General amnesty bill ready for Kurdistan parliament vote: official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A draft general amnesty law that could release over 2,000 prisoners in the Kurdistan Region is ready and awaiting a parliamentary vote, a government official said on Saturday.

“The general amnesty draft law is ready and currently with the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Council of Ministers. After the parliament resumes functioning, the draft will be sent to parliament for a vote and approval,“ Ihsan Abdulrahman Baban, general director of reforms in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw on Saturday.

There are six correctional facilities in the Kurdistan Region - two each in Erbil, Sulaimani, and Duhok provinces - housing more than 5,700 inmates. The general amnesty could release over 2,000 of them, according to Baban.

The details of the draft and what prisoners could be eligible for the amnesty have not been made public.

In January, Iraq passed a general amnesty law, which, among other measures, amended the interpretation of affiliation with terrorist organizations. The law was a key prerequisite for Sunni blocs to agree to join the ruling State Administration Coalition, which was formed in September 2022 and backed Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani into office.

Sunni lawmakers argued that thousands from their community have been unjustly imprisoned in Shiite-majority Iraq since 2003 over alleged terrorism links.

Earlier this month, the Iraqi justice ministry stated that hundreds of inmates were being “released daily” under the new law.

Most laws passed in the Iraqi parliament do not automatically come into force in the Kurdistan Region and need to first be approved by the regional parliament.

After the October 20 election, the Kurdistan Region parliament held its first session on December 2, chaired by the oldest member. The legislature did not elect a speaker, deputy speaker, or secretary. No other sessions have been scheduled while they await a result from government formation talks between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) who came first and second in the election.