Iraq draft law, Imposing prison sentences and fines on assembly organisers

Nationwide protests that emerged across Iraq in October 2019 allowed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to collectively voice their demands for the end of political corruption and economic inequality in the country.

But a year and a half later, Iraq’s parliament is planning to vote on a recently amended draft law on freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstrations, which threatens to place undue restrictions on the right to protest in Iraq.

The draft law was first introduced to parliament in 2016, but the vote on its adoption was put on hold the following year. It was then amended and reintroduced in June 2019 and again last month, after the parliamentary human rights committee further amended the text. The original versions of the law were widely criticised by Iraqi and international rights organisations, who called for major amendments.