Kurdistan Economic Development Organization reported that in February,

the PUK Asayish prevented it from holding a meeting regarding corruption in the

KRG, and told the NGO to focus on other economic issues instead.

NGOs faced capacity-related challenges, did not have regular access to

government officials, and did not systematically serve as bulwarks against failures

in governance and human rights abuses. Lack of domestic NGOs’ sustainability

hindered the sector’s long-term development. The government rarely awarded

NGOs contracts for services. While the law forbids NGOs from engaging in

political activity, political parties or sects originated, funded, or substantially

influenced many, although not all, domestic NGOs.

Some NGOs in the south reported government officials interfered and harassed

them, particularly regarding finances. The governor of Maysan reportedly tried to

control funding for local NGOs from international organizations.

NGOs were effectively prevented from operating in certain sectors. For example,

the law effectively permitted only the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to

operate shelters for human trafficking victims. NGOs that operated unofficial

shelters faced legal penalties for operating such shelters without a license.

The IKR had an active community of mostly Kurdish NGOs, many with close ties

to and funding from the PUK and KDP political parties. Government funding of

NGOs is legally contingent upon whether an NGO’s programming goals conform

to already identified priority areas. The KRG’s NGO Directorate established

formal procedures for awarding funds to NGOs, which included a public

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description of the annual budget for NGO funding, priority areas for consideration,

deadlines for proposal submission, establishment of a grant committee, and the

criteria for ranking proposals. During the year local and international NGOs did

not report difficulties registering with the regional government and obtaining

permits for their operations in KRG-administered areas.

Reports indicated ISIS threatened NGOs and civil society activists in areas under

its control during the year.

The United Nations or Other International Bodies: The government and the KRG

sometimes restricted the access of the United Nations and other international

bodies to sensitive locations, such as Ministry of Interior-run detention facilities

holding detainees suspected of terrorism.

Government Human Rights Bodies: The Iraqi High Commission for Human

Rights (IHCHR) is constitutionally mandated. The law governing the IHCHR’s

operation provides for 12 full-time commissioners and three reserve

commissioners with four-year nonrenewable terms; in July new commissioners

assumed duties. The law provides for the IHCHR’s financial and administrative

independence and assigns it broad authority, including the right to receive and

investigate human rights complaints, conduct unannounced visits to correctional

facilities, and review legislation. Some observers reported the commissioners’

individual and partisan political agendas largely stalled the IHCHR’s work.

The KRG Human Rights Commission issued periodic reports on human rights,

trafficking in persons, and religious freedom. The commission reported KRG

police and security organizations had generally been receptive to human rights

training and responsive to reports of violations. In February, however, a court

convicted the deputy head of the commission’s Dahuk office for interfering with a

police investigation; the court suspended his six-month sentence.

Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons

Women

Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape (but not spousal rape)

and permits a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if the victim dies. The law

allows authorities to drop a rape case if the perpetrator marries the victim. There

were no reliable estimates of the incidence of rape or information on the

effectiveness of government enforcement of the law.

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Humanitarian protection experts assessed that conditions in IDP camps were

highly conducive to sexual exploitation and abuse.

Domestic violence remained a pervasive problem, and there was no law

prohibiting it. Harassment of legal personnel who sought to pursue domestic

violence cases under laws criminalizing assault, as well as a lack of trained police

and judicial personnel, further hampered efforts to prosecute perpetrators.

The government signed a joint agreement with UNAMI on the Prevention and

Response to Conflict-related Sexual Violence in 2016. The government committed

to working with the Office of the Special Representative and the UN system to

develop and implement an action plan to prevent and respond to conflict-related

sexual violence. On August 22, however, UNAMI reported that while the

government and KRG had taken some positive steps to further women’s rights,

including working to address the needs of ISIS victims, the criminal justice system

was often unable to provide adequate protection for women.

The government and KRG also struggled to address the physical and mental

trauma endured by women who lived under ISIS rule. Additionally, the

government and KRG worked to reconcile the legal status of children born to

women living in ISIS-held territory, as the children lacked government-issued birth

certificates and other legal documentation.

Due to continuing ISIS-perpetrated violence, women’s status suffered severe

setbacks (see also section 1.g.). During the year ISIS kidnapped women and girls

to sell, rent, or gift them as forced “brides” (a euphemism for forced marriage or

sexual slavery) to ISIS fighters and commanders, and exploited the promise of

sexual access in propaganda materials as part of its recruitment strategy.

