ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Sunni Azm Alliance on Sunday called for the inclusion of prisoners held in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-administered prisons in Kirkuk under the recently passed general amnesty law.
“A large number of our [Sunni Arab] prisoners are in jails run by the KRG in Kirkuk,” spokesperson of the Azm alliance in Kirkuk told Rudaw. Azzam al-Hamadani added that the general amnesty law should apply to these prisoners, whom he alleged were in the “thousands.”
The Iraqi justice ministry spokesperson Ahmed Laibi told Rudaw on Sunday, that apart from those in the Kurdistan Region, there are 65,000 prisoners in Iraq’s jails. He added that Baghdad is preparing to implement the general amnesty law upon its publishing in the Official Gazette.
The general amnesty, introduced by Sunni lawmakers in the Iraqi legislature, amends the 2016 law’s interpretation of affiliation with terrorist organizations. The amendment was a top prerequisite for Sunni blocs to join the ruling State Administration Coalition. Sunnis argue that thousands from their community have been unjustly imprisoned since 2003 in Shiite-dominated Iraq, over alleged terrorism links.
However, the amnesty law has emerged as a topic of dispute between the country's top judicial authorities in recent days. The Federal Supreme Court suspended the implementation of the law after several legislators questioned the validity of the vote that passed it. The Supreme Judicial Council criticized the top court’s decision as premature.
Hamadani urged the Supreme Judicial Council to form a committee to investigate the fate of detainees and missing persons and called on the KRG to assist in the investigations. He suggested that a committee between Baghdad and Erbil be established to resolve the issue.
The Islamic State (ISIS) seized control of vast swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014. During the battles for liberation, widespread arrests - particularly in Sunni-majority provinces like Anbar, Nineveh, and Saladin - with many accused of links to the jihadist group.
Nahro Mohammed contributed to this report.
