The death penalty in Iraq is carried out by hanging, imposed by felony courts for offenses ranging from premeditated murder to a broadly defined set of terrorism crimes, and executed only after automatic review by the Court of Cassation and ratification by the President. At least 63 people were executed in 2024, nearly four times the figure recorded the year before, and the system draws sustained criticism from UN bodies and human rights groups over confessions they say are obtained through torture.
What Offenses Carry Death
Capital punishment in Iraq is spread across several statutes, and the net is wide.
Terrorism
The Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005 is the single biggest source of death sentences. Article 4 imposes death on anyone who commits, participates in, incites, plans, finances, or assists in a terrorist act as the law defines it.1United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Act No. 13 (2005) – Counter-Terrorism Act Membership in an armed group that plans or practices terrorism is also criminalized.2VERTIC. Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005 A person who provided funding or logistics faces the same penalty as someone who personally carried out violence.
The American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights has concluded that the law “criminalizes otherwise lawful activities that are unrelated to deterring or punishing terrorism.” Article 1 defines terrorism in circular terms, referring to acts committed to achieve “terrorist goals” without specifying what those goals are. Article 3 extends the statute to acts that “threaten national unity” or “weaken the capacity of security services,” language broad enough to potentially reach political speech or protest. None of the defined offenses necessarily requires a lethal act; some reach only property damage or unspecified “threats.”
Murder
Article 406 of Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 prescribes death for intentional killing in the presence of specific aggravating factors: premeditation, use of poison or explosives, killing for money or out of a base motive, killing a public official in the performance of their duties, killing a parent, or intending to kill multiple people in a single act.3United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Iraq Penal Code 1969 Murder committed to facilitate another crime or help the offender escape also qualifies. Where a killer intended one victim but caused multiple deaths, the court may impose death or life imprisonment.
Drug Trafficking
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 50 of 2017 makes large-scale drug trafficking a capital offense. The Central Criminal Court has sentenced traffickers to death under Article 27 of that law for smuggling significant quantities of narcotics.
State Security Offenses
The Penal Code prescribes death for certain offenses against the state, including treason and espionage. These provisions date to the code’s 1969 enactment and remain in force alongside the counterterrorism statute.
From Sentence to Execution
A capital case in Iraq moves through four stages before anyone is hanged: trial, automatic appellate review, presidential ratification, and the execution itself.
The Trial
Death penalty cases are typically heard in felony courts, with the Central Criminal Court of Iraq handling a large share of terrorism prosecutions. A panel of judges examines evidence, hears witnesses, and applies the relevant statutes. A defendant is entitled to legal representation, and the court must appoint counsel for anyone who cannot afford a lawyer. The evidentiary standard is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and a conviction cannot legally rest on a single piece of evidence if credible doubts exist about its reliability. In practice, confessions dominate.
Automatic Review by the Court of Cassation
A trial-level death sentence does not become final on its own. Article 254(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code No. 23 of 1971 requires the felony court to send the case file to the Court of Cassation within ten days of sentencing, whether or not the defendant appeals.4United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Iraq Criminal Procedure Code 23 of 1971 The sentencing court must inform the defendant that automatic review is coming, and the defendant can also file a separate appeal within 30 days.5Global Justice Project Iraq. Law on Criminal Proceedings With Amendments
The Court of Cassation can uphold the sentence, overturn the conviction, or order a retrial if it identifies procedural or legal errors. Review can take months or years. If the court confirms a death sentence, Article 286 directs the file to the Minister of Justice, who forwards it to the President of the Republic for the decree authorizing execution.5Global Justice Project Iraq. Law on Criminal Proceedings With Amendments
Presidential Ratification
No execution can proceed without presidential approval. Article 73(8) of the Iraqi Constitution assigns the President the power to “ratify death sentences issued by the competent courts.”6Constitute. Iraq 2005 Constitution Without the President’s signature, the sentence remains suspended; once signed, prison authorities have an actionable order.
