Iraq reviewed by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances

On 23 November 2010, Iraq ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (hereinafter “ICPPED” or “the Convention”). The Committee on Enforced Disappearances monitors Iraq’s implementation of the Convention on a periodic basis, most recently conducting a review in March 2026 at its 30th session.

Ahead of the review, MENA Rights Group submitted an alternative report to the Committee, drawing upon documentation work, consultations with victims’ families and civil society actors, and legal research about enforced disappearances in Iraq.

On March 19, 2026, the Committee published their Concluding Observations, which found that significant challenges continue to impede the full implementation of the Convention, and the implementation of previous recommendations remained very limited. 

Harmonisation of domestic legislation with the Convention

Regarding domestic legislation, the Committee highlighted Iraq’s failure to adopt legislation establishing enforced disappearance as an autonomous offence.

As highlighted in MENA Rights Group’s report, the draft law on the Protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearance is still pending before the Iraqi Parliament, with no clear timeline for its adoption. The Committee raised concerns about significant shortcomings in the draft law, including its failure to qualify enforced disappearance, when occurring as part of a widespread or systematic practice, as a crime against humanity, as required by article 5 of the ICPPED. It also flagged that neither the current legal framework nor the draft law provides for the criminal responsibility of superiors, and that existing legislation allows perpetrators to invoke superior orders as a defence.

The Committee therefore issued recommendations urging Iraqi authorities to revise and simplify the current legal framework in line with its international obligations, to address the shortcomings in the draft law, and to expedite its adoption

Independence and effectiveness of the National Human Rights Institution

The Committee expressed concern over the lack of independence and effectiveness of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), reiterating its recommendations to ensure its full compliance with the Paris Principles, which set the international standards for impartiality, independence and effectiveness of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) worldwide.

In October 2024, the IHCHR lost its ‘A’ status and was downgraded to a ‘B’ status following a special review by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), the international body responsible for assessing NHRIs' compliance with the Paris Principles. This downgrade, confirmed in December 2025, indicates that the IHCHR fails to uphold these standards of independence and effectiveness. To date, the IHCHR continues to operate without a Board of Commissioners, and serious concerns have been raised regarding the lack of impartiality of the current Committee of Experts, tasked with selecting the IHCHR’s commissioners. The Committee also expressed concern about allegations that the Committee of Experts includes representatives from parties implicated in human rights violations.

Search, investigation, prosecution and prevention of enforced disappearances

The Committee issued numerous recommendations with regard to the search, investigation, prosecution and prevention of enforced disappearances. In particular, it called for the reporting, thorough investigation, and effective prosecution of all cases of enforced disappearance. This would also entail conducting independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of secret detention, as well as expediting efforts to finalise the establishment of a consolidated nationwide database on “missing persons” and a register of all persons deprived of liberty. The Committee further raised independence and impartiality concerns about the National Committee for Missing Persons, the body tasked with coordinating the search for disappeared persons, noting that it includes members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces allegedly implicated in enforced disappearances.

Following the October 2019 Tishreen protests, activists and protesters continue to face enforced disappearance, judicial harassment, and persecution. Rather than investigating past disappearances and holding perpetrators accountable, Iraqi authorities have intensified their crackdown on those who participated in the protests. MENA Rights Group has documented numerous such cases, including those of activist Yassin Majed Shehab, journalist Tawfiq al-Tamimi, freelance journalist and civil society activist Bassem al-Zaak, and Sajjad al-Iraqi, who all remain disappeared.

Rights of victims of enforced disappearance

Regarding the rights of victims of enforced disappearance, the Committee urged Iraq to adopt a definition of “victim” that includes “all persons who have suffered harm as the direct result of an enforced disappearance”, in accordance with article 24 (1) of the ICPPED.  As it stands today, the draft law on the Protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearance only applies to direct victims and perpetrators.

The Committee also recommended the establishment of a comprehensive reparations and compensation system, ensuring that any individual who has suffered harm as a direct result of enforced disappearance has access to reparations and compensation. It further urged Iraqi authorities to prevent and punish all reprisals against victims and any other individuals who are actively participating in the search and investigation process or who have filed a complaint.

Iraqi authorities’ cooperation with the Committee

Finally, the Committee also noted with concern that Iraq is currently among the ICPPED’s state parties with the second-highest number of urgent actions registered by the Committee, highlighting 670 cases as of March 2026. It emphasised that Iraq’s replies to urgent action requests do not include any information about the concrete measures taken to search for the disappeared persons, to clarify their fate or whereabouts, and investigate their disappearance.

The Committee therefore urged Iraq to ensure that all urgent actions are immediately processed and transmitted to the relevant authorities, and that immediate action is taken to search for the disappeared persons and investigate their disappearance.

MENA Rights Group has submitted hundreds of these cases, and has observed that replies provided by Iraqi authorities remain vague, contain generic statements, and fail to detail any concrete steps undertaken to investigate the disappearance in compliance with the Convention.

Next steps

Under article 29 (4) of the Convention, Iraq is requested to submit, no later than March 18, 2029, specific and updated information on the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and any other new information on the fulfilment of the obligations contained in the Convention. MENA Rights Group welcomes the recommendations of the Committee and urges Iraq to implement them in full, in order to be in compliance with its obligations under the Convention.