Iraq's Amnesty Law
Iraq's Amnesty Law: Justice for the Wrongly Detained — or a Path to Freedom for ISIS Perpetrators? By Hussein Zainulabdeen | Independent Researcher — Iraqi Minority Rights | husseinmonitor.com Iraq's General Amnesty Law has been a recurring flashpoint in the country's fragile post-ISIS landscape. First passed in 2016, and significantly expanded in January 2025, the law was designed to address a real problem: tens of thousands of detainees held under sweeping counterterrorism laws, many of whom were arrested on the basis of torture-extracted confessions, anonymous informants, or third-party testimony. The problem is not that an amnesty law exists. The problem is what it threatens to undo. What the Law Does The General Amnesty Law allows for the reopening of investigations and trials where confessions were obtained under duress, and extends its applicability to crimes committed up to January 2025. It applies to both convicted individuals and those under i...