While the government does not have a law that explicitly prohibits NGO-run

shelters for victims of gender based crimes, the law allows the Ministry of Labor

and Social Affairs to determine if a shelter may remain open. NGOs reported that

communities often viewed the shelters as brothels and asked the government to

close them. In order to appease community concerns, the ministry regularly closed

shelters, only to allow them to reopen in another location later.

The Ministry of Interior maintained 16 family protection units around the country,

designed to resolve domestic disputes and establish safe refuges for victims of

sexual or gender-based violence. These units tended to prioritize family

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reconciliation over victim protection and lacked the capacity to support victims.

Hotline calls typically went to the male commanders of the units who did not

follow a regular referral system to provide victims with services, such as legal aid

or safe shelter. Victims of domestic violence in Basrah told UNAMI they feared

approaching the family protection units, because they suspected that police would

immediately inform their families of their testimony. The family protection units

in most locations did not operate shelters. Safe houses, which the government and

NGOs operated, were often targets for violence.

NGOs reported that the government made minimal progress in implementing UN

Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security despite an

implementation plan launched in 2016.

KRG law criminalizes domestic violence, including physical and psychological

abuse, threats of violence, and spousal rape. The government implemented the

provisions of the law, creating a special police force to investigate cases of gender-

based violence and establish a family reconciliation committee within the judicial

system, but local NGOs reported that these programs were not effective at

combating gender-based violence.

In the IKR one privately operated shelter and four KRG Ministry of Labor and

Social Affairs-operated shelters provided some protection and assistance for

female victims of gender-based violence and human trafficking. Space was

limited, and service delivery was poor. NGOs played a key role in providing

services, including legal aid, to victims of domestic violence, who often received

no assistance from the government. Instead of using legal remedies, authorities

frequently mediated between women and their families so that the women could

return to their homes. Other than marrying or returning to their families, which

often resulted in further victimization by the family or community, there were few

options for women accommodated at shelters.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): The IKR’s Family Violence Law

bans FGM/C, but NGOs reported the practice persisted, particularly in rural areas.

Other Harmful Traditional Practices: The law permitted honor as a lawful defense

in violence against women, and honor killings remained a serious problem

throughout the country. Some families arranged honor killings to appear as

suicides. A provision of the law limits a sentence for conviction of murder to a

maximum of three years in prison if a man is on trial for killing his wife or a

female dependent due to suspicion that the victim was committing adultery.

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UNAMI reported that several hundred women died each year from honor killings.

Asuda for Combatting Violence against Women in Iraqi Kurdistan reported that,

according to official government data, 24 cases of honor killings occurred in the

IKR during the year.

Several women reportedly refused to leave Basrah prisons after their sentences had

concluded due to fear their families would harm them, or confine them to life-long

home detention, because their actions had “dishonored” the family.

Women and girls were at times sexually exploited through so-called temporary

marriages, under which a man gives the family of the girl or woman dowry money

in exchange for permission to “marry” her for a specified period. Government

officials and international and local NGOs also reported that the traditional practice

of “fasliya”--whereby family members, including women and children, are traded

to settle tribal disputes--remained a problem, particularly in southern governorates.

Sexual Harassment: The law prohibits sexual relations outside marriage, including

sexual harassment that is considered sexual solicitation. Penalties if convicted

include fines and imprisonment. The law provides relief from penalties if

unmarried participants marry. No information was available regarding the

effectiveness of government enforcement. The law prohibits sexual harassment in

the workplace. In most areas there were few or no publicly provided women’s

shelters, information, support hotlines, and little or no sensitivity training for

police.

In the absence of shelters, authorities often detained or imprisoned sexual

harassment victims for their own protection. Some women, without alternatives,

became homeless.

Coercion in Population Control: There were reports that ISIS forced Yezidi

women whom they had impregnated to have abortions. There were no reports of

involuntary sterilization. Estimates on maternal mortality and contraceptive

prevalence are available at:

www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/monitoring/maternal-mortality-

2015/en/.

Discrimination: Although the constitution forbids discrimination based on gender,

conservative societal standards impeded women’s ability to enjoy the same legal

status and rights as men in all aspects of the judicial system. ISIS imposed severe

restrictions on women’s movement and dress in areas it controlled.

