Jiyan Foundation Joins OHCHR and UNAMI Calling for KRI and Iraqi Compliance to its Legal Framework Against Torture

A new report released by UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) urges renewed attention by the Government of Iraq (GoI) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to address what it has identified as the continued practice of torture and other forms of ill-treatment in detention facilities.

According to the report, safeguards established to assert adherence to the prohibition of torture has not effectively prevented these practices. UNAMI has outlined targeted recommendations to foster “forward-looking, constructive, results-based engagement on the prevention of torture and ill-treatment.”

Jiyan Foundation urges the GoI and KRG to review and apply UNAMI/OHCHR´s targeted recommendations to ensure compliance with Iraq’s own legal framework against torture. It is of special importance to

• Adopt a comprehensive Anti-Torture Law fully in line with the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT).
• Ratify Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) envisaging preventive monitoring of places of detention by an independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). NPM is a purely preventive mechanism aiming to avoid the mistreatment of people deprived of their liberty through the identification of systemic issues that could lead to their mistreatment.
• Open up all detention sites to independent oversight
• Collaborate more closely with Iraqi civil society organizations so that the law enforcement officials can receive training on how to recognize and prevent torture and other ill-treatment in places of detention including during the pre-trial detention.

Torture and ill-treatment have no place in free and democratic societies. Iraq has demonstrated its commitment to eradicating these practices not only by ratifying CAT but also by joining the Group of Friends of the Convention against Torture Initiative. It is now more important than ever to put this promise into practice.