ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s judiciary instructed the country’s courts on Monday to apply strict legal measures on religious fringe groups which threaten citizens’ lives. The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) “instructed courts to take strict legal measures against certain movements that have recently emerged under various names…” read a statement from the SJC. “Some of these movements have begun to pose a threat to the lives of citizens belonging to specific religions or sects,” the judiciary added. Judge Faiq Zidan, president of the SJC, said in the statement that the groups “use religions or sects as a cover for their deviant practices.” The judiciary did not mention any cults or groups by name. Fringe religious groups are a growing trend in Iraq, and security forces in southern Iraq have carried out multiple operations in the first half of 2024 against a group called “The Sacrificers.” The group, also known as al-Alahhiya (The Divine Ali), deifies the Shiite Imam and offers human sacrifices in his name, Arshad al-Hakim, spokesperson for the national security service, announced in June. Earlier this month, security forces said they arrested around 50 members of the group in Iraq’s southern provinces. In June, Diwaniyah’s police directorate announced the arrest of the group’s leader in Dhi Qar, adding that the individual confessed to killing two members as “sacrifice.” The group’s stated rituals include lottery-based suicide for human sacrifice. Emerging around 2020 in Dhi Qar province, the group’s influence has spread to Diwanya, Basra, and Maysan provinces. Across Iraq, the group claims to have thousands of members who are believed to have been influenced by similar religious movements in Iran.
