Background

Iraq held parliamentary elections on 11 November. Dozens of candidates, among them independent and women candidates, were disqualified from running, a move criticized by civil society. In mid-October, a candidate was killed by an improvised explosive device attached to his car. At least two people were brought before an investigative judge and were awaiting trial for his murder at the end of the year. The election results were disputed by numerous candidates who claimed voting and procedural irregularities had taken place but on 14 December the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq ratified the results. By the end of the year, a new government was yet to be formed.

A peace agreement between Türkiye and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) saw the latter lay down its arms in a ceremony in July. However, thousands of residents of villages in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) were unable to return to their homes due to the continued presence of Turkish forces.

Corruption in the public sector and among public and political officials continued to affect all aspects of life. Failure to enforce safety regulations due to corruption in local authorities led to fires in hospitals and shopping centres. Dozens died, among them infants.

The UN Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) ceased operations officially on 31 December 2025 following a request by the Iraqi authorities in May 2024.

Internally displaced people’s rights

More than 1 million people remained internally displaced in Iraq. Among them, at least 101,000 people continued to live in 20 camps in the KR-I, while the rest resided in private settings, including rented homes and informal settlements across several governorates in the KR-I and Iraq.

Living conditions and hygiene standards continued to deteriorate in camps for displaced people in the KR-I. In April, July and September, fires broke out destroying dozens of shelters and injuring at least two people. The fires followed a pattern seen in previous years, largely attributed to deteriorating safety standards.

Humanitarian organizations reported slower progress in achieving durable solutions for long-term displacement, citing limited funding, ongoing insecurity, ongoing barriers to accessing civil documentation, and persistent obstacles to restoring livelihoods and housing.

Returnees

By the end of the year, Iraqi authorities had facilitated the return of hundreds of Iraqi nationals from Al-Hol camp in Syria as part of the government’s ongoing repatriation and reintegration efforts. Returnees were still required to pass through the Al-Amal Rehabilitation Centre in Ninewa prior to returning to their areas of origin. Human rights and protection concerns persisted for returnees, who faced obstacles to accessing civil documentation, restricting their access to services, free movement and employment. Social stigma remained pervasive, with some communities refusing to accept returnees who had a perceived affiliation to the Islamic State armed group, compelling families – especially women-headed households – to conceal their identities or relocate to unfamiliar areas to avoid discrimination. Economic hardship persisted, as most returnees lacked stable income or housing, and women and children faced heightened vulnerability to exploitation and violence, including child marriage, domestic violence and sexual harassment.

In August, a joint UN-Iraq initiative found that only 27% of registered returnee households had received their financial entitlements since 2019, citing data-related challenges and procedural delays.

Climate-induced displacement

Iraq experienced its lowest water reserves in more than 80 years, intensifying the country’s environmental crisis. By September, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), approximately 186,000 people were displaced due to drought, water scarcity and related climate impacts, with very few reporting that they planned to return to their areas of origin.

The displacement primarily affected populations in the southern governorates of Thi Qar, Missan and Al-Diwaniya. Among the displaced, at least 1,800 families were living in substandard, temporary or makeshift shelters, while many climate-induced migrants relied on irregular housing arrangements and lacked formal permission to occupy land. The Iraqi authorities provided no financial or other assistance to those displaced, who were left to fend for themselves.

The IOM reported that climate-displaced Iraqis faced serious difficulties accessing food, water and other essential items, with poverty and inadequate support compounding their vulnerability. In addition, communities across the country struggled with declining agricultural productivity and limited livelihood opportunities, increasing their likelihood of long-term displacement.

Impunity

Iraqi authorities made no significant progress in holding accountable those responsible for gross human rights violations including in the context of the years-long armed conflict with Islamic State and the October 2019 nationwide protests, also known as Tishreen, or their aftermath. No results from the numerous investigations announced by consecutive governments were made public. In courts, prosecutions for human rights violations remained limited and largely ineffective as suspected perpetrators were acquitted due to lack of evidence. Civil society actors decried political interference, corruption, and intimidation of witnesses and members of the judiciary, all of which further undermined the independence and credibility of the judicial process.

Survivors and families of victims of the state violence committed during the Tishreen protests and their aftermath continued to face severe obstacles in accessing the meagre reparations for which no official figures were made public.

In what civil society described as a “revenge campaign” for the Tishreen protests, authorities targeted dozens of activists and protesters using arrest warrants issued in the previous five years for charges that carried serious penalties under the Penal Code, including the death penalty. Acting on these arrest warrants, throughout the year security forces in the city of Nasriya raided the homes of activists and, in some cases, assaulted and arrested family members in place of activists to pressure those in hiding to hand themselves over.

The fate of thousands of men and boys who were arbitrarily detained and subsequently subjected to enforced disappearance at the hands of Iraqi security forces and factions of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) since 2014 remained undisclosed.

Iraq made no measurable progress towards adopting the long-pending draft law that would criminalize enforced disappearances, despite being a party to the International Convention Against Enforced Disappearance. The absence of such legislation and the continued impunity for past and ongoing violations deepened public mistrust in state institutions.

