Iraq starts releasing prisoners per general amnesty law: Ministry

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s justice ministry said on Sunday it has begun releasing some of the 67,000 detainees in Iraqi prisons after a recently passed general amnesty law entered implementation.

Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Laibi told Rudaw that the general amnesty law’s implementation has resulted in the release of a number of prisoners.

A total of 1,600 foreign prisoners are also present in Iraq, according to Laibi, who added that the ministry operates 30 prisons across the country.

The number excludes the Kurdistan Region's prisons and those held by security forces and different armed groups around the country.

Laibi said that the release of prisoners is not under their jurisdiction but rather the Supreme Judicial Council’s.

The general amnesty, submitted by Sunni lawmakers, amended the 2016 law’s definition of affiliation with terrorist organizations. This change was a key prerequisite for Sunni blocs to agree to join the ruling State Administration Coalition. Sunnis argue that thousands from their community have been unjustly imprisoned in Shiite-dominated Iraq since 2003 over alleged terrorism links.

In mid February, the controversial law went into effect after being published in the Official Gazette of Iraq, along with two other controversial laws demanded by Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers - the personal status and land restitution laws, respectively.

The Islamic State (ISIS) seized control of vast swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014. During the liberation process, thousands of people were arrested for alleged links to the jihadist group, especially in Sunni areas like Nineveh province.