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In 2016 UNAMI reported that women constituted 51 percent of the country’s IDPs.

The UN representative for women’s affairs in Iraq said the abolition of the

Ministry for Women’s Affairs posed an additional challenge in addressing issues

of conflict and displacement, especially since the majority of those displaced were

women.

Law and custom generally do not respect freedom of movement for women. For

example, the law prevents a woman from applying for a passport without the

consent of her male guardian or a legal representative. Women could not obtain

the Civil Status Identification Document--required for access to public services,

food assistance, health care, employment, education, and housing--without the

consent of a male relative. This restriction affected women in conflict, according

to local NGOs. In ISIS-controlled areas, ISIS forces reportedly forbade women

from leaving their homes unless male relatives escorted them. ISIS also prevented

professional women from returning to work, with the exception of medical workers

and teachers. The Council of Ministers’ Iraqi Women Empowerment Directorate

is the lead government body on women’s issues.

Children

Birth Registration: The constitution states that anyone born to at least one citizen

parent is a citizen. Failure to register births resulted in the denial of public services

such as education, food, and health care. Single women and widows often had

problems registering their children. Although in most cases authorities provided

birth certificates after registration of the birth through the Ministries of Health and

Interior, this was reportedly a lengthy and at times complicated process. The

government was generally committed to children’s rights and welfare, although it

denied benefits to noncitizen children. Humanitarian agencies reported a

widespread problem of children born in ISIS-held territory failing to receive a

government-issued birth certificate.

Education: Primary education is compulsory for citizen children for the first six

years of schooling and until age 15 in the IKR; it is provided without cost to

citizens. Equal access to education for girls remained a challenge, particularly in

rural and unsecure areas.

In August, according to UNICEF reporting, children comprised almost one-half of

the three million Iraqis displaced by the conflict, severely limiting their access to

education; at least 70 percent of displaced children missed a year of school.

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Child Abuse: Violence against children remained a significant problem.

According to a UN-supported study in 2011 (the last year for which reliable

statistics were reported), 46 percent of girls between ages 10 and 14 were exposed

to family violence. The law provides protections for children who were victims of

domestic violence or were in shelters, state houses, and orphanages.

The KRG’s Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs, Education, and Culture and

Youth operated a toll-free hotline to report violations against, or seek advice

regarding, children’s rights.

Early and Forced Marriage: The legal minimum age of marriage is 15 with

parental permission and 18 without. The government reportedly made few efforts

to enforce the law. Traditional forced marriages of girls occurred throughout the

country. According to UNICEF in 2016, approximately 975,000 women and girls

had been married before age 15, twice as many as in 1990. Early and forced

marriages, as well as abusive temporary marriages, occurred in rural and urban

areas.

According to the KRG High Council of Women’s Affairs, refugees and IDPs in the

IKR contributed to increased child marriages and polygamy.

Local and international NGOs reported that the practice of husbands or their

families threatening to divorce wives they married when the girls were very young

(ages 12 to 16) to pressure the girl’s family to provide additional money to the

girl’s husband and his family also occurred, particularly in the south. Victims of

these forced divorces were compelled to leave their husbands and their husbands’

families, and social customs regarding family honor often prevented victims from

returning to their own families, leaving some adolescent girls abandoned.

Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law prohibits the commercial exploitation of

children, and pornography of any kind, including child pornography. During the

year ISIS members forced girls into marriage with ISIS fighters (see section 1.g.).

Child prostitution was a problem. Because the age of legal criminal responsibility

is nine in the central region and 11 in the IKR, authorities often treated sexually

exploited children as criminals instead of victims. Penalties for conviction of

commercial exploitation of children range from fines and imprisonment to the

death penalty. No information was available regarding the effectiveness of

government enforcement.

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ISIS’s sexual exploitation of Yezidi children was widespread throughout the year

in areas under the group’s control; this abuse included rape and sexual slavery.

Displaced Children: Insecurity and active conflict between government forces and

ISIS caused the displacement of large numbers of children. Due to the conflict in

Syria, numerous children and single mothers from Syria took refuge in the IKR

(see section 2.d.).

International Child Abductions: The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague

Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. See the

Department of State’s Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction at

travel.state.gov/content/childabduction/en/legal/compliance.html.