Right to a healthy environment

As in previous years, air and water pollution contributed to respiratory, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal illnesses as reported by Iraq’s Ministry of the Environment and the WHO.

The air quality in the capital, Baghdad, was worsened by the use of heavy fuel oil in industrial activities, private generators, waste incinerators and refineries, coupled with weather conditions such as sand and dust storms.

In Basra and other southern governorates, rising salinity and pollution compounded by poor governance triggered a water crisis, leaving residents with little or no access to potable water.

Freedom of expression and association

Iraqi authorities, political actors and members of the PMU continued to harass, arrest or prosecute journalists, media workers and media outlets.

The authorities increased their crackdown on freedom of expression through a campaign that used vague legal provisions criminalizing “indecent content” and “public morality” violations to target critics, activists and independent media. Law enforcement under the Ministry of the Interior carried out dozens of arrests during the year. In September the campaign was renamed to cover “content that violates public decency and morals”, while still failing to define such content.

Draft legislation debated during the year, including a law on the right to information, risked further restricting media freedoms and public access to information.

Government bodies continued to impose burdensome regulations, conduct background checks and interfere in programming, forcing civil society organizations to operate under increasing constraints. The withdrawal of international funding, including the dismantling of USAID, further compounded the impact of government interference on local NGOs.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions

Throughout the year, local authorities operating alongside PMU factions continued to arbitrarily arrest and detain activists, social media content creators and prominent protesters and protest organizers for criticizing the lack of justice and accountability for violations in the context of the Tishreen protests; the impact of government corruption and nepotism on human rights and the environment; inadequate public services; and the lack of employment opportunities.

Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Journalists in the KR-I, particularly those covering issues relating to human rights and government corruption, faced detention, harassment, assaults and threats at the hands of the authorities and individuals who identified themselves as affiliated to political actors, with little accountability for perpetrators. Between January and July, civil society organizations and media in the KR-I reported dozens of arrests of media professionals, often accompanied by assaults and raids. Authorities introduced legislation that would criminalize reporting on crime in certain circumstances, contributing to self-censorship.

Security forces in the KR-I repeatedly detained media workers at their place of work or while covering peaceful protests or security incidents, and assaulted them.

The KR-I judiciary often extended the detention of journalists, activists and critics through new additional cases brought against them. In August a court sentenced prominent journalist Sherwan Sherwani to a new prison sentence of four years and six months on spurious charges days before his scheduled release. An appeals court in the region’s capital, Erbil, upheld his conviction in October but reduced his sentence to three years and five months – still heavier than the two-year maximum term prescribed by law. Sherwan Sherwani had been imprisoned since 2020 and was previously convicted in an unfair trial in 2021.

Freedom of assembly

Security forces repeatedly used unlawful force including live ammunition, water cannon and tear gas to violently disperse peaceful protests across Baghdad and in central and southern governorates. Demonstrations – often sparked by economic grievances, corruption and impunity – led to the arbitrary arrest of dozens, prolonged detentions without charge and harassment of activists and protesters. Authorities rarely held security personnel accountable for these abuses. Protests in Nasiriyah and Basra in April and October were particularly violently dispersed using tear gas, live ammunition and the beating of protesters. In southern governorates, protesters demanding clean water and improved electricity supply burned tyres and blocked roads, while anti-riot police units responded with tear gas and beat protesters.

Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Security forces dispersed peaceful gatherings across the KR-I, particularly those protesting about unpaid salaries and corruption, using tear gas and arbitrary arrests and detention.

In February, security forces in Erbil blocked teachers from entering the city to demonstrate, using violent tactics and tear gas to disperse them. Later that month, various security forces attacked peaceful protesters in the Arbat sub-district of Sulaymaniyah and detained journalists to prevent coverage of their actions. Asayish forces (the Kurdistan Regional Government’s primary security and intelligence forces) fired tear gas and assaulted journalists covering the Arbat demonstration, arrested several reporters and raided a local TV station.

In June, security units cracked down on multiple demonstrations in Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, leading to further arrests and harassment of activists and demonstrators.

Women’s and girls’ rights

In January, parliament adopted an amendment to the Personal Status Law granting one religious sect increased authority over family law, including marriage and divorce, heightening risks to women’s rights and deepening sectarian divisions. Meanwhile, parliament failed to criminalize domestic violence or to repeal problematic and discriminatory articles of the Penal Code, such as those mitigating so-called “honour-based killings” and permitting corporal punishment of wives and children.

Domestic violence and gender-based violence remained pervasive, with authorities failing to ensure accountability or provide adequate survivor or victim-centred services. By the end of the year, authorities in the KR-I reported the killings of at least 53 women and girls, mostly by male relatives. No centralized data existed for the rest of Iraq. Courts failed to hold perpetrators accountable, leading to public outrage from civil society. Derogatory statements and comments made by political figures and members of parliament normalized gender-based violence including the killing of female relatives.

Death penalty

Despite ongoing and deeply entrenched violations of the right to a fair trial, courts imposed death sentences, mostly for drug-related offences or terrorism-related crimes. Executions were carried out but information on numbers remained opaque.