Judiciary says more than 37,000 released under amended amnesty law

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said Thursday that 37,253 people have been released from prisons and detention centers under the amended Amnesty Law No. 27 of 2016, according to October statistics.

In a statement, the council said the total number of individuals covered by the law — including those with arrest or summons warrants, those released on bail, and defendants convicted in absentia — has reached 150,471.

The General Amnesty Law, first passed in 2016 and amended earlier this year, was introduced to address cases of wrongful conviction and arbitrary detention. It excludes individuals convicted of terrorism, violent crimes, and drug offenses.

The 2025 amendment revised the definition of terrorist affiliation and allows retrials in cases involving confessions obtained under duress or through secret informants.

Sunni political blocs have backed the law, calling it a step toward correcting judicial bias against their communities, while Shia parties have cautioned that it could enable the release of individuals involved in serious crimes if not applied carefully.