Anti-Semitism

A very small number of Jewish citizens lived in Baghdad. According to unofficial

statistics from the KRG Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, there were

approximately 430 Jewish families in the IKR. There were no reports of anti-

Semitic acts in the country during the year.

Trafficking in Persons

See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at

www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/

Persons with Disabilities

Although the constitution states the government, through law and regulations,

should care for and rehabilitate persons with disabilities in order to integrate them

into society, no laws prohibit discrimination against persons with physical,

sensory, intellectual, or mental disabilities. There were reports that persons with

disabilities experienced discrimination due to social stigma. Although the Council

of Ministers issued a 2016 decree ordering access for persons with disabilities to

buildings and to educational and work settings, incomplete implementation limited

access. Local NGOs reported many children with disabilities dropped out of

public school due to insufficient physical access to school buildings, a lack of

appropriate learning materials in schools, and a shortage of teachers qualified to

work with children with developmental or intellectual disabilities.

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The minister of labor and social affairs leads the Independent Commission for the

Care of People with Disabilities that became operational in late 2016. Any Iraqi

citizen applying to receive disability-related government services must first receive

a commission evaluation. The KRG deputy minister of labor and social affairs

leads a similar commission, administered by a special director within the ministry.

There is a 5 percent public-sector employment quota for persons with disabilities,

but employment discrimination persisted, and observers projected that the quota

was not likely met at year’s end (see also section 7.d.). Mental health support for

prisoners with mental disabilities did not exist.

The Ministry of Health provided medical care, benefits, and rehabilitation, when

available, for persons with disabilities, who could also receive benefits from other

agencies, including the Prime Minister’s Office. The Ministry of Labor and Social

Affairs operated several institutions for children and young adults with disabilities.

The ministry maintained loans programs for persons with disabilities for vocational

training.

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The country’s population included Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, and Shabaks, as well

as ethnic and religious minorities, including Chaldeans, Assyrians, Armenian

Orthodox, Yezidis, Sabean-Mandean, Bahai, Kaka’i, and a very small number of

Jews. The country also had a small Romani community, as well as an estimated

500 thousand citizens of African descent, who reside primarily in Basrah and

adjoining governorates.

The National Identity Card Law automatically registers minor children as Muslims

if they are born to at least one Muslim parent or if either parent converts from

another religion to Islam. The law did not permit some religious groups, including

Bahai, to register their religions on national identifications card. The law also

disallowed Muslims who converted to other religions to reflect these conversions

on their identity cards.

In areas under its control, ISIS committed numerous serious abuses against

Yezidis, Shabaks, Christians, and other minorities. Other illegal armed groups also

targeted ethnic and religious minorities (see section 1.g.).

Many of the estimated 500,000 persons of African descent lived in extreme

poverty with high rates of illiteracy and unemployment. They were not

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represented in politics, nor did they hold any high-level government positions.

Furthermore, they stated that discrimination kept them from obtaining government

employment. Members of the community also struggled to obtain restitution for

lands seized from them during the Iran-Iraq war. Although they have won several

court cases, they have yet to receive compensation.

There were reports of KRG authorities discriminating against minorities, including

Turkmen, Arabs, Yezidis, Shabaks, and Christians, in the disputed territories. For

example, courts rarely upheld Christians’ legal complaints against Kurds regarding

land and property disputes.

Although Arabs are the majority in most of the country, they are a minority in

Kirkuk, and Arab residents of the city often charged that KRG security forces

targeted Arabs with intimidation, attacks, and kidnapping.

Kirkuk citizens, particularly Sunni Arabs, faced pressure to leave Kirkuk,

particularly in the months leading up to the September 25 Kurdish independence

referendum. For example, in September there were reports that Kurdish authorities

in Kirkuk confiscated non-Kurdish residents’ identity documents, in an effort to

displace them.

Acts of Violence, Discrimination, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual

Orientation and Gender Identity

Despite repeated threats and violence targeting LGBTI individuals, the government

failed to identify, arrest, or prosecute attackers or to protect targeted individuals.

Authorities relied on public indecency or prostitution charges to prosecute same-

sex sexual activity. Authorities used the same charges to arrest heterosexual

persons involved in sexual relations with anyone other than their spouse.

Societal discrimination in employment, occupation, and housing based on sexual

orientation, gender identity, and unconventional appearance was common.

