Iraq
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 1
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In mid-January, Col
- News items in the archive
- 866
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Iraq is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 1 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 866 news items on Iraq, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
FEBRUARY 11, 2020IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: KRG SENTENCES TWO PKK TERRORISTS TO DEATH OVER KILLING OF TURKISH DIPLOMAT
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) handed out the death sentence to two PKK terrorists who killed Turkish diplomat Osman Köse in the Iraqi autonomous region’s capital Irbil in July 2019, the local news outlet Rudaw reported on 10 February 2020.
FEBRUARY 10, 2020FranceDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: FRENCH JIHADISTS APPEAL TO UN TO AVOID DEATH PENALTY
Five French jihadists sentenced to death in Iraq have appealed to the UN to pressure France to bring them home, their lawyer has said, adding they were suffering inhumane treatment.
FEBRUARY 5, 2020IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 33 CHILDREN CONVICTED OF ISIS-RELATED TERRORISM IN 18 MONTH PERIOD
Nearly 400 individuals were tried in Iraqi courts between mid-2018 and late 2019 on terrorism charges for alleged affiliation to the Islamic State -including 33 minors who were found guilty, the United Nations said on 28 January 2020.
- JANUARY 1, 2020IraqDEATH PENALTY
On April 9, 2003 Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime was overthrown by a US-led military coalition.
On April 9, 2003 Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime was overthrown by a US-led military coalition.
- DECEMBER 2, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: COP SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING PROTESTERS
An Iraqi court sentenced a police officer to death on 1st December 2019 after convicting him of killing demonstrators, in the first such sentence in two months of deadly civil unrest.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 6 IS MILITANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 2013 CAR BOMB ATTACK
An Iraqi court on 23 September 2019 sentenced six Islamic State terrorists to death by hanging for their involvement in a deadly car bomb attack near the country’s Justice Ministry in 2013, leaving scores of people dead and wounded.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 100 PRISONERS EXECUTED SINCE JANUARY, 8,000 ON DEATH ROW
More than 100 individuals have been executed in Iraq since January, with a staggering 8,000 more on death row, according to Iraq's UN-approved human rights body.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 11 IS JIHADISTS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR INVOLVEMENT IN KILLING SECURITY FORCES
An Iraqi court has sentenced 11 members of the so-called Islamic State terrorist group to death by hanging for their involvement in the killing of three security forces in Babil governorate in 2014, the media center of the Supreme Judicial Council said in
JULY 26, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR JOINING ISLAMIC STATE
An Iraqi court has sentenced two men to death after finding them guilty of joining the Islamic State group, a judicial council said.
JUNE 28, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: DAESH MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KIDNAPPING, KILLING YAZIDIS
The Niniveh Criminal Court in northern Iraq has sentenced one person to death for belonging to Daesh and taking part in the kidnapping and murder of Iraqi citizens from the Yazidi religious minority.
- JUNE 9, 2019FranceDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ OFFERS TO COMMUTE DEATH SENTENCES OF FRENCH ISIL MEMBERS FOR 'MILLIONS OF EUROS'
Iraq is reportedly demanding money from France in return for commuting death sentences passed on 11 French jihadists to life imprisonment, according to the conservative newspaper Le Figaro.
JUNE 6, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: ALL 11 FRENCH IS SUSPECTS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Baghdad court on 3 June 2019 sentenced to death two more French nationals for belonging to the Islamic State group, leaving all 11 Frenchmen transferred from Syria facing the gallows in Iraq.
JUNE 4, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: NINTH FRENCH JIHADI SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 2 June 2019 sentenced to death one more Frenchmen for joining the Islamic State armed group, bringing the total to nine.
- JUNE 3, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: EIGHTH FRENCH IS MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 2 June 2019 sentenced to death an eighth Frenchman for joining the Islamic State group, rejecting his claims he was tortured into confessing.
- MAY 30, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: 7TH FRENCHMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR IS MEMBERSHIP
A Baghdad court sentenced a Frenchman to death on 29 May 2019 for joining the Islamic State group, bringing to seven the number of French jihadists on death row in Iraq.
- MAY 30, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: TUNISIAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BELONGING TO ISIS
An Iraqi court on 29 May 2019 sentenced 24-year-old Tunisian Mohammed Berriri to death for joining IS, after a hearing lasting less than an hour.
- MAY 29, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: TWO MORE FRENCH ISLAMIC STATE MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 28 May 2019 sentenced two high-profile French members of the Islamic State group to death, bringing the total number of French former jihadis condemned to death this week to six.
- MAY 28, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: FOURTH FRENCH ISIS MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 27 May 2019 condemned a fourth French citizen to death for joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
MAY 27, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: THREE FRENCH IS MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 26 May 2019 sentenced three French citizens to death after they were found guilty of joining the Islamic State group, a court official said.
- MAY 14, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH BY SULAIMANI COURT FOR 2013 KIRKUK TAXI MURDERS
Sulaimani Criminal Court on 12 May 2019 handed down fifteen death sentences to three people who had been convicted earlier of killing eighteen taxi drivers in 2013.
- MAY 11, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: TERRORIST SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING SOLDIERS AND RAPING WOMEN
Nineveh Criminal Court sentenced a terrorist of Daesh groups to death for killing Iraqi soldiers and raping Yazidi women, INA reported on 9 May 2019.
MAY 6, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR JOINING ISLAMIC STATE
An Iraqi court has sentenced four people to death by hanging for belonging to the Islamic State militant group and committing terrorist crimes in Iraq and Syria, a judiciary statement said on 21 April 2019.
- APRIL 26, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ HANDS DOWN DEATH PENALTY FOR IS TERRORIST OVER DEADLY CARBOMB BLAST
An Iraqi court has sentenced an Islamic State militant to death over his involvement in a deadly car bomb attack in the province of Diyala, iraqinews.com reported on 24 April 2019.
- APRIL 19, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: IS MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR INVOLVEMENT IN SNIPER ATTACKS
An Iraqi court has sentenced an Islamic State militant to death by hanging over his involvement in several sniper attacks in the country, Baghdad Today website quoted the Supreme Judicial Council media center as saying in a press statement on 18 April 201
APRIL 9, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF 3 UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
A criminal court in Iraq’s Diyala province on 8 April 2019 said it handed a death sentence to a man found guilty of involvement in the killing of three professors at a local university.
APRIL 8, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: ALLEGED ISIS LAWYER SENTENCED TO DEATH
Iraq’s Nineveh Criminal Court on 7 April 2019 sentenced to death a man who reportedly worked as a lawyer for the Islamic State following the emergence of the jihadist group in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
MARCH 26, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: YEZIDI MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TERRORISM
An Iraqi court on 25 March 2019 sentenced a Yezidi (Ezidi) man to death for joining the Islamic State and participating in crimes against his own religious minority group in the town of Sinjar (Shingal) in 2014.
MARCH 25, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR TERRORISM
An Iraqi court on 24 March 2019 sentenced an alleged terrorist to death for attempting to blow himself up on security forces in the province of Salahuddin.
MARCH 19, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: BELGIAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BELONGING TO ISLAMIC STATE
An Iraqi court sentenced a Belgian man to death by hanging on 18 March 2019 for being part of the Islamic State militant group.
- MARCH 15, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: DEATH PENALTY FOR EX-EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR’S KIDNAPPERS
Iraqi court sentenced to death the two kidnappers of the ex-Egyptian ambassador Ihab al-Shareef in Baghdad.