The official spokesperson for the Iraq Ministry of Justice, Ahmed Laibi Abdul Hussein, strongly refuted a news article accusing the Ministry of carrying out secret executions in Al-Hout prison. The Ministry is braced to pursue legal action against the site.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the accusations “aim to mislead domestic and international public opinion and distort facts for political purposes”. Hussein affirmed Iraq’s commitment to human rights, as well as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani’s ongoing efforts and close involvement in the reform of correctional departments and improvement of inmate conditions. Hussein was critical that the news website did not seek comment from the competent authority before publishing the article. Hussein stressed that the Ministry’s doors are always open to press inquiries.

Al-Hout prison, also known as Nasiriyah prison, is the largest prison in Southern Iraq and the only prison that carries out executions. The conditions in the prison are dire – overcrowding, illness, and reports of torture are commonplace. According to Human Rights Watch, Al-Hout prison has earned the nickname “the whale” for “swallowing people up and never spitting them out”.

Amnesty International explained:

Iraq’s courts have routinely accepted torture-tainted “confessions” as evidence and sentenced individuals to death based on those confessions, and they have routinely failed to investigate allegations of torture. Defendants were either denied legal representation or given a court-appointed lawyer whom they could not meet privately.

Hussein’s appeal to media outlets follows October 2023, when the Ministry of Justice released a statement discussing the Ministry’s development of a media strategy to combat corruption. According to the Ministry, the strategy will “combat corruption through media channels and social media programs to enhance transparency across state institutions”. Building trust between the judicial departments and citizens is a key focus of this strategy.

Nevertheless, since December of 2023, executions have accelerated. The execution of 13 prisoners on December 24 marked the first mass execution carried out by Iraq’s Ministry of Justice since 2020. According to Amnesty International, over 8,000 prisoners are believed to be on death row in Iraq.

Following the execution of at least another 13 men in April, Amnesty International called on Iraqi authorities to immediately halt all executions. “The Iraqi government must immediately establish an official moratorium of executions and work towards abolishing the death penalty”, Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International’s Iraq Researcher, said.