LGBTI persons often faced abuse and violence from family and nongovernmental

actors. In addition to targeted violence, LGBTI persons remained at risk for honor

crimes. For example, on March 1, a close family member killed a man purported

to be one of two men shown in a gay-sex video circulated online.

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Local contacts reported that militia groups drafted LGBTI “kill lists” and executed

men perceived as gay, bisexual, or transgender. On July 4, media reported that

Karar Nushi, an actor, model, and student, was stabbed to death in Baghdad

because of his perceived sexuality.

ISIS continued to publish videos depicting executions of persons accused of

homosexual activity that included stoning and being thrown from buildings. Some

armed groups also started a campaign against homosexual persons in Baghdad.

Other Societal Violence or Discrimination

Media reported criminal networks and some militia groups seized Christian

properties in Baghdad--as well as areas of Anbar, Babil, Basrah, Diyala, and

Wasit--with relative impunity, despite pledges by the Prime Minister’s Office to

open investigations into the seizures.

Section 7. Worker Rights

a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining

The constitution states that citizens have the right to form and join unions and

professional associations. The law, however, prohibits the formation of unions

independent of the government-controlled General Federation of Iraqi Workers.

The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination or provide reinstatement for

workers fired for union activity. The law allows workers to select representatives

for collective bargaining, even if they are not members of a union, and affords

workers the right to have more than one union in a workplace. In November

parliament approved ratification of International Labor Organization’s Convention

87, Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize.

A Saddam Hussein-era law bans all public-sector trade union activity. The law

also considers individuals employed by state-owned enterprises (who made up

approximately 10 percent of the workforce) as public-sector employees. CSOs

lobbied for a trade union law to expand union rights.

Private-sector employees in worksites employing more than 50 workers may form

workers committees--subdivisions of unions with limited rights--but most private-

sector businesses employed fewer than 50 workers.

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Labor courts have the authority to consider labor law violations and disputes, but

no information was available concerning enforcement of the applicable law,

including whether procedures were prompt or efficient. Strikers and union leaders

have previously reported that government officials threatened and harassed them,

although there were no high-profile cases during the year.

The law allows for collective bargaining in the private sector, although in practice,

government authorities sometimes violated private-sector employees’ collective

bargaining rights. Some unions were able to play a supportive role in labor

disputes, and they had the right to demand government arbitration.

b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The law prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor--including slavery,

indebtedness, and trafficking in persons--but the government did not effectively

monitor or enforce the law. Penalties were not sufficient to deter violations.

Employers subjected foreign migrant workers, particularly construction workers,

security guards, cleaners, repair persons, and domestic workers, to forced labor,

confiscation of travel and identity documents, restrictions on movement and

communications, physical abuse, sexual harassment and rape, withholding of

wages, and forced overtime. There were cases of employers withholding travel

documents, stopping payment on contracts, and preventing foreign employees from

leaving the work site.

Employers subjected women to involuntary domestic service through forced

marriages and the threat of divorce, and women who fled such marriages or whose

husbands divorced them were vulnerable to further forced labor. Female IDPs

were vulnerable to economic exploitation and discriminatory employment

conditions. According to local sources, ISIS sexually exploited several thousand

Yezidi and other minority women and girls, and forced men and boys into military

service (see sections 1.g. and 6).

Also see the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at

www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/

c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment

The constitution and law prohibit child labor. In areas under central government

authority, the minimum age for employment is 15. The law limits working hours

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for persons younger than age 18 to seven hours a day and prohibits employment in

work detrimental to health, safety, or morals of anyone younger than 18. The labor

code does not apply to juveniles (ages 15 to 18) who work in family-owned

businesses producing goods exclusively for domestic use. Since children

employed in family enterprises are exempt from some protections in the labor code

with regard to employment conditions, there were reports of children performing

hazardous work in family-owned businesses. The law mandates employers to bear

the cost of annual medical checks for working juveniles (ages 15-18), but it does

not prohibit using children in illicit activities. Children between ages 12 and 15

were not required to attend school, but also not permitted to work; thus they were

vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor. (In the IKR education is mandatory

until age 15, which is also the minimum age for legal employment). Convicted

violators are subject to imprisonment for a period of 30 days to six months and a

fine ranging from approximately 100,000 to 518,000 dinars ($88 to $455), to be

doubled in the case of a repeated offense. Qualitative data on child labor was

limited, particularly with regard to the worst forms of child labor, a factor that

further limited enforcement of existing legal protections.

