Freedom for the Courts and Independence for the Judiciary in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region

Today, Wednesday, 3 September 2025, the 17th of Shubat Organization for Human Rights held a large and widespread demonstration in the United Kingdom, in the cities of London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, and Glasgow, in front of the Iraqi embassies, consulates, and the Kurdistan Regional Government representations.

The protest was against the lack of freedom of the courts and the absence of judicial independence in decision-making.

Courts in Iraq, and in the Kurdistan Region under the two ruling parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) controlled by the Barzani and Talabani families are subject to political interference. Judges are often informed in advance, through phone calls or written orders, of the decisions they must issue. These decisions serve the authorities’ will: to arrest, silence, imprison, and eliminate those who oppose them, expose their corruption, or work politically either individually or within alternative movements to change the political system and end one-family rule.

Through this manipulation, rulings are dictated over the phone, leading to immediate imprisonment, followed by predetermined sentences.

As the 17th of Shubat Organization, we condemn this practice and demand that courts and judges in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region be independent, professional, and impartial, protecting the rights of all citizens and staying free from party interference. Courts must not be used as tools in the political struggle to protect the authority of the ruling KDP and PUK.

Images sent by Awat Jamal
Spokesperson for the 17th of Shubat Organization for Human Rights

London

Newcastle

Manchester

Birmingham

 

Glasgow