| Country | Iraq |
|---|
| Ministry responsible |
Ministry of Justice - but detention facilities are also operated by the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (juvenile detention facilities) and the Kurdish Regional Government
|
|---|---|
| Prison administration |
Iraqi Correctional Service (Ministry of Justice)
|
| Head of prison administration (and title) | Raad Ali Muhammad
Director General
|
| Prison population total (including pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners) | 73 715
at 23.5.2021 (Iraq High Commission for Human Rights)
|
|---|---|
| Prison population rate (per 100,000 of national population) | 179
based on an estimated national population of 41.08 million at May 2021 (from United Nations figures)
|
| Pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners (percentage of prison population) | 29.8%
(23.5.2021)
|
| Female prisoners (percentage of prison population) | 2.6%
(2014)
|
| Juveniles / minors / young prisoners incl. definition (percentage of prison population) | 3.6%
(2014 - juveniles)
|
| Number of establishments / institutions | The ICS (Ministry of Justice) managed 24 detention facilities in 2020, three of which remained closed. The Kurdish regional authorities operated about 7. In addition, the Ministries of Defence, Interior and Labour & Social Affairs are authorised to hold pre-trial detainees and administer 24 facilities (U.S. State Department human rights report).
|
| Official capacity of prison system | 29 303
(31.12.2013 - capacity of Iraqi Correctional Service facilities)
|
| Occupancy level (based on official capacity) | 139.2%
(31.12.2013 - occupancy of Iraqi Correctional Service facilities)
|
| Prison population trend (year, prison population total, prison population rate) |
|
|---|
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Pages
Report on Human Rights in Iraq: January – June 2014
US State Department Human Rights Country Report 2013: Iraq
Basic Human Rights Manual For Detention Officers in Iraq
At the request of the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office and on behalf of the Iraqi Minister of Justice, ICPS has produced a handbook for use by personnel in Iraqi detention facilities that highlights the fundamental human rights obligations and rights for both prisoners and prison staff.
The document has been translated into Arabic and designed for wide distribution among police and other officers.
Female prison population: trend
The table below gives an indication of the trend in the female prison population. The final row shows the latest figures available.
It consists of the number of female prisoners in the prison population on a single date in the year (or the annual average) and the percentage of the total prison population that female prisoners constituted on that day.
The final column shows the female prison population rate per 100,000 of the national population.
IRAQ
Year | Number of | Percentage | Female prison |
2005 | 215 | 2.5% | 0.8 |
2014 | 1,103 | 2.6% | 3.2 |
The number of female prisoners fluctuates and so the above figures give an indication of the trend but the picture is inevitably incomplete.
The female prison population rate is calculated on the basis of the national population total. All national population figures are inevitably estimates but the estimates used in the World Prison Brief are based on official national figures, United Nations figures or figures from other recognised international authorities.
(If the rate were calculated on the basis of the number of females in the national population it would of course be approximately double the figure in the final column).