OUR REPORTS

12-04-2026, 11:23

Journalism in Iraq: Reporting from the Red Zone

This report documents escalating violations against journalists in Iraq, including the kidnapping of Shelly Kittleson, arbitrary arrests, physical assaults, and coverage bans. IOHR criticizes CMC’s administrative restrictions, warning that eroding press freedom and impunity undermine democracy. It calls for urgent legal reforms to protect media workers from systematic repression and intimidation.

6-04-2026, 13:08

CMC Bans Political Commentators and Warns Media Outlets

IOHR warns of a severe decline in freedoms during early 2026, as the CMC transformed into a punitive tool restricting expression through arbitrary bans on journalists and international outlets. This systematic trend, based on vague terminology, violates Article 38 of the Constitution and threatens "Civic Desertification," undermining political and social pluralism throughout the country.

20-03-2026, 03:28

Iraq Under Fire: Sovereignty and Civilian Protection

This report documents the escalation of external military attacks in Iraq, highlighting 85 strikes on security and civilian sites. The IOHR analyzes these operations as violations of national sovereignty, international law, and the Constitution, coinciding with the 2003 war anniversary. It calls for urgent national and international action to halt escalation and protect civilians.

8-03-2026, 10:30

The Systematic Erasure: Excluding Women from Iraq’s Public Sphere

This report examines the reality of women in Iraq and the escalating challenges facing their participation in the public sphere, including digital defamation campaigns and social and legislative pressures. It monitors the impact of these practices on female journalists, activists, and candidates, while analyzing the chasm between the legal framework and the actual protection of women's rights.

11-02-2026, 11:15

Basra: Systematic Erosion of Civic Space and the Rise of "Moral Guardianship"

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) documents a systematic erosion of Basra's civic space due to extremist groups imposing "moral guardianship" via unregulated weapons, mimicking regional hardline models. The report highlights a double standard: suppressing arts while ignoring pollution crises, amid tribal influence that undermines the law, threatening the city's identity with "civic desertification."

26-01-2026, 10:10

Iraq: Suffocating in Silence

The EPP experts argue that the Iraqi state is committing a "crime of systemic negligence." Relying on private generators as a primary power source is a flagrant violation of the Right to Life and Health, as enshrined in Article 33 of the Iraqi Constitution. Iraqis are trapped in a distorted social contract, forced to pay billions only to have their lungs filled with poison. Saadoon adds: "Public health has become a commodity traded in the corrupt market of fuel quotas."

24-12-2025, 11:51

A Concerning Trajectory Restricting Freedom of Expression in Iraq

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) stated that recent developments in several Iraqi governorates reveal a deeply concerning trajectory toward increasing restrictions on freedom of expression. This trend is marked by the use of legal, judicial, and administrative tools to punish peaceful opinion, human rights advocacy, workplace criticism, and political expression—signaling a serious regression in constitutional guarantees of public freedoms.

14-12-2025, 05:24

Iraq’s Displacement Crisis: An Early Test for the New UNHCR Chief

Data and assessments gathered by IOHR through direct monitoring and cross-referenced with local and governmental sources indicate that large numbers of displaced people continue to live in unstable conditions—either in camps that were formally closed without the provision of genuine alternatives, in host communities lacking adequate infrastructure and services, or in return areas suffering from security fragility, limited employment opportunities, and weak health and education services.

9-11-2025, 12:41

Election Commission Procedures Threaten Electoral Justice in Iraq

Mustafa Saadoon, IOHR Founder and President, stated that the IHEC’s disqualification of candidates after final approval “weakens the principle of electoral justice and violates the Iraqi Constitution, which guarantees the right to run for elections to all citizens without unlawful restrictions.” He added: “The IHEC must establish a clear legal and temporal framework for its exclusion powers and subject all its decisions to mandatory judicial review before they take effect. Electoral justice is not limited to the voting day. It begins with transparency and fairness in every stage of the process, starting with candidacy and certification.”