The same article grants the President power to issue a special pardon, but only on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, and pardons cannot be granted for terrorism, international crimes, or financial and administrative corruption.6Constitute. Iraq 2005 Constitution Because terrorism charges account for the majority of death sentences, most prisoners on death row are constitutionally ineligible for a pardon. Clemency for the remaining capital offenses exists in theory but has rarely been exercised.7ECPM. The Death Penalty in Law and in Practice: Iraq
The Execution
Article 86 of the Penal Code defines the death penalty as “the hanging of the condemned person by the neck until he is dead.”3United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Iraq Penal Code 1969 Article 288 of the Criminal Procedure Code specifies that the hanging takes place inside a prison or another location designated by law, only after the presidential decree issues, and in the presence of an Implementation Board that includes a misdemeanor court judge, a prosecutor if available, a representative of the Ministry of the Interior, the prison director, and a doctor.4United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Iraq Criminal Procedure Code 23 of 1971 The prisoner’s family is notified in advance for a final visit, and remains are returned for burial.
Who Cannot Be Executed
Article 79 of the Penal Code bars a death sentence for anyone who was between 18 and 20 years old when the offense was committed; life imprisonment must be substituted. International law also prohibits the death penalty for anyone under 18 at the time of the crime, and Iraq ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has raised concern about cases where missing birth registration or disputes over age have led to death sentences for individuals who may have been minors when the offense occurred.
Article 287 of the Criminal Procedure Code bars the execution of a pregnant prisoner. The execution may proceed only four months after she gives birth.8Amnesty International. Unjust and Unfair: The Death Penalty in Iraq
The Kurdistan Region Is Different
The Kurdistan Regional Government has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 2008. Kurdish courts can still impose death sentences, and roughly 466 people reportedly sit on death row in Kurdistan Region prisons, but executions are virtually nonexistent there. KRG officials have described the restraint as a commitment to human rights and justice reform. The federal government in Baghdad continues carrying out executions at a significant pace.
Why the System Is Criticized
Opposition to Iraq’s death penalty is not only philosophical. The core concern is how convictions are obtained.
In June 2024, a group of UN Special Rapporteurs stated that Iraq’s “systematic executions of prisoners sentenced to death based on torture-tainted confessions” amount to arbitrary deprivation of life under international law and “may amount to a crime against humanity.” They counted nearly 400 publicly recorded executions since 2016, all carried out despite “reported irregularities in the administration of justice, cases of enforced disappearances, and torture-tainted confessions.”9OHCHR. Scale and Cycle of Iraq’s Arbitrary Executions May Be Crime Against Humanity
The Anti-Terrorism Law absorbs much of this criticism. Its definitions are vague, the penalty is death for any level of involvement, and defendants face execution even when no lethal act is alleged. Independent legal analyses have concluded the statute gives the government “unfettered discretion to penalize conduct it considers threatening.”
Confessions remain the dominant form of evidence in many capital cases. Human rights groups have documented a recurring pattern in which defendants allege torture during interrogation, judges order medical examinations that find the claims “unsubstantiated,” and the trial proceeds on the basis of the confession. A legal framework with mandatory appellate review and presidential ratification looks robust on paper, but those safeguards lose their meaning when the underlying conviction rests on coerced evidence.
Foreign Nationals
Iraq has sentenced significant numbers of foreign nationals to death, particularly people accused of Islamic State membership who were captured on Iraqi territory or transferred from detention camps in northeastern Syria. Citizens of France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, and other countries have appeared before Iraqi courts on terrorism charges. These trials follow the pattern of domestic cases: short proceedings in which confessions carry heavy weight. Human Rights Watch has characterized the transfer of foreign suspects to Iraq for trial as “outsourcing” terrorism cases to “abusive justice systems.” Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, prosecuting states must notify detained foreign nationals of their right to contact their consulates, and the UN has described consular access as a fair trial guarantee in capital cases.10OHCHR. Set Universal Standards for Effective Consular Assistance, UN Expert Urges States Whether Iraq consistently provides that access is disputed.
Scale
Iraq ranks among the top executing countries in the world. Amnesty International recorded at least 63 executions in 2024, nearly quadruple the prior year’s figure. The true number is likely higher. Iraq does not publish comprehensive execution data, and many executions are not announced publicly.11Amnesty International Ireland. Facts and Figures Death Penalty Report 2024