Child labor, including in its worst forms, occurred throughout the country. The

Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs inspection service sought to comply with the

law prohibiting child labor in the private and public sectors. Inspections

continued, but due to the conflict with ISIS and the large number of IDPs, as well

as capacity constraints and the focus on maintaining security and fighting

terrorism, law enforcement officials and labor inspectors’ efforts to monitor these

practices were ineffective, and penalties for violations did not serve as a deterrent.

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights documented cases of displaced children

forced to migrate with their families from their homes and, subsequently, engaged

in child labor.

A survey conducted this year by a Kurdish human rights group found 424 children

ages 15 and younger pressured by their families to beg in Sulaimaniyah

Governorate. The majority were from Syrian refugee families or from other war

zones in the region. According to the KRG, the Ministry of Labor and Social

Affairs believed that 1,700 children worked in the IKR, often as street vendors or

beggars, making them particularly vulnerable to abuse. The IKR’s Ministry of

Labor and Social Affairs operated a 24-hour hotline for reporting labor abuses,

including child labor; the hotline received approximately 200 calls per month.

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There were reports that ISIS and other armed groups recruited children to gather

intelligence, staff checkpoints, patrol the streets, and serve as couriers (see section

1.g. and section 6, Children). There was no evidence that the government

purposely recruited children into the armed forces, although there were reports that

PMF groups provided military training to juveniles.

Local NGOs reported that organized gangs also recruited children to beg. The

Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs continued a 2016 grants program to

encourage low-income families to send their children to school rather than to beg

in the streets.

Also, see the Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

at www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/findings

d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation

The constitution provides that all citizens are equal before the law without regard

to gender, sect, opinion, belief, nationality, or origin. The law prohibits

discrimination based on race, sex, religion, social origin, political opinion,

language, or social status; it also prohibits any forms of sexual harassment in the

workplace. The government was ineffective in enforcing these provisions. The

law does not prohibit discrimination based on disability, age, sexual orientation or

gender identity, HIV-positive status, or other communicable diseases.

Discrimination in employment and occupation occurred with respect to women,

foreign workers, and minorities (see section 6). The law gives migrant Arab

workers the same status as citizens but does not provide the same rights for non-

Arab migrant workers, who faced stricter residency and work visa requirements.

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

The national minimum wage, set by federal labor law, is 250,000 dinars ($220) per

month. The law limits the standard workday to eight hours, with one or more rest

periods totaling 30 minutes to one hour, and the standard workweek to 48 hours.

The law permits up to four hours of overtime work per day and requires premium

pay for overtime work. For industrial work overtime should not exceed one hour

per day. The government sets occupational health and safety standards. The law

states that for hazardous or exhausting work, employers should reduce daily

working hours. The law provides workers the right to remove themselves from a

situation endangering health and safety without prejudice to their employment but

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does not extend this right to civil servants or migrant workers, who together made

up the majority of the country’s workforce.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has jurisdiction over matters concerning

labor law, child labor, wages, occupational safety and health topics, and labor

relations. The government did not enforce regulations governing working

conditions. The ministry’s occupational safety and health staff worked throughout

the country, but the lack of a law governing these inspections hindered compliance

and enforcement efforts.

The legal and regulatory framework, combined with the country’s high level of

violence and insecurity, high unemployment, large informal sector, and lack of

meaningful work standards, resulted in substandard conditions for many workers.

Workplace injuries occurred frequently, especially among manual laborers. A lack

of oversight and monitoring of employment contracts left foreign and migrant

workers vulnerable to exploitative working conditions and abusive treatment.

Little information was available on the total number of foreign workers in the

country, although some observers reported that large groups of migrant workers,

many of them in the country illegally, lived in work camps, sometimes in

substandard conditions.

A 2016 Peace and Freedom Organization in Kurdistan study on labor rights and

freedom of association found that most workplaces in the IKR offered adequately

safe conditions. The study criticized, however, the lack of worker’s knowledge of

their legal rights, including the right of association. According to the IKR

Independent Human Rights Commission, 64 workers died in 2016 due to unsafe

work